LLSeattle

Q: what mac program is synonymous to Microsoft Publisher?

I used MS Publisher to create flyers, newsletters, etc on my PC.  What program is good to do this on my Mac Pro?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Feb 15, 2015 11:12 AM

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Q: what mac program is synonymous to Microsoft Publisher?

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Feb 15, 2015 11:20 AM in response to LLSeattle
    Level 10 (270,283 points)
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    Feb 15, 2015 11:20 AM in response to LLSeattle

    Apple's Pages, Microsoft Word in Office 2011, the word processor in Libre Office (freeware) just to name a few. You can find many others at MacUpdate.com and the Mac's App Store.

  • by LLSeattle,

    LLSeattle LLSeattle Feb 15, 2015 11:23 AM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    Feb 15, 2015 11:23 AM in response to Kappy

    Word is far inferior to the capabilities in Publisher.  Having only used Pages for about 9 mo's, can I do the layout features in pages similar to publisher?

    I haven't learned much about layout and publication in Pages yet.

  • by Sparkleberry,Helpful

    Sparkleberry Sparkleberry Feb 15, 2015 11:36 AM in response to LLSeattle
    Level 4 (3,110 points)
    Notebooks
    Feb 15, 2015 11:36 AM in response to LLSeattle

    Ditto to what Kappy wrote to you regarding Pages

     

    If you are used to Office and have Office for Mac, you can do a lot with MS Word but it is finicky. Although graphics is not its strong suit. It depends upon complexity of your Newsletters.

     

    There is no equivalent to Publisher, in my opinion, but there other options, most much easier, some more expensive, some quite reasonable.

    Note, I have Publisher but use the program rarely - I run it under Parallels at the point of a gun.

     

    High end is Quark, or inDesign. Two schools of thought as to which is better. I have Quark. But support suffers compared to inDesign.


    There are some pure Mac applications and much less expensive than the two above.

    Example:

     

    http://www.belightsoft.com/products/swiftpublisher/overview.php

    http://www.istudiopublisher.com

     

    What to look for is how you output your product for your professional printing services or your own printer. Another feature is how you can flow text, linking multiple pages.


    e.g.from Swift Publisher

    "Export to TIFF, JPEG, EPS, and PDF Export your projects to the most popular image formats and send them to a printshop."


    from iStudio:

    "Commercial Printing Produce PDF files ready for printing at a commercial print shop, satisfying all of the typical requirements, including high resolution images, CMYK colors and embedded fonts."


    There is at least one OpenSource package desktop publishing package called Scribus

    http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus


  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Feb 15, 2015 11:32 AM in response to LLSeattle
    Level 10 (270,283 points)
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    Feb 15, 2015 11:32 AM in response to LLSeattle

    Couldn't tell you. I've done book layouts in Word, so I think your evaluation is incorrect. There are many layout products out there. The very best is Adobe's inDesign if your are willing to spend the money for it. Then there are freeware applications like Scribus which is similar to InDesign.

     

    I've provided you with two locations to find such programs, so I suggest you search them. There is no Mac equivalent of Publisher, but there are many applications for the Mac that would be pretty close in some respects. Some simple ones include RapidWeaver and SandVox.

  • by Csound1,Solvedanswer

    Csound1 Csound1 Feb 15, 2015 11:39 AM in response to LLSeattle
    Level 9 (50,245 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 15, 2015 11:39 AM in response to LLSeattle

    The only program available that can open MS Publisher files is Libre Office, Word and Pages won't.

     

    You have only one choice. Libre Office, and it is free.

     

    Microsoft Publisher

  • by LLSeattle,Helpful

    LLSeattle LLSeattle Feb 15, 2015 11:42 AM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 15, 2015 11:42 AM in response to Kappy

    I admit, I haven't tried to do layout work in Word for at least 5 yrs.  Perhaps the newer versions have better/easier capabilities.

    I have not found many good reviews of MS Office for Mac and so have not put it on my Mac.  I have Yosemite Op system on it now.

    Prior to that, I went from using Adobe Pagemaker to Word, and am used to being able to just plop items down where I want them, and continuous flow with text boxes.  I PDF everything for printing and sharing.

    Thanks, and all info is certainly helpful !

  • by Sparkleberry,

    Sparkleberry Sparkleberry Feb 15, 2015 11:52 AM in response to Sparkleberry
    Level 4 (3,110 points)
    Notebooks
    Feb 15, 2015 11:52 AM in response to Sparkleberry

    The Macintosh made its mark on the world with page layout programs such as ReadySetGo and a laser printer many years ago.


    Again, focus on two or three things:


    1) how you can import text, graphics, and how to export the finished product for processing (paper or electronic).


    2) how you output your product for your professional printing services or your own printer.


    3)  how you can flow text, linking multiple pages.


    By the way, I would be remiss if I did not suggest to you


    OmniGraffle. A power house graphics program.


    https://www.omnigroup.com/omnigraffle/



    EDIT due to Csound1 post.


    I  think LibreOffice might be a good bet as it opens all of your other work you have done in Publisher. It's not fluid like Mac OS but it seems to read the Windows Publisher file.

  • by Sparkleberry,

    Sparkleberry Sparkleberry Feb 15, 2015 11:49 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 4 (3,110 points)
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    Feb 15, 2015 11:49 AM in response to Csound1

    Hey, I learned something new today.

     

    I used LibreOffice to open a  Windows .pub file and it works like a charm.

     

    Thanks!

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Feb 15, 2015 11:52 AM in response to Sparkleberry
    Level 9 (50,245 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 15, 2015 11:52 AM in response to Sparkleberry

    Sparkleberry wrote:

     

    Hey, I learned something new today.

     

    I used LibreOffice to open a  Windows .pub file and it works like a charm.

     

    Thanks!

    You're welcome.

  • by LLSeattle,

    LLSeattle LLSeattle Feb 15, 2015 11:59 AM in response to Sparkleberry
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 15, 2015 11:59 AM in response to Sparkleberry

    Wow, Omni group and Omni Graffe look pretty spiffy!  $100 for high end publication material isn't bad at all! Thanks!

  • by IV Est Fae,

    IV Est Fae IV Est Fae Sep 10, 2016 12:08 AM in response to Sparkleberry
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Sep 10, 2016 12:08 AM in response to Sparkleberry

    I am a self-employed photographer, and I created all my photographic Note Cards in Publisher. It was VERY easy to use, and I've used Publisher since I worked for a M$ vendor back in the late 90s, where I supported Publisher 97. I have recently switched to a Mac, and am now finding out that M$ doesn't make a Mac ver of Publisher. But then I saw the posts about LibreOffice, so I installed it. My Note Cards are 2-up, 4.25x5.5. When I opened the landscape oriented versions of my Note Cards in LibreOffice, it keeps my text boxes correctly oriented, but it's flipping all my images. I've tried selecting the image, and rotating it, but nothing happens. <heavy sigh>