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Best Free Desktop Publishing Software for Mac
Free doesn't mean second rate
By Jacci Howard Bear Jacci Howard Bear Writer A graphic designer, writer, and artist who writes about and teaches print and web design. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on January 27, 2021 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Design Graphic Design Photoshop Animation & Video 3D Design There are many options available for desktop publishing software, and many of them, though very powerful, also come with a hefty price tag. If you're looking to do some desktop publishing of your own, but you don't want to go all-in on an expensive commercial piece of software, there are great options available on the Mac for free. 01 of 05 Pages
Apple's Pages, which ships on all Macs, is a powerful word processor that can be used as document publishing program. If you need basic business documents, envelopes and business cards, this program can handle them easily. Pages comes with a selection of templates that help you create professional looking documents easy and in a short period of time. You can also work from a blank page, add fonts, personalize text styles, and add graphics and photos to design your document. Pages exports to PDF and Microsoft Word formats, and imports Word documents. 02 of 05 Scribus
Scribus is open source desktop publishing software that is available for several platforms, including Mac. Scribus offers CMYK color model support, font embedding and sub-setting, PDF creation, EPS import/export, basic drawing tools, and other professional level features. Scribus works in a fashion similar to Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress with text frames, floating palettes, pull-down menus and has the features of the pro packages—but without the hefty price tag. However, Scribus may not be the best choice if you don't have the time or interest to devote to overcoming the learning curve associated with high-end professional level software. 03 of 05 Apache OpenOffice Productivity Suite
OpenOffice offers fully-integrated word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing and database tools in an open source software suite. Among the many features, you'll find PDF and SWF (Flash) export, increased Microsoft Office format support and multiple languages. If your desktop publishing needs are basic but you also want a full suite of office tools, try Apache OpenOffice Productivity Suite. However, for more complex desktop publishing tasks you might be better off with Scribus or one of the print creativity titles for the Mac. 04 of 05 Publisher Lite
Publisher Lite from PearlMountain Technology is a free desktop publishing and page layout application for business and home use. Available on the Mac App Store, this free software comes with more than 45 professional templates and hundreds of clipart images and backgrounds. Additional templates for brochures, flyers, newsletters, posters, business cards, invitations, and menus are offered as in-app purchases at an affordable $0.99 each. 05 of 05 Inkscape
Inkscape is a popular free, open source vector drawing program, It uses the scalable vector graphics (SVG) file format. Use it for creating text and graphics compositions including business cards, book covers, flyers and ads. Inkscape is similar in capabilities to Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw. Although it is a graphic software program, it's quite capable of handling some page layout tasks. How to Print Envelopes on a Mac Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire The Best Mac Desktop Publishing Software of 2022 The 8 Best T-Shirt Design Software of 2022 Newsletter Design Software for Windows The 9 Best Free PDF Editors (October 2022) What Is Desktop Publishing Software? 10 Best Free Photo Editing Programs Free Desktop Publishing Software for Windows Software Choices for Logo Design AIT File (What It is and How to Open One) How To Open .PUB Files Without Microsoft Publisher What Is a PDF File? (And How to Open One) FH10 and FH11 Files (What They Are and How to Open Them) The 8 Best Microsoft Office Alternatives of 2022 Courses and Tutorials for DTP Training The 8 Best Speech to Text Software of 2022 4 Best Free Document Converter Software Programs Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies