Desktop Publishing Software A-Z

With the release of Adobe Creative Suite 5 in 2010 there are currently five versions of Creative Suite. Some are geared more toward print design while others focus on Web design or interactive media. Most of the individual components of the suite are also available as standalone products so you can build your own custom collection. The Design Standard Edition of CS5 contains 4 core programs (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Acrobat) while the Master Collection contains 15 programs (plus additional apps and services) including Flash and Dreamweaver. Here's a suite comparison chart showing what comes in each edition.

Available as of 2012: Adobe Creative Suite 5 for Mac and Windows (Buy CS5)

CS5 Suites: Design Premium | Design Standard | Web Premium | Print Production | Master Collection

On Pre-Order as of April 2012: Adobe Creative Suite 6

Adobe FrameMaker is powerhouse desktop publishing/XML Editing software for corporations and others producing technical writing or complex documents for Web, print, and other distribution methods.

Available as of 2012: FrameMaker 9 for Mac and Windows. FrameMaker 9 is a part of the Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2.5.

• Adobe FrameMaker 9 (Buy Direct)
• Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2.5 (Buy Direct)
• Adobe FrameMaker Full/Upgrade/All Versions (Compare Prices)

Illustrator is graphics software for vector drawing. Illustrator can also be used for some page layout tasks including business cards and ads. It is available as part of some of the Adobe Creative Suites or as a standalone application. 

Available as of 2012: Illustrator CS5 for Mac and Windows. It is part of the Design Premium, Web Premium, Production Premium, and Master Collection editions of Adobe Creative Suite 5.

• Illustrator CS5 Win (Buy Direct)
• Illustrator CS5 Mac (Buy Direct)
• Illustrator Full/Upgrade/All Versions (Compare Prices)

Also see: More Vector Illustration Software for Mac and Vector Illustration Software for Windows

InDesign is the successor to PageMaker, the original desktop publishing software program. It is a page layout software program available as a standalone package or in some of the editions of the Adobe Creative Suite. Have you used or do you currently use Adobe InDesign? Write a review.

Available as of 2010: InDesign CS5 for Mac and Windows. It is part of the Design Premium, Web Premium, Production Premium, and Master Collection editions of Adobe Creative Suite 5.

• InDesign Windows (Buy Direct) | Design Premium (Buy Direct) | Design Standard (Buy Direct) | Master Collection (Buy Direct)
• InDesign Mac (Buy Direct) | Design Premium (Buy Direct) | Design Standard (Buy Direct) | Master Collection (Buy Direct)
• InDesign Full/Upgrade/All Versions (Compare Prices)

Adobe PageMaker 7 is a professional-level page layout application marketed as a small business/enterprise publishing solution. No longer in development, it is still a popular choice and PageMaker is the original desktop publishing software application. Have you used any version of PageMaker? Write a review.

Available as of 2012: PageMaker 7.0 for Mac and Windows.

• Adobe PageMaker 7 Full (Buy Direct) | Educational (Buy Direct) | Upgrade (Buy Direct)
• PageMaker Full/Upgrade/All Versions (Compare Prices)

The most widely-used professional image editing program has a hefty price tag but it's packed with features. Photoshop is almost a prerequisite for most professional design employment. Photoshop comes in Standard and Extended editions with the Extended version adding 3D and motion-based features. Photoshop is available as a standalone product and comes in all editions of the Adobe Creative Suite. Except for Design Standard, the CS5 suites contain Photoshop Extended.

Available as of 2012: Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Windows and Mac

• Photoshop CS5 Standard (Compare Prices) Full (Buy Direct) | Upgrade (Buy Direct)
• Photoshop CS5 Extended (Compare Prices) Full (Buy Direct) | Upgrade (Buy Direct)
• Various editions of Adobe Photoshop (Compare Prices)
• See the Adobe Education Store (Buy Direct) for Student editions of Photoshop.

Similar to but less expensive is Photoshop Elements.

Also see: More Photo Editors for Windows and Photo Editors for Mac

Create basic personalized calendars. Import your own images. Add dates. Create calendars for any year from 1583 to the present with this simple shareware program. 

Available as of 2010: Calendar Wizard for Windows

• Calendar Wizard (Order Form)

This applications lets you put your personal photos into designer templates. You can also add backgrounds and other graphics to the mix.  Write a review of greeting card software.

Available as of 2010: Greeting Card Studio for Windows

• Greeting Card Studio (Company Store)

This program from AMS Software lets you create monthly or yearly calendars in several formats and sizes. Add holidays, create a photo collage. You can also purchase some 2010 Calendar Templates.

Available as of 2010: Photo Calendar Maker for Windows

• Photo Calendar Maker (Company Store)

AMS Software calls it "advanced digital scrapbooking and photo collage software that turns ordinary digital pictures and text into personalized works of art." There are templates, a wizard to arrange things which can fine-tune as you desire, special effects you can apply to your photos. They also offer the less advanced Photo Collage Maker.

Available as of 2010: Photo Collage Creator for Windows

• Photo Collage Creator (Company Store)