Top 5 best InDesign alternatives

If you're looking for InDesign alternatives, you've come to the right place. Launched in 1999, Adobe InDesign quickly became the industry standard for desktop publishing (DTP), and it’s remained so ever since. However, it’s now part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, and so to access it, you need a monthly subscription, either to the app itself or the Creative Cloud suite as a whole.

1. Affinity Publisher

Launched in 2018, and emerging from public beta this June, Affinity Publisher is our top pick if you’re looking for a subscription-free alternative to InDesign. This desktop publishing software offers excellent page layout features for both printed and online media, such as live master pages, including nested master pages; image frames with intelligent scaling options; text wrapping with fine padding control; advanced guides, grids and snapping; OpenType support, drop caps, text on a path and custom table formats.

You can import and export to all both raster and vector files with Affinity Publisher, including layered PSD, PDF and EPS formats. Until recently you couldn't import InDesign files; you could only save them as PDFs and import either the whole PDF or individual pages. However, IDML import will be in v1.8, which is already available in public beta for users to try.

2. QuarkXPress

Back in the 1990s, QuarkXPress was the king on the desktop publishing block. And many designers, publishing houses and corporations who started using it before InDesign arrived have continued to do so. The software can be used to create everything from posters and flyers to brochures, catalogues, and magazines, as well as ebooks and web and mobile apps.

First launched in 1987, this reliable and feature-packed software can do almost everything that InDesign can do, plus importantly, it can import InDesign files. Available for PC or Mac, it continues to be updated on an annual basis, usually around late spring/early summer, and the latest version is Quark XPress 2019.

3. Scribus

If you’re looking for a free and open source alternative to InDesign, then we recommend checking out Scribus. This excellent tool has an interface that’s very similar to InDesign and is surprisingly feature-packed for a zero-cost tool.

First launched in 2001, Scribus has an enthusiastic developer community around it that keeps it constantly updated with new features and ensures its stability. Available for Mac, Windows and Linux, it supports most of the desktop publishing features you’d find in paid software, including support for OpenType, CMYK colours, spot colours, ICC colour management and versatile PDF creation, as well as some unexpected touches, such as vector drawing tools, emulation of colour blindness and the rendering of markup languages like LaTeX or Lilypond.

4. Swift Publisher

Swift Publisher is a budget desktop publishing app for Mac only. It comes with more than 500 templates for a range of specific projects, including bi-fold and tri-fold brochures, catalogues, business cards, social media, disc labels and covers, address labels and more.

You’ll also have access to a collection of 2D and 3D heading presets, 2,000 free clipart images, 100 image masks, and it includes some sophisticated page layout features including two-page spreads, unlimited layers, master pages, customisable grids, rich text tools, printing to RGB or CMYK, and export to PNG, TIFF, JPEG, EPS and PDF.

5. LucidPress

Lucidpress is an intuitive, web-based, drag and drop tool that allows you to create content for print and digital, including flyers, brochures, business cards, invitations, leaflets, newsletters, magazines, photobooks and more. Largely targeted at people with minimal DTP skills or experience, it comes with both free and paid-for templates to make this super-easy.

The software is also integrated with Google Docs, YouTube, Dropbox, Flickr, Facebook, Unsplash and other tools to allow you to import existing content. Once you’ve completed your designs you can publish them online, embed them in emails or webpages, push to social media, download them as print-ready files, or order directly from the Lucidpress print shop.

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The 6 best Illustrator alternatives

Adobe's software might be the industry standard, but Illustrator alternatives are available. Why is Adobe's vector graphics editor so popular? Well, Illustrator was first released in 1987 and has dominated digital art, illustration, and graphic design for several decades. There are many benefits of using the software, you can find out more via our download Illustrator post.

However, as it's part of Adobe's Creative Cloud, to use Illustrator, you'll need a monthly subscription, either to the app itself or to the Creative Cloud suite as a whole.

1. Affinity Designer

In our view, the best all-round alternative to Illustrator is Affinity Designer. First launched in 2014, this vector editor from British software company Serif has gradually grown in popularity and influence, and for good reason.

And while Illustrator still isn’t available on iPad (although it's coming soon, and it looks very cool), you can now use the full version of Affinity Designer on iPad (for £19.99), with optimized features for the Apple Pencil.

Affinity Designer can also boast a few unique features that Illustrator doesn’t have, including the ability to switch between raster and vector workspaces within the same tool, one-million plus zoom, and unlimited redos. Unencumbered by legacy code, the software generally runs a little bit faster than Illustrator, and if you have a relatively new Mac, a lot faster (which is largely why it won an Apple Design Award).

2. Sketch

If your need for a vector drawing program is primarily for digital design, then Sketch is probably your best alternative to Illustrator: as long as you’re using a Mac.

It’s not a fully comprehensive drawing program, with all the features offered by Illustrator, so you wouldn’t use it to create complex illustrations or art. But by the same token, this means it has a simpler and more user-friendly interface that makes an icon and UI design quick and easy.

First launched in 2010, Sketch has a strong focus on UI and icon design that quickly led it to become the industry’s go-to for the app and website prototyping. A Sketch license costs $99 and will give you one year of free updates. Once your license has expired you can still use the app for as long as you want, but you will need to renew if you want the latest updates.

3. CorelDRAW

First launched in 1989, CorelDRAW is a vector drawing program with a big following among artists and illustrators. For most of this time, it was Windows-only, but this Spring a Mac version was finally released too. There’s no easy way to say whether CorelDRAW or Illustrator is the 'better' tool. Both are packed with features and both have their passionate advocates.

CorelDRAW is available for a one-off fee, but the upfront cost is relatively large: £599 at the time of writing. Essentially, then, the main reason to buy Corel Draw over Illustrator seems to be if you prefer the interface and workflow. What is the objective fact is that Illustrator is the standard software for the design and illustration industry, but that said, you can easily import and export AI and PDF files to CorelDRAW. The two tools can’t easily be separated on price, either.

4. Gravit Designer

Gravit Designer is a tool that allows you to work on a diverse range of design tasks, including illustration, UI and screen design, printed artwork and logo design. You save your work onto your computer in the .gvdesign format, and you can export it as SVG, PDV, PNG or JPEG files. Gravit Designer is available either online in your browser or on your desktop as a downloadable app for Mac OS, Windows, Linux or Chrome OS.

The tool supports a number of vector and raster file formats, including AI and Sketch files. It has a lot of similar features to Illustrator, including a freehand drawing tool that smooths the paths as you draw, the ability to create custom shapes and the equivalent of the Pen tool.

5. Inkscape

Inkscape is a free and open-source vector editor using Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) as the native format. As well as Windows and Mac, it will also run on Linux. The main downside lies in its performance: it can be quite slow and laggy at times.

It’s lightweight, so will run on quite low-powered computers, but it’s surprisingly capable for a free tool, with a lot of useful features including layers, object grouping, drawing, shape, calligraphy, pencil and pen tools, path simplification with variable threshold, bitmap tracing and Boolean operations. Inkscape natively supports opening or importing a range of formats, including SVG, PDF, EPS, AI (Adobe Illustrator) and CDR (CorelDraw).

6. Vectr

Overall, Vectr is super-simple, which can be viewed as a positive or a negative. In other words, it’s never going to replace the feature-rich capabilities of Illustrator, Affinity Designer or Corel Draw, but that also means a very low learning curve (there are very good tutorials featured within the app itself).

Vectr is a totally free, browser-based tool that offers a quick and easy way to get started with vector editing via an intuitive interface. Because it’s based on the web browser, anyone with an internet connection can use it, and that makes it quite straightforward for multiple people to collaborate on a design, too. Each image has a bespoke URL you can share with others, and you can export your finished work as an SVG, PNG or JPEG file.

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5 Dangers of using pirated Software

Software piracy can also come in a variety of other forms that you may not think are bad. Software piracy is defined as an act of illegally copying or distributing software without being the rightful owner or having legal rights.

Depending on your business, software help to enhance its efficiency. However, with the abundantly available software, there is also a lot of software piracy on the internet.

With the growing technological advancements, there are so many useful programs and software available online for businesses. So forget about debating whether you consider a certain act as piracy or not. Simply purchase the legitimate software.

1. Software Piracy is Illegal

Just to spruce up your knowledge, in case you are unaware, software piracy is a felony. This means that if you are found guilty, hefty fines can be imposed on you or you could even face jail time. This is because one can consider software piracy as cybercrime and theft as it results in abuse and misuse of property that you don’t own.

In fact, many firms have been raided and taken down simply for pirating and using unlicensed software. For such corporations, it not only fines, but the consequences can even mean up to five years of jail time for senior management.

2. Potential Malware Attacks

In actuality, individuals that visit piracy sites or download unlicensed software are almost 50% more likely to suffer from malware attacks on their devices or networks. So if you are selfish enough to not be bothered by fines or jail time, malware attacks should scare you. Because this means that you are losing the very same thing you have been working on. Using pirated and unlicensed software puts you at greater risk of malware attacks.

Some of the common risks you are exposed to when using unlicensed software include credit card and banking info theft, identity theft, ransomware, ad fraud, and even risk the quality of your work being compromised. This gives these same shady people easy access to your devices and even networks. This design, for example, makes ransoming very easy to execute. Better back up your data, or better yet do not pirate software!

3. Losses To Legitimate Software Developers And Companies

Yes, the online world is virtual and may appear to be superficial. However, legitimate software companies and developers do depend on the sales of these software. So pirating and the use of unlicensed software does actually equate to you physically robbing a store. This does bring about losses to these companies and directly affects the individuals that work for it.

It’s like a chain reaction – you and a million other pirate software, the company suffers significant losses in sales, and has to retrench some of its employees. Turns out it the same company that your sister works for and she is one of those retrenched. Yet, incapacitating them financially can get them out of business or even limit their resources to allow for more protective software designs. So this, in fact, turns out to be both our loss. 

4. No Updates for Your Software

Because you have unlicensed and pirated software installed on your devices, this means that you will not be able to do the constant updating of the software. Once the software is newly introduced, over time it becomes susceptible to bugs and other malware attacks. This is because crackers use their time to try to navigate and penetrate the system.

Hence, because a pirate program is cracked by illegitimate individuals after certain updates, the software fails to download the legitimate updates for the actual software developer, thus, leaving your devices and networks vulnerable.

5. Pirated Software May Be Malfunctioned

Because they are acquired illegally, you may not know who developed the software and even where they came from. Thus, if the software malfunctions, you will not be able to know this.

Because the pirated software s cracked and slightly alter to be available for free online, this process affects its performance, making it different from the actual software. This means that pirated and unlicensed software is more likely to crash, lose files, and even corrupt files.

Therefore, as much as legitimate software appears to be expensive, it is always wise to go for them. This ensures that even your work and the durability of your devices are not compromised. The touch screen compatible Microsoft 10 or cloud-based Office 365 for example, cannot be accessed with pirated software – so you will be missing out.

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