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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Adobe PhotoShop

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/AAdobe Photoshop is the best known graphics product on the market.

    $20

    per month

    Microsoft Publisher

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Publisher is a desktop publishing application available with an Office 365 subscription, or as a standalone download.

    $139

    one time purchase

    Pricing
    Adobe PhotoShopMicrosoft Publisher
    Editions & Modules
    Single App
    $20.00
    per month
    Microsoft Publisher
    $139
    one time purchase
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Adobe PhotoShopMicrosoft Publisher
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Adobe PhotoShopMicrosoft Publisher
    Considered Both Products
    Adobe
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    Canva is the most user friendly for sure but not as many capabilities.

    I personally prefer Adobe Illustrator to Photoshop as I think it is more intuitive and can do many of the same things, but it is probably because it is the first one I learned. They are best used together.
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft Publisher
    The ability to run locally and share files easily through our Dropbox integration is the primary reason.
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Publisher
    At the time I was not impressed with Quark Xpress. I always disliked PageMaker. I always considered it over-rated. I like InDesign and have always liked InDesign, if I have a need for more complex documents I'll go with InDesign over Publisher or Quark Xpress in a heartbeat. …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    98%
    Would buy again
    152 Answers
    92%
    Would buy again
    12 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    140 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    10 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    154 Answers
    92%
    Happy with the feature set
    12 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    98%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    130 Answers
    80%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    4 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    99%
    Implementation went as expected
    132 Answers
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Adobe PhotoShopMicrosoft Publisher
    Small Businesses
    GIMP
    Score8 out of 10
    Adobe InDesign
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Adobe Illustrator
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Adobe InDesign
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Adobe Illustrator
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Adobe InDesign
    Score9.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Adobe PhotoShopMicrosoft Publisher
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (211 ratings)
    8.4
    (13 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (31 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    8.2
    (36 ratings)
    8.3
    (5 ratings)
    Availability
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (54 ratings)
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    4.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Adobe PhotoShopMicrosoft Publisher
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Adobe
    Photoshop is a useful tool for everything from creating social media graphics to editing and sizing photos. There is a bit of a learning curve, so you need to have a bit of experience to master it and use it for a variety of tasks. You also need to have a good sense of file organization so you can find files quickly without losing track of them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Publisher is well suited for almost any situation. It is something that I'm sure has far more advanced tools than I use or am aware of, but it is also very simple for entry-level users to create professional documents quickly. I have used it for very involved brochures in real estate scenarios and I have also used it for very simple "Construction Zone" signs at a job site under construction. There are so many uses for this program!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Adobe
    • The fact is that you may quickly pick things up on your own by spending time without using any other resources.
    • It is the program that brings the phrase "to make PhotoShop" to almost all languages. It's not just a photo editing program.
    • Practical and beautiful results are filtered by filtering the desired work without drowning in details.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Design of my quarterly full color magazine: (usually 28-56 pages in length)
    • Design of the quarterly planning system used by me and others in the annual conference.
    • Design and layout of any document that requires graphics/photos.
    • Simple to use with ample flexibility and strength of features
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Adobe
    • The effect applying time could be faster.
    • There could be a smarter way to make mockups using smart objects, maybe by directly selecting an area, and generative AI can automate a few steps.
    • If Photoshop can suggest the right stock imagery in case the generative AI doesn't get the right answer.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Formatting in general. It's a pain to refine a layout in Publisher in my opinion.
    • Microsoft is so invested in their approach to software and making it look and feel like an Office 365 application that they inadvertantly cripple applications like Publisher.
    • Earlier versions of Publisher gave you a lot more latitude and creative freedom. They were also much easier to work with. Not everything has to look like it's part of Office 365. They did the same ... thing to Access.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Adobe
    We get a lot of use out of this software. It's vital for work with production in our industry and has a lot of cross-functionality - creating social media images, retouching photos, editing photos, creating gradients, and more. It's pretty fuss-free in that we haven't had to reach out to support and the program hasn't crashed on us. We are trained on the software (so again, this isn't for beginners), but for detail-oriented designers and creatives like ourselves - it's a no-brainer.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We use this product 2-3 times a month and have not been able to find a comparable alternative.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Adobe
    Adobe PhotoShop is a professional-grade tool that requires months/years to get a grasp of how to use it well. Even then, after over a decade of using Adobe PhotoShop both casually and professionally, I feel like I'm still unfamiliar with a large percentage of the available tools. Without a dedicated training program, it can be extremely overwhelming and/or you may not get good use out of it. That being said, once you do get comfortable with it, the layout and workspace are excellent with myriad shortcuts that speed up your workflow exponentially. Put in the time to learn it, and you'll love it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    There are a few quirks with Microsoft Publisher that make some functions a little tricky for new users at first, but most of our employees are able to figure out the quirks and work around them to use the product for their job. It is relatively high on the scale of usability.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Adobe
    Adobe Photoshop is very reliable, but is never 100%. There have been times when Adobe Photoshop has had trouble opening, but nothing a little computer restart couldn't fix. I use Adobe Photoshop on a Mac for both work and at home on a daily basis, and I would be lost without it.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Adobe
    Speed can be an issue when you are dealing with large files for large format printing or billboards. When working on web images, speed is not an issue.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Adobe
    While I never contacted Adobe directly, there is so much content out there in the form of YouTube videos, Lynda/LinkedIn learning that almost any issue, including bugs, can be worked around (and this method is generally faster as there's no turnaround time involved).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    While I have not directly used support for Microsoft Publisher, I have used their help files and found them to be useful. I have also found that most answers that I need can be found through simple web searches and chat platforms. In all though, there are very few times when the preloaded help files have not given me the answers that I need.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Adobe
    So, I received the training at the HQ and it was train the trainer training. A good time, I spent a week at their campus
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Adobe
    I took a course so it really helped. I didn’t take the course until much later after beginning to use it, so I wish work would have sent me right off the bat. It would have alleviated a lot of frustratinon
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Adobe
    [Adobe] Photoshop offers the best photo editing as well as content creation. The layer-by-layer approach of [Adobe] Photoshop helps to work between two apps or even two PCs of entirely different Creative Cloud apps seamlessly. The stability and the speed of the tools in photoshop make it even better to make a canvas of creativity.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Microsoft Publisher is more for beginners, or for basic needs, anyone with some familiarity with the Microsoft suite should be able to use it easily. If you’re looking to create something more graphic and advanced, you’d probably want to look into something like InDesign, which is not as user friendly if you’re not familiar with it at all. For basic needs the average employee should be able to use Microsoft Publisher with ease.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Adobe
    It seems expensive compared to the free/cheap programs now available
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Adobe
    • Adobe PhotoShop in general is a great time saver.
    • It does take a long time for the program to start up, however
    • The most difficult task is onboarding new employees into Adobe PhotoShop who don't have experience with it. It's an investment for their future so we see value in it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • we have invested on our Microsoft license for our team and that has made a very big productivity for making banners and holdings for our projects as making it from third party would cost much higher and the return is very well over the comparison with third-party vendors
    • Functionality is very easy, so we don’t have to train much to get it in production and use it efficiently so we don’t have to invest much on training and learning things and we can work on it directly with a very basic knowledge as well
    • It has functionality to get stored and share things directly to the OneDrive and using curated links, which is very secure and reliable to transfer files without losing picture and banners quality and share them in lossless quality.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots