Adobe InDesign versus Affinity Publisher: Which Should You Use?

When it comes to page layout programs for graphic designers, for some it comes down to Adobe InDesign versus Affinity Publisher. Find out the key differences between InDesign and Publisher and how to decide which page layout program is best for you.
Show Notes:
Adobe Creative Cloud: creative-boost...
Affinity Designer: affinity.serif...
IDMarkz: markzware.com/...
Full transcript available at: creative-boost...
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Music: www.bensound.com

[@pbasswil]

Colleen, this is a really great summary of the salient differences - and unlike the other comparisons online, _you're not a fanboy_ of one or the other. That alone is a valuable contribution, thank you!

[@DesignDomination]

Thank you so much for the feedback! I am delighted you found it helpful. I hope you will check out my other videos too. Do you prefer one program over the other?

[@pbasswil]

@@DesignDomination C, I'm barely a graphics dabbler, I occasionally use A.D. and A.Photo, and have thought of picking up Publisher 1) just cuz I'm intrigued, and b) for the fun & convenience of the Studio Link feature. I appreciate what Adobe has done over the years, but I also see how their professional users are pretty much forced to put up with their payment terms. :^/ It's fun to watch David nibble away at the edges of Goliath's hegemony. :^>

[@binxwinx8434]

I switched to Serif's Affinity because the suit ticks all the boxes for me and my bank account is much happier.. I honestly felt ripped off with adobe's prices!

[@mr.coffeenews9257]

I tried Affinity and there are still several things that it just doesn't do. Plus, learning new software is too much for this old timer. I published a magazine in 1985 with a 512k Mac. So went through a few DTP programs through the years. Starting with MacPublisher 1, 2 and 3. Which was powerful but the Mac couldn't handle it. Then tried Pagemaker. Crashed. Finally Ready,Set,Go was the first one that ran smoothly and allowed me to do it all without piecing some things. Photoshop 2.5 I think for the photos later on when I bought a scanner and a platemaker. Then in 2004 I switched to InDesign, which was amazing and really hasn't changed that much in all these years. What's lacking in Affinity? I didn't like not being able to dock the link panel which is called resourced I believe. Plus the interface is a bit spread out and not as useful ad InDesign. I actually found the Personas a bit confusing but I guess that takes some learning. I liked just opening a photo link into Photoshop which is easy and with the new Apple Silicon M1,2,3 opens very quickly. Not minutes, seconds for the app and split seconds if the app is open. Also Photoshope automatically makes a photo higher res if you increase the size. Photo does not. Also Illustrator has trace, Designer does not. Photoshop is also becoming more and more automatic with cropping and AI so saves time. I really like Affinity and hope they somehow fix things and catch up to Adobe. As you mentioned, opening a PDF in Publisher is amazing and is shocking that InDesign still can't do this. It's nearly better than Publisher opening a idml file for some files, like advertisements. There are some other things I love about InDesign over Publisher but I haven't looked at Publisher for a year or two so forget. I did make a file with some of the reasons so I can look at it every time I ponder switching to Affinity. When I do look.. it all comes back. It's just too frustrating to lose some of the ease of InDesign and worth it to keep paying. ouch

[@geoffreyowen884]

I am not a professional website designer....I just to promote my own product; and I do this once every year. Why on earth should you pay 'monthly fees' when you only use a program once a year. I am an Affinity supporter.

[@kurganwins]

Great review. I also started in Quark, but jumped at InDesign when it came out. Have now been looking at Affinity for awhile since the Adobe subscription came about just not taken the leap.

[@DesignDomination]

Thank you! I think you'll pick it up easily as an InDesign user. Let me know how you go with it.

[@websiteckron8591]

I also startet in Quark, now I have got 2 months left to make the transition to affinity,as my adobe subscription will eventually run out.

[@hansdelrue3141]

Quark X-press lover. Yeah me too.

[@elysiumcore]

I switched last night to publisher .. InDesign is simply unstable on the M1 Macs 👀

[@DesignDomination]

Let me know how you like it.

[@yoecNorman]

I used to use PageMaker

[@rwc7632]

I'm using Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 (which includes InDesign 5.5) on disk for one purchase price 11 years ago. Don't like subscription software.

[@peterbreis5407]

Quark XPress 4.11 was a monster for productivity, although it did lack quite a bit of refinement in layout and functions. Quark fixed that in what was a copybook absolute corporate f@#$up. Both alienating its users whilst taking away virtually everything that was good about Quark XPress. So much so that a few years ago I was offered a free licence by Quark and I declined because I was not going to either waste my time or put my work in a format I was not going to support. Many of your minuses for Affinity Publisher, especially accessibility, don't apply anymore. (Current version is v2.5).

[@DesignDomination]

I loved QXP 4.11! Yes, the video is two years old. I plan to do another one with the updated Publisher.

[@peterbreis5407]

@@DesignDomination I actually use Apple Pages for day to day personal layout. It's quick and light. Even fun to draw in. The older Pages '09 was actually remarkably efficient. I could knock up a manual in Pages in an afternoon, but Apple fixed that in only the way Apple can by scrapping the older Pages and "upgrading" it in 2013. Is anyone in America still using QXP?

[@ErwinvanHolten]

The Anne-Marie Concepción of Affinity

[@DesignDomination]

This comment wins the internet! Quite a compliment. Thank you!

[@lovejko]

ePub

[@Windsurfing345]

Just hope Adobe won't buy it.... That's what it does when there's to much competition.

[@CapitalVideo]

Very nicely explained thanks and in my case, I started with Pagemaker around 1993 and then when that was ditched by Adobe, I went to InDesign. When Adobe ditched Freehand that they acquired from Macromedia, I stopped using any Adobe app as I did not like Illustrator and ended up going to Affinity Designer when it first came out, as it as able to open Freehand files. When Affinity Published came out, I immediately purchased a copy and having both both Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer, I was able to work with all three without the need to insert anything from another app. I do not miss any of the functions that Photoshop or InDesign may have, as I am able to achieve everything that I need with the Affinity apps. I like the fact that I can own the app instead of having to rent it and if I stop, losing the ability of using it unless I rent it again. I'm now using Affinity version 2 and the additional features are very useful.

[@websiteckron8591]

I think we are one the same page 😊

[@Windsurfing345]

I use Adobe at the office and Affinity at home and I love Affinity a lot more. It is faster, smoother, and a lot more fun to use. InDesign is slow and not very fun to use. So sad that some people think affinity is a beginner app with only presets without even trying it

[@johnford3825]

I dropped all Adobe products when they introduced the monthly charges. I have successfully found alternative solutions that fulfil all my requirements at much more reasonable costs or, in the case of DaVinci Resolve, free.

[@vincent-louisapruzzese2652]

I switched the affinity awhile ago and was surprised how l never missed some features I thought it might. It helps affinity updates often so I suspect that when version 2.0 comes out it will be much closer to InDesign. I planned to fast forward through this video and found all your points really well thought out and fair and I will recommend this to anyone asking for a nice overview of the two applications.

[@DesignDomination]

Thanks for weighing in, Vincent-louis, and so glad you found it helpful! I appreciate any recommendations. 😀

[@onegreenev]

I walked away from all subscription software. I remember Adobe PageMaker 1.0. Im now only using Publisher.

[@DesignDomination]

I was never a fan of PageMaker. I was on team Quark XPress. 😅 I went kicking and screaming into InDesign.

[@onegreenev]

@@DesignDomination I learned Pagemaker. Helped my brother with his design magazine and his use of pagemaker and photoshop. I used them all until they went subscription. Then I bailed. I use Affinity Publisher and Pages. Mac based all the way.

[@theoldnerdfromthegarage745]

Thank you for the information. As someone with limited funds, not paying a monthly subscription is advantageous, and since I'm simply building page layouts, Affinity seems to be a more attractive option for. Thanks again.

[@rml695]

As someone who is visually impaired, accessibility is always on the top of my list. I was trained in Adobe way back when I was in high school, but until recently I had gotten out of design (a surgery to help improve my vision brought it back for me). I use Affinity primarily for Studio Link, flexibility (being able to work both on iPad and Mac without losing features) and most importantly price. I was surprised to hear Adobe allows for accessibility markups (alt tags for instance) but Affinity does not. Due to their subscription model, I hate Adobe with a passion. Lol That said, any possibility you think we may see these accessibility features in Affinity at some point?

[@DesignDomination]

Thanks for sharing. As for accessibility, I am not sure. Maybe Affinity will consider this if more designers ask for it.

[@rml695]

@@DesignDomination I emailed them early this morning. Here’s hoping I hear back.

[@hypnosiscenternyc]

Thank you very much ... Very informative video. I have to layout some print books and REFUSE to use any program I've already paid in full for, on a subscription basis. My other question. If you're laying out a book to upload to Amazon for print and for ebooks, is Affinity a good choice. I used Indesign (Ventura publisher years ago) and will NEVER use or learn all of the features. Thanks again.

[@DesignDomination]

You're welcome. Yes, you should be fine with Publisher. Just be sure to follow the guidelines for Amazon.

[@jimrogers7425]

Great video! I got the suite of products during a sale for just over $100 for all three... how good is that?

[@DesignDomination]

Thanks for watching, Jim! Glad you liked it. Yes, can you believe it? Such a huge price difference!

[@jimrogers7425]

@@DesignDomination... it's the difference in business models between the two companies that really makes the difference. Many companies that have been around for a while (among them, companies like AVID, who publish audio production software) have also gone to the subscription based model which too many have finally begun to grow tired of. Serif, the company that produces the Affinity line of products, realizes that there is a huge market out there waiting to switch to something different. While I know several designers who are stuck with Adobe, it's only because their major clients are committed to InDesign! My guess is that over time Affinity will close the gap even more and from there it will be a coin toss. However, for those like me who were using Pages on my Mac to do a lot of things, Affinity Publisher was a welcome site!

[@johnnyragadoo2414]

Nice review - and how times have changed. Affinity Publisher now supports footnotes, endnotes, and sidenotes. Adobe Creative Cloud is $660 a year. Affinity's universal license for all three of their products forever, one-time $98.99 on sale at the moment. Affinity Publisher isn't perfect. For my needs, I figure I can be paid $660 a year to use Affinity over Adobe.

[@DesignDomination]

I wasn't aware they had since added those features. Good to know! Thank you for sharing.

[@dr.jamieadamspleasantph.d.1609]

I switched to affinity publisher after using indesign for 14 years. I can do more, much faster with affinity publisher. The operations are intuitive.

[@DesignDomination]

That's great!

[@PochoNieves]

I have a better one... I used to used FREEHAND!!!

[@DesignDomination]

Oh, I remember Freehand.

[@ShutterlabCreative]

Publisher doesn't support much of any interactive PDF options outside of hyperlinks from what I can tell. Not a deal-breaker but it's kind of a bummer.

[@DesignDomination]

Right but it can be a deal breaker for some designers, especially those doing accessibility work, like me.

[@ShutterlabCreative]

@@DesignDomination Yeah I was hoping to use it for making custom forms. Major drag it can't do toggle boxes and form fields yada yada. Still, for the price I'm willing to hang.

[@PochoNieves]

Well PDF are an Adobe format, so is kinda unfair to hold that against another company.

[@websiteckron8591]

Used Quark too! Had to learn Indesign years ago. Will now make the transition from adobe to affinity.

[@mohammedqadir6187]

THANKS

[@PochoNieves]

Affinity Publisher

[@craigozancin]

The good news, notes are now fully supported in publisher 2.0.

[@DesignDomination]

Thanks for sharing. That's good to know they added that feature since I posted this video. I came across this article. affinityspotlight.com/article/5-things-you-should-know-about-affinity-publisher-2/

[@homecareful]

Colleen, that was great. It's going to save a lot of people a lot of time.

[@inCARSONate]

Hello - thanks for your video. Which one would you recommend for a first time designer who has limited patience to learn new software and wants to sell the finished pdf ebook online?

[@DesignDomination]

Hi, James! I would recommend Affinity Publisher for that as long as you don't need interactivity beyond hyperlinks and bookmarks, or any other features that InDesign has that Publisher doesn't.

[@inCARSONate]

@@DesignDomination thanks for your speedy reply and suggestion! cheers

[@DesignDomination]

@James Carson You're welcome!

[@marcie-chords1111]

I love your explanation. its super helpful.

[@DesignDomination]

Thank you so much! I am glad you found it helpful, Marcie.

[@mohammedqadir6187]

THANS

[@adamwest5625]

I started in Quark back in 1996… then around 10 years later, I said: “Over my dead body before I switch to InDesign…”. That went well as I had to migrate to InDesign eventually LoL 😂 Now after 23 years as a designer, I’m ready to move away from Day Robbery Inc. that is Adobe with their subscription model with Affinity.

[@DesignDomination]

Yep! I loved QXP 4.11. I went kicking and screaming into InDesign. The place I worked at made us do it. We also had PageMaker and I thought InDesign was going to be like PageMaker, and I just couldn't stand it. Now I love ID, but hate the subscription model.

[@MichaelLloydDesigner]

Correction: Affinity Publisher is $55 (US), not $75.

[@DesignDomination]

Thanks. At the time I recorded this, when I checked it was different.

[@MichaelLloydDesigner]

@@DesignDomination Your comparative analysis was very well done.

[@DesignDomination]

@@MichaelLloydDesigner Thank you so much! Do you use InDesign or Publisher, or both?

[@MichaelLloydDesigner]

@@DesignDomination I love your attitude! I used Affinity Publisher. When I consider software, I explore the mentality and philosophy of the company that makes the software. Their passion, attention to detail, policies that affect their user base, development philosophies that determine much of their products evolutionary path. This is the foundation upon which everything is built. Adobe had decades to develop their graphic and publishing applications. Serif Affinity products are at their 1.X version. Adobe was established in 1982, Serif established in 1987. Both companies are quite capable, and neither are likely to go away. Serif is bold and courageous. They discontinued all their foundational applications, in favor of professional level applications. The programming philosophies, upon which the Affinity applications are built, are revolutionary and arguably brillianct. In my analysis, the the mentality and philosophies of Adobe versus Serif is not even fair. The foundations upon which Serif Affinity applications are built are far superior to that of Adobe.

[@DesignDomination]

@@MichaelLloydDesigner Thanks for that info. I didn't realize Serif had been around that long. I like that you consider the mentality and philosophy of the software company. I do that when possible too. I wish Affinity Publisher would incorporate accessibility functionality into their software. But still, I get InDesign files from other designers that I make accessible, so I wouldn't be able to abandon InDesign.

[@wizendweaver]

Thank you. Trying to find a stage play template for A publisher. Any ideas?

[@DesignDomination]

Not that I know of. Sorry.

[@beanbox6724]

Спасибо! Интересно)

[@onlineaccount4348]

I can't get past the long pauses at the end of each sentence. It feels like you're reading, not talking

[@petarpetrenko1117]

Publisher's filler text can be editable or not. You can set this in Preferences.

[@DesignDomination]

Yes, thank you. I discovered that after creating the video.

[@jeffreylee7040]

where's the comparison of the softwares?

[@DesignDomination]

What do you mean?

[@jeffreylee7040]

@@DesignDomination you don’t show the software in use

[@j.singer8461]

This is a great video.. Thank you for providing this side-by-side comparison. I have been looking for alternatives for years! By the way, I also started out using Quark express... back in the day

[@DesignDomination]

Thanks. So glad it was helpful. 😀

[@pijnacker01]

Awesome, thank you. I love @Markzware IDMarkz for InDesign to Affinity Publisher!