The Best Desktop Publishing Software and Resources

Used primarily in a professional environment whether that is for in-house graphic design or by freelance graphic designers, high-end professional desktop publishing offers the ultimate in control over text composition, image manipulation, and options for commercial printing. Over the last few years graphic designers have shifted away from being almost exclusively Mac-based. Three of our five finalists this year, including the winner, are Windows only programs. Taking the top honors this year is Xara Designer Pro.

• Learn more about Xara
• See all the finalists and find out what I recommend as the best software for graphic designers and why.

The best desktop publishing software for business professionals is software that allows businesses to create a variety of materials common to business including business cards, brochures, annual reports, letterhead, books, and advertising. This is really a broad category since it encompasses businesses of all sizes from large corporations to small home-based businesses and the readers choices reflect this. It's a tie between QuarkXPress and Xara Designer Pro.

• Learn more about Quark | Learn more about Xara 
• Meet all the finalists and my own recommendations for the best desktop publishing software for business use.

Cost is one of the driving factors for those not doing professional graphic design. Casual users don't want to shell out thousands of dollars to do desktop publishing. The consumer-level programs typically found in this category are all about creativity, flexibility, and fun and often integrate graphics creation/editing with page layout. Our winner in this category, Xara Designer Pro, has what the casual and home users and the experienced graphic designers want (it's our winner in the graphic design software category too). The less expensive (but just as creative) Xara Photo & Graphic Designer also had a strong turnout in the voting.

• Learn more about Xara.
• Explore all the finalists in this category and my own suggestions for the best desktop publishing software for personal projects.

The best free desktop publishing software has more going for it than just being free. It can be used for most typical desktop publishing-related tasks,and while it might not be as feature-filled as most high-end commercial software, the best software comes very close. Speaking of close, the voting was quite close in this category. As one reader suggested, it may be because the contenders are all so good and also a diverse group of page layout, graphics, and word processing/office software titles. Ultimately, the winning choice is Serif PagePlus Starter Edition and I definitely agree.

• Learn more about Serif PagePlus Starter Edition.
• In addition to PagePlus SE, find out which other free desktop publishing software I recommend and why.

A lot of places sell fonts but three sites come up again and again in recommendations by readers. And this year, just like last year, the top choice is fonts.com by Monotype Imaging.

• Learn more about what you can find at fonts.com and the other top places to buy fonts.

Free fonts are all over the Web. The best places to get free fonts offer a great experience, excellent presentation, top quality, huge selection, or easy searching — or, ideally, all these things. According to our readers (two years in a row), 1001 Free Fonts has the best mix of these features.

• Learn more about 1001 Free Fonts.
• Read my pros and cons on each of the finalists and another site I like for free fonts and why.

Quality, quantity, and cost are big factors when choosing to purchase stock photos and illustrations. You want good images, plenty to choose from, and reasonable and flexible pricing. Taking the win this year, iStockphoto.

• Learn more about iStockphoto and all the finalists for best place to buy images.

When choosing a site to return to again and again for free images we look for a great experience, excellent presentation, top quality, huge selection, or easy searching. A huge number of our readers return again and again to deviantART.

• Learn more about what you'll find at deviantART (not just free photos) and my own quick assessment of the four best places to find free images.

There are plenty of sites that offer up a few or more free templates. But for the greatest variety and consistent quality, many users prefer subscriptions to sites that carry a wide range of professionally-designed templates. This year BoxedART came out the winner.

• Get a quick comparison of the type of templates and subscription plans offered by our winner and other two finalists.