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Toward a Better Computing Experience | Mike Morris, Editor, Front Range PC Users Group, CO www.frpcug.org http://www.frpcug.org twriterext (at) gmail.com |
This installment continues the comparison of DTP application features. I have attempted to capture the most important features (in my opinion) of 4 applications into 9 categories:
1. General
2. Text Controls
3. Master Pages
4. Tables
5. Graphics
6. Long Document Features
7. Color
8. Commercial Printing
9. Tech Support
The comparisons for categories 8 - 9 are included in this, Part 3, of this article.
The information in the following table is based on these applications and
versions:
1. InDesign®: CS3 (5.0.4) http://www.adobe.com).
2. Microsoft Publisher®: 2007 (12.0.6308.5000) MSO (12.0.6017.5000)
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher/default.aspx 3. Scribus:
1.3.3.13 for Windows (open source,
http://www.scribus.net/).
4. PagePlus®: SE 1.0.0.5
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/pageplus/
The following table is not an exhaustive comparison of all features of all 4 programs. It is based partially on my testing and partially on other resources. The entries in the table are a mixture of facts and opinions. Opinions are enclosed in brackets: [Opinion].
|
Category |
InDesign |
Publisher |
Scribus |
PagePlus |
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Commercial Printing
|
Complete capability |
Untested.
|
PDF conversion capability includes color separations. |
Untested. |
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Tech Support
|
Extensive. |
Many books are available
from 3rd party authors. |
Print
manual can be ordered from Amazon. |
Only online forum available
for this version. |
To summarize the results of the comparisons, it is fair to say that all 4 programs will provide some measure of Desktop Publishing capability. In my opinion, InDesign and Scribus are in a class by themselves.
In deciding which program to use, one decision factor is usually tech support. Tech support for software in today’s world is often a contentious issue. Therefore you may find it helpful to know of my experiences with tech support on these four programs. I rate tech support as follows:
1. InDesign is a commercial product and one of the standards for commercial printing. Therefore, there are a great variety of support options. My own personal experience with support contracts (an expensive option) is not positive (although that is experience is now several years old). However, the Classroom in a Book series is excellent training and the free forum http://forums.adobe.com/community/indesign/indesign_general is also an excellent source of help.
2. Scribus has an excellent mailing list/forum http://lists.scribus.info/mailman/listinfo/scribus along with several wikis http://wiki.scribus.net/index.php/Main_Page available from the website. There is also the printed manual (which I don’t have). So despite the fact that it is an open source program, there is very good tech support available. There are more help resource links available at resources http://docs.scribus.net/index.php?lang=en&page=resources
3. There are many books available on Publisher. However, in my opinion, Publisher is not a major product for Microsoft and getting help from Microsoft to solve problems can be difficult.
4. The free version of PagePlus is supported only via the online forum. I have used that forum. You have to register, but there is no charge. I did, in fact, receive relatively prompt answers to my questions when I used the forum. However, in my case, I have been subsequently bombarded with what I consider spam from Serif trying to sell me upgrades or other products that I did not want. I consider that business approach highly objectionable, and, although the program is actually a capable starting point for users new to DTP, I cannot recommend the program for that reason.
This article has been obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for publication by APCUG member groups; all other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).