Comparison of desktop publishing software

The following is a comparison of major desktop publishing software.

Overview

This table provides general software information including the developer, latest stable version, the year in which the software was first released, and the license under which it is available.

Desktop publishing software	Developer(s)	Latest stable version	Initial release	License
Affinity Publisher	Serif Europe	2.3.0 30 November 2023; 16 months ago (2023-11-30)[1]	2019 (2019)	Proprietary
Apache OpenOffice Writer	Apache Software Foundation and others	4.1.15[2]  22 December 2023; 15 months ago (22 December 2023)	2002 (2002)[3]	Apache License 2.0 (Apache OpenOffice 3.4 and later)
Canva	Canva Pty Ltd	Rolling updates	2013 (2013)	Proprietary SaaS
Collabora Online[4]	Collabora	24.04.12.5[5]  27 March 2025; 14 days ago (27 March 2025)	2016 (2016) [6]	MPL-2.0 and others
CorelDRAW	Corel	24.5 September 18, 2023; 18 months ago (2023-09-18)	1989 (1989)	Proprietary
InDesign	Adobe	CC 2024 20.0 October 2024; 6 months ago (2024-10)	1999 (1999)	Proprietary Trialware
LibreOffice Draw[7]	The Document Foundation	25.2.2[8]  27 March 2025; 14 days ago (27 March 2025)	2011 (2011)	LGPL v3
LyX	The LyX Team	2.4.3[9]  16 January 2025; 2 months ago (16 January 2025)	1995 (1995)	GPL v2[10]
Marq	Draper	Rolling updates	2013	Proprietary SaaS
Microsoft Publisher	Microsoft Corporation	2021 October 5, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-10-05)[11]	1991 (1991)	Proprietary Trialware
Pages	Apple Inc.	13.2 September 21, 2023; 18 months ago (2023-09-21)[12]	2005 (2005)	Proprietary
QuarkXPress	Quark, Inc.	2024 20.0.0 November 14, 2023; 16 months ago (2023-11-14)	1987 (1987)	Proprietary
Scribus	The Scribus Team	1.6.1[13] 7 January 2024; 15 months ago (2024-01-07)	2003 (2003)	GPL
The Print Shop	Broderbund	23.1 2009; 16 years ago (2009)[a]	1984 (1984)	Proprietary
Desktop publishing software	Developer(s)	Latest stable version	Initial release	License

OS and Online support

This table shows Operating System (OS) compatibility with the latest version of the desktop publishing applications, there are five possibilities:

• No indicates that it does not exist or was never released.
• Partial indicates that the application lacks important functionality and it is still being developed.
• Beta indicates that while a version of the application is fully functional and has been released, it is still in development (e.g. for stability).
• Yes indicates that the application has been officially released in a fully functional, stable version.
• Dropped indicates that while the application works, new versions are no longer being released for the indicated OS; the number in parentheses is the last known stable version which was officially released for that OS.

Application names that are on a light purple background are discontinued.

Desktop publishing software	Android	ChromeOS	iOS	iPadOS	Linux	MacOS	Windows	Web, Online, Cloud	Other OS
Affinity Publisher	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No[14]
Apache OpenOffice Writer	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes[b]	Yes	No	Yes[15][c][d]
Canva	Yes[e] (App[16] and Online)	Yes (App and Online)	Yes[e] (App[17] and Online)	Yes (App and Online)	Yes	Yes (App and Online)	Yes (App and Online)	Yes	No[18]
Collabora Online	Yes[e] (App[19] and Online)	Yes (App[20] and Online)	Yes[e] (App[21] and Online)	Yes (App and Online)	Yes (App and Online)	Yes (App[22] and Online)	Yes (App and Online)	Yes	Yes[f][d]
CorelDRAW	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No[23]
InDesign	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No[24]
LibreOffice	No	Yes[25][d]	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes[f]
LyX	No	Yes[26]	No	No	Yes[27]	Yes	Yes	No	OS/2, Haiku
Marq	Yes[e][28] (Online)	Yes (Online)	Yes[e][29] (Online)	Yes (Online)	Yes (Online)	Yes (Online)	Yes (Online)	Yes	No
Microsoft Publisher	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Pages	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes[30]	No	No	No
QuarkXPress	No	No	No	No	No	Yes[31]	Yes	No	No
Scribus	No	Yes[32]	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	OS/2 Warp 4, ArcaOS, eComStation, OpenIndiana, Solaris, Haiku
The Print Shop	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Desktop publishing software	Android	ChromeOS	iOS	iPadOS	Linux	MacOS	Windows	Web, Online, Cloud	Other OS

Input format

This table gives a comparison of the file formats that can be opened or imported.

Desktop publishing software	PDF	EPS	SVG	HTML	OpenDocument ODT	Microsoft DOCX	Other
Affinity Publisher	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes[33]
Apache OpenOffice Writer	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes[34]
Canva	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	PNG, WebP, audio, video, fonts, others[35]
Collabora Online	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	PUB, TeX/LaTeX, WebP, others[36][37]
CorelDRAW	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	others[38]
InDesign	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	WebP, others[39]
LibreOffice	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	PUB, WPD, TeX/LaTeX, RTF, others[40]
LyX	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	CSV, TeX/LaTeX, others[41]
Marq	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	PNG
Microsoft Publisher	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	RTF
Pages	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	RTF[42]
QuarkXPress	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	PSD, AI, SWF, PNG PDF, RTF
Scribus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	PUB, TeX/LaTeX, others List
The Print Shop	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Desktop publishing software	PDF	EPS	SVG	HTML	OpenDocument ODT	Microsoft DOCX	Other

Output format

This table gives a comparison of the file formats each software can export or save.

Desktop publishing software	PDF	EPS	PNG	SVG	WebP	EPUB	HTML	Other
Affinity Publisher	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes, others[43]
Apache OpenOffice Writer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	[44]
Canva	Yes	No	Yes[g][45]	Yes	Yes	No	No	JPEG, Video:GIF, MP4, others[46]
Collabora Online	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	ODF, others[47][48]
CorelDRAW	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	PSD, AI, SWF, WPD, others[49]
InDesign	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	JPG, RTF, others[50]
LibreOffice	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	ODF, JPEG, RTF, other[51]
LyX	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	PS, ODF, TeX/LaTeX, DOCX, others[52]
Marq	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	JPEG, GIF, MP4, others[53]
Microsoft Publisher	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	JPG, TIFF
Pages	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	RTF[54]
QuarkXPress	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Kindle[55]
Scribus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	List, TeX/LaTeX
The Print Shop	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Desktop publishing software	PDF	EPS	PNG	SVG	WebP	EPUB	HTML	Other

See also

• List of desktop publishing software
• List of office suites
• Comparison of office suites

Notes

1. release date not stated on vendors web page
2. Rosetta 2 emulation is required to run on all current Apple macOS hardware which use Apple silicon (M1, M2, M3...). Native CPU support remains for previous Intel based macOS devives.
3. Build your own application from source code
4. unsupported
5. not supported on mobile web browsers.
6. Online or Build your own application from source code
7. The free version of Canva does not support transparent backgrounds. Canva Pro or Enterprise have an option to “Remove Background” from images