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Microsoft Publisher on Mac

M

MactheRye

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 29, 2009
18
1
UK
Hi All, Can't find an answer to this - bit of a Mac newie - I have Mac Office 2008 on my iMac and have been emailed a letter attachment in Microsoft Publisher and I am at a loss how to read and use this document.

You experts will say 'piece of cake' but I have tried Word, Text Edit and Appleworks conversion with no luck.

Does the orignator have to reformat and send again?

Regards
 
From what I have read of this problem.

The general consensus seems to be that Publisher is complete garbage and Quark Express, Indesign or some other desktop publishing program should be used instead.

Anyways the only option I could find would be to have the person convert to PDF and resend the file. If they do not have Acrobat the could use the free CutePDF. However, this will not be editable, at least not without Adobe Acrobat. Publisher may have other export options but I have seen none mentioned.

Instruction for them: Install CutePDF, Open file, choose print, at the print dialogue change the printer to the PDF printer, save PDF, e-mail PDF to you.
 
MS Publisher!!

velocityg4 said:
From what I have read of this problem.

The general consensus seems to be that Publisher is complete garbage and Quark Express, Indesign or some other desktop publishing program should be used instead.

Anyways the only option I could find would be to have the person convert to PDF and resend the file. If they do not have Acrobat the could use the free CutePDF. However, this will not be editable, at least not without Adobe Acrobat. Publisher may have other export options but I have seen none mentioned.

Instruction for them: Install CutePDF, Open file, choose print, at the print dialogue change the printer to the PDF printer, save PDF, e-mail PDF to you.
Click to expand...

Thanks Velocity, I'll do just that.
 
There is NO way to open or read a publisher file on a Mac.

You can thank microsoft for that, but also remember that Publisher sucks so bad no one should use it. Ever.

As was said, the person will have to give you PDF of the publisher document.

If you are personally looking to do light desktop publishing/layout on your Mac, iWork (Pages) is a nice, inexpensive, alternative to InDesign or Quark(ewww).

Good luck.
 
JustGretchen said:
There is NO way to open or read a publisher file on a Mac.

You can thank microsoft for that, but also remember that Publisher sucks so bad no one should use it. Ever.

As was said, the person will have to give you PDF of the publisher document.

If you are personally looking to do light desktop publishing/layout on your Mac, iWork (Pages) is a nice, inexpensive, alternative to InDesign or Quark(ewww).

Good luck.
Click to expand...
Thanks JustGretchen. Whilst I use Mac Office I would never go as far as MS Publisher. Others know this and continue to send them to me - will have to start 'blocking'.

Regards
 
Oh! That MS Publisher

Southernboy said:
You could also convert it to an editable format like RTF using Zamzar.

http://zamzar.com/
Click to expand...

Thanks SouthernBoy, will look at that - Zamzar a new one on me.

I fear it will be many years before I reach Demi-God status, but I will try - the Mac world is still a learning curve for me.

Regards to the south
 
Trick to deal with your prob.

MactheRye said:
Hi All, Can't find an answer to this - bit of a Mac newie - I have Mac Office 2008 on my iMac and have been emailed a letter attachment in Microsoft Publisher and I am at a loss how to read and use this document.

You experts will say 'piece of cake' but I have tried Word, Text Edit and Appleworks conversion with no luck.

Does the orignator have to reformat and send again?

Regards
Click to expand...

Me too, I'm new to mack too. But use it if you must here is what you can do.
Download a try version of parallels and a try version of microsoft publisher. Install parallels and windows in it and than install publisher on that virtual box and than you can see edit and do what ever you want with windows. There is also virtual box which is free or wine. Windows emulator for mac. That is also free. There is also crossover app. for mac that can simulate a windows machine. Good luck nd enjoy your mac.
 
MS Publisher - eek!

Cheers Roblife - you quote some heavy download actions there, but will give it a go - very much the 'L' plates.

Regards
 
Publisher

I was just about to change from PC to MAC for my main computer - at last - due to family history software being available at long last - however not being able to use publisher is an issue its not garbage but a cheap and useful way of producing good quality posters, newsletters etc been using it since 1992 Oh well I can see if I can do some training in indesign
 
helloevans said:
I was just about to change from PC to MAC for my main computer - at last - due to family history software being available at long last - however not being able to use publisher is an issue its not garbage but a cheap and useful way of producing good quality posters, newsletters etc been using it since 1992 Oh well I can see if I can do some training in indesign
Click to expand...

Why go with such a high-end product like InDesign? I don't think Publisher is cheap, the prices I've seen seem high for Publisher alone or you can spend even more & get Office. Publisher will run well on an Intel Mac using CrossOver or Parallels. (I got Office 2007 cheaply through work.)

But for better quality DTP on the cheap, there is Pages (part of iWork or individually through the Mac App Store) or other DTP alternatives.
 
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Publisher is deep fried doo-doo. It sucks that so many small organizations and non-profits struggle with this app because it's usually free or cheap and accessible, but nothing else can open those garbage files to allow one to continue in a better application. I hate Publisher with a passion.
 
Publisher on Mac

Nope. The simple reason being that Microsoft did not write a program for Mac for Publisher. If someone sends you a Publisher file, you cannot open it on a Mac. They sure could send it as a PDF, and you can view the file, but the catch is if someone sends the file and wants to share it for editing, etc., no go. Had the same problem here as you. I switched my wife from a Windows machine to a new Intel iMac. We found no problem at all finding all the software she needed to do the same stuff, OpenOffice for Excel, FileMaker Pro for Microsoft Access (export Access files as Excel, create same fields in FileMaker, and import, it was pretty easy). But nothing for Publisher. You sure can find several programs which run on Mac to create the same results. Your only option, if you have an Intel Mac, is to install Windows on a partition for Boot Camp (other options exist to run Windows on your Mac), and buy a copy of Publisher. Then you have full functionality. We were about to do that, and decided that for the money, it just wasn't worth it. Now we just tell those Publisher users to "Get a Mac!":)
 
Publisher be damned!

cpgneinc said:
Nope. The simple reason being that Microsoft did not write a program for Mac for Publisher. If someone sends you a Publisher file, you cannot open it on a Mac. They sure could send it as a PDF, and you can view the file, but the catch is if someone sends the file and wants to share it for editing, etc., no go. Had the same problem here as you. I switched my wife from a Windows machine to a new Intel iMac. We found no problem at all finding all the software she needed to do the same stuff, OpenOffice for Excel, FileMaker Pro for Microsoft Access (export Access files as Excel, create same fields in FileMaker, and import, it was pretty easy). But nothing for Publisher. You sure can find several programs which run on Mac to create the same results. Your only option, if you have an Intel Mac, is to install Windows on a partition for Boot Camp (other options exist to run Windows on your Mac), and buy a copy of Publisher. Then you have full functionality. We were about to do that, and decided that for the money, it just wasn't worth it. Now we just tell those Publisher users to "Get a Mac!":)
Click to expand...

Cheers mate. Thought of installing Windows on Boot Camp, but then decided 'no way'. Since the Publisher problem days I've told originator 'think again'. I've stuck with Mac Office for Word and Excel only, and found Graphics chap who has a wide range of 'strange' applications to meet my needs. Publisher friend will never buy a Mac, some people never see the light!

Thanks.
 
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Substitute for Publisher on Mac

I loved Publisher. It was perfect for laying out graphics and text for emessages.

Paying $500 for InDesign isn't an option and I have spent hours trying to figure out how to manipulate Word or Adobe Acrobat for the same functionalities - a vertical format words and pictures graphic I can use for eblasts or to post as Jpegs on Facebook. Publisher was great for both.

What's the MaC alternative?
 
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