Description: Despite its detractors, Microsoft Publisher is a major step up from consumer creative printing programs. For Windows users, it fills the void between price and pro features. The Microsoft Office Publisher incarnation has moved it more into competition with Adobe PageMaker for the enterprise/small business market and away from the individual consumer.
Publisher: Microsoft Corp.
Overview: Considered more appropriate for use by non-designers, Microsoft Publisher since 98 delivers tools that, while not quite up to the standards of high-end programs, provide options not found in other consumer applications such as some process and spot color commercial printing, EPS and TIFF import, and PostScript output.
For non-designers, the color and font schemes, wizards, and templates help ensure a more professional appearance.
Microsoft Office Publisher (introduced in 2003 as part of the Office Suite) is targeted more to small business/enterprise use. However, it can still be used for both freelance and personal publishing and includes templates for personal projects such as greeting cards and stationery.
Best Use: While there is still much resistance from service providers to the submission of Microsoft Publisher files for commercial printing, the 2003 Office version introduced enhanced professional design and commercial printing features and its integration with Microsoft Office makes it an attractive alternative to Adobe PageMaker for business use. It is also still a viable option for freelance desktop publishing.
Alternatives: For business-oriented publishing, Adobe PageMaker would be a good alternative. For small business or personal publishing and attractive pricing, Serif PagePlus is a good option.
History: Originally, Microsoft Publisher was strictly a consumer desktop publishing application. The versions have been 1.0, 2.0, Publisher for Windows 95, 3.0, 97, 98, 2000, 2002, and Microsoft Office Publisher 2003. Some more advanced and commercial features were introduced in Publisher 98. With Publisher 2000, the commercial printing features were greatly enhanced and the product more firmly targeted to small businesses. The product has been offered both as a standalone application and bundled with various Microsoft Office Suites and other Microsoft products. It's not available primarily as part of the Microsoft Office suite. Although Macintosh versions of Office have been released, Publisher has remained available only on the Windows platform.
