PlusPlus SE - Free Desktop Publishing Software
Posted on Monday, January 30, 2006 at 10:36 PM by Randall
If you've ever tried to use a Word or WordPerfect to create a document with a complex layout, you probably quickly learned why professionals use expensive programs like QuarkXpress. You might have taken a look at Microsoft Publisher, but decided that you could not justify its price to do a few complex documents a year. If you'd like a desktop publishing program at a price that can't be beat (Free), take a look at Serif Software's PagePlus SE.
While it is not QuarkXpress or InDesign (or even Microsoft Publisher), it is an easy to master desktop publishing program that is at least as powerful featurewise as the Publish It! program I used on Windows 3.1 to produce newsletters and small magazines in the early 1990s -- only without all the weird Windows 3.1 limitations. Some of the key features of PagePlus SE are listed here. If you aren't familiar with the differences between desktop publishing and word processing programs, they are explained here.
PagePlus SE is registration-required freeware. It based on an older version of Serif's commercial PagePlus program. Serif gives this version away in the hope that you will want all the additional features of the newer version. Chances are, however, that PagePlus SE will have more than enough desktop publishing power for the average person or small group -- family or club newsletters, anyone?
Rating: 4 Stars
Operating System: Windows
License:
Freeware
Price: Free
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Web
Site: http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PagePlus/