Mac Desktop Publishing Software

Best software for Mac users

As discussed earlier, editors recommend Adobe InDesign CS4 (*Est. $700 or $200 to upgrade) as the best desktop publishing software for Mac users who need professional-level capacity. For home office and small-business use, where the latest time-saving features aren't crucial, consider trying Scribus (free). This open-source desktop publishing software is discussed in the next section on free desktop publishing software. There are several other worthwhile desktop publishing software titles compatible with Mac that range in price from $45 to $80.

Apple iWork '09 (*Est. $80) includes Pages '09 software, which combines word processing with page layout. It comes with over 180 templates for projects such as business cards, stationery and flyers. In the Macworld review, the editor praises this latest version's addition of mail merge, but finds that it needs further development. It's tricky to use, and you can't preview the mail merge before printing.

For small-business desktop publishing, the new kid on the block is iStudio Publisher (*est. $50). Mail merge isn't listed among its features, but it does provide good text tools. Unlike Apple iWork, this software is strictly for desktop publishing. Jackie Dove, reviewing it for Macworld, gives it a rating of four on a five-point scale. She recommends it for "sophisticated capabilities" combined with "a straightforward and non-intimidating interface." At MacUpdate.com, however, some early user-written reviews report problems. The iStudio website says the early problems have been fixed, but it's clearly new software that is still evolving. A full-featured 30-day trial is available.

Nova Print Explosion Deluxe 3.0 (*Est. $45) is designed more for informal printing projects, but you can use it to do mail merges from a Mac OS X address book. More than 13,000 project templates and 100,000 graphics are included, so Print Explosion takes a lot of space on the hard drive: 1.73 GB. At Macworld, this software earns praise for its "beautifully designed" templates, ease of use and integration with iLife applications such as iPhoto and iTunes. A review at MacAddict notes that the software can be sluggish, however, even on a 2 GHz PowerMac G5 -- often freezing up for a couple of seconds at a time.

Macworld reviewer Jim Akin also likes a Broderbund software title, The Print Shop for Mac 2.0 (*Est. $60), giving it the same four-star rating as iStudio and Print Explosion. It takes less space (570 MB) and comes with many age-themed projects that kids can use. However, Akin finds that it's awkward to make booklets of more than three pages. Users reviewing this software at Amazon.com give it mixed reviews, mostly for poor quality clip art and photos that look dated.

Print Explosion Deluxe 3.0 also earns mixed reviews from users, with complaints about poorly organized templates and graphics, and awkward usability overall. Some users, on the other hand, say it's easy and fun to use. It does come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, though, and provides a lot of capability at a relatively low cost.