Is there an equivalent to MS Publisher for the Mac?

ChrisH3677 said:

My kids are big users of MS Publisher but when I switch them to a Mac in the near future they will be disappointed to lose it. DTP is a specialist product that you can fake to some degree using a word processor or a presentation program, but it's not the same. I've looked at AppleWorks and Office X, but neither have genuine DTP.

So, does anyone know any good cheap DTP program for the Mac?

thanks

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Please for my sake and the sake of every desktop publisher out here, get your kids OFF Publisher. It is one of the largest headaches in commercial printing and should be outlawed as far as we are concerned. I have been at this for over 30 years (the last 20 as a desktop publisher) and I have seen and used just about every application for the trade. I know the top apps are expensive but you can still find PageMaker rather inexpensive
http://www.adobe.com/store/products/master.jhtml?id=catPageMaker
but can be found maybe on e-bay or amazon.
Quark (unless you upgrade will run you $950)
http://www.quark.com/products/xpress/purchase/#full_product
which to me is ludicrous.
Adobe InDesign if purchased individually will run about $700
http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/main.html

We struggle with Publisher and groan every time one of our customers submits a job in Publisher, but at the bundle price of $29 we have to try and make them work or end up loosing business. we try to educate our customers, but the age old saying comes to play money talks.

here are some alternatives to look at
http://www.haage-partner.com/prods-e.htm
http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/
http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/software/gr/ragtimesolofree.htm

Good shopping
http://shop.bizrate.com/buy/superfi...ge layout software,search_box--1,sfsk--1.html

P.S. Publisher is a PC only software and one of Microsofts worse attempts to gain any favor from the DTP crowd.

Hmmm... You've got, of course, InDesign and Quark, but I doubt you're looking to spend that kind of money. Maybe you can find a copy of Adobe Pagemaker, not too long ago discontinued, for cheap somewhere.

Or, Scribus, a Linux app, might work using Fink? (http://www.scribus.net)

Or, use KWord on OSX. KDE apps can be run on OSX with a little work: http://ranger.befunk.com/blog/

Ready, Set, Go! was one of the early DTP applications and is available for Mac OS X at a fairly reasonable price. http://www.diwan.com/rsgsales/index.htm

ChrisH3677 said:

My kids are big users of MS Publisher but when I switch them to a Mac in the near future they will be disappointed to lose it. DTP is a specialist product that you can fake to some degree using a word processor or a presentation program, but it's not the same. I've looked at AppleWorks and Office X, but neither have genuine DTP.

So, does anyone know any good cheap DTP program for the Mac?

thanks

Click to expand...

M$ Publisher targets the same audience as Broderbund's Print Shop Deluxe. It is in no way a viable professional application.

If your kids are students, InDesign would only be $199.

mactastic said:

If your kids are students, InDesign would only be $199.

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I Highly agree with this, student discounts are really handy.

I'm glad I was able to help, the motto of our organization is: “Share Your Knowledge”

http://www.iaphc.org

Sparky's said:

Please for my sake and the sake of every desktop publisher out here, get your kids OFF Publisher. It is one of the largest headaches in commercial printing and should be outlawed as far as we are concerned. I have been at this for over 30 years (the last 20 as a desktop publisher) and I have seen and used just about every application for the trade. I know the top apps are expensive but you can still find PageMaker rather inexpensive
http://www.adobe.com/store/products/master.jhtml?id=catPageMaker
but can be found maybe on e-bay or amazon.
Quark (unless you upgrade will run you $950)
http://www.quark.com/products/xpress/purchase/#full_product
which to me is ludicrous.
Adobe InDesign if purchased individually will run about $700
http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/main.html

We struggle with Publisher and groan every time one of our customers submits a job in Publisher, but at the bundle price of $29 we have to try and make them work or end up loosing business. we try to educate our customers, but the age old saying comes to play money talks.

here are some alternatives to look at
http://www.haage-partner.com/prods-e.htm
http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/
http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/software/gr/ragtimesolofree.htm

Good shopping
http://shop.bizrate.com/buy/superfi...ge layout software,search_box--1,sfsk--1.html

P.S. Publisher is a PC only software and one of Microsofts worse attempts to gain any favor from the DTP crowd.

Click to expand...

Let me add to what you said as a layout artist that used MS Publisher. You are right that I was the bane of your existence. It took me to invest in Acrobat (full version) and Quite A Box of Tricks to get files that newspapers and magazines could use. Only because my company is a Windows shop.

Last year i had friends that knew DP, convinced me to get into a Mac. I got the PB 12" and Adobe CS Suite. For magazine and newspaper work InDesign can't be beat. And for ChrisH3677's kids learning "real' programs will go a long way.

That being said; there is a time for a program for Publisher. I did many a nice tri-fold flyer with Publisher. And for me right now i have no time to recreate them in InDesign. Thank heavens for Virtual PC.

I am no fan of M$. But Publisher does offer those that are looking for quick results an alternative to those of us that are still learning.

mactastic said:

If your kids are students, InDesign would only be $199.

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Or the complete suite for only $399. And that would truly give your kids cornerstones in the major apps to build on.

Also take a look at what is required to get the student discount. In some cases it is only a class or two at your community college.

MisterMe said:

M$ Publisher targets the same audience as Broderbund's Print Shop Deluxe. It is in no way a viable professional application.

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I disagree. You only have to look at my company's ads from 2001 till late last year to see the power of M$ Publisher. These were ads that were published in the Washington Post and trade journals nationwide.

In another post i mentioned using Quite A Box of Tricks. This was only after that the Washington Post went to electronic delivery, and my boss preferred having the extra time for updates to the ad.

Just to give some background. i am a salesperson by training. I did posters using Publisher for a number of local non-profit groups. I only started doing adds for my company when I was promoted to a co-op/scheduling position. My boss came to me asking if the Post could redo an ad a day before deadline. I went home and used Publisher to layout the new ad. Brought in the next day. He loved it. He was surprised that the"Post" had came up with such a great looking ad in such a short time. I then informed him I did overnight at home. He asked if they could use the ad. I had printed it on glossy stock and requested a rush pick-up. Surprise it worked! (A word of caution, be careful what you do for your boss...).

I guess what i am saying is that Publisher is not the evil that some think. It can work for those short on time and talent.

ChrisH3677 said:

ragtime! ragtime! ragtime! ragtime! ragtime! ragtime! ragtime! ragtime! ragtime! ragtime! ragtime! ragtime! ragtime! ragtime! ragtime! ragtime!

Please apple, drop apple works, licence this superb program, and bundle it with new macs.

I never thought I was ever going to see a product like RagTime. I'd given up years ago on any developer being smart enough to provide a combined office suite and layout program.

Forget OpenOffice, ThinkFree, Office vX, Appleworks or any other. Give your support to RagTime coz it's the way office suites should have been going for years.

And it's FREE for non-commercial use!! woohoo!! And there's a Windows version, so you can convert all your wintel friends too!

9 out of 10 for this product (i'd give it 10 if it exported to MS Office file formats)

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I will check this out. This may be an answer for "quick" projects in the OSX environment.