Affinity Publisher vs. Formstack Documents vs. Microsoft Publisher

If you are looking to get started using a publishing / creation application, Affinity Publisher is the one to go for. With a quick learning curve on all the basic functions, you'll be flying in no time. And then there is a whole heap of great features to get into as you become more comfortable with the software. The only down side is if clients are using Adobe programs, there are sometimes problems working with imported layers, but this is minor compared to the ease of use and features.

Incentivized

[Formstack Documents (formerly WebMerge) is] well suited for a mid-size organization that has multiple data inputs and needs to provide structure and professional document generation. As helpful as it is, the cost would prevent smaller businesses from realizing the cost savings that a larger one will.

Incentivized

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

• Supports just about any format you'll need for your project.
• The variety of templates makes startign projects simple.
• The program is just really powerful and fairly priced.

Incentivized

• Excellent integration with other popular platforms
• Clear and usable documentation to walk through setup in a number of scenarios
• Responsive support that provided appropriate answers when we had questions
• Flexibility in use cases that support multiple modes of use

Incentivized

• 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

• Menu differences can be an impediment to new users from other softwares
• Some functions are not in places I would expect

• We've had some issues with document formatting when the Formstack document comes through. Nothing outrageous, but it has been very inconvenient and annoying.
• The Formstack website is not attractive or user friendly.
• I think it could be clearer to Formstack users that it is a tool that needs another tool, not a tool all its own.

Incentivized

• 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

Ease of use, nice functionality that saves time

We use this product 2-3 times a month and have not been able to find a comparable alternative.

Incentivized

It offers a user-friendly interface and powerful design tools that make creating high-quality graphics and layouts straightforward. However, some features can feel complex, especially for new users, which may require a bit of a learning curve. The integration between desktop and iPad is excellent, but improving compatibility with other popular software could enhance collaboration and efficiency even further. Overall, it’s a robust tool that balances functionality and ease of use quite well.

Incentivized

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

Our team typically uses other online resources instead of contacting developers/manufacturers for support. That being said, there is a forum and a growing, vibrant community of users available to answer questions and "make the switch." A simple "whatever function we used to use in Adobe InDesign," followed by "Affinity," usually gets us on the right track to an answer. YouTube and their forums are our team's go-to sources for help.

Incentivized

Support was always readily available and happy to assist whenever I had a question or needed help. Great experience every time.

Incentivized

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

Affinity Publisher is a more cost effective way to achieve the same goals as InDesign and Quark. I'm sure there are various differences that Affinity may lack, however we have yet to run into one that our business has needed, or even recognized. It has completely replaced any desktop publishing for our organization without issue.

Incentivized

Each of the programs above answered a specific call to action. While each addressed a small portion of our need, they never quite fit the bill for what we needed. It was actually a representative from three of the ones above which selected WebMerge. They wanted to sell their product, but knew that we would be unfulfilled if we went with them

Incentivized

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

• I wish we could push it out to all staff but we can't quite afford the cost.
• Amount of features can be overwhelming for first time users and take more time.
• This program will save time once employees figure it out.

Incentivized

• The return on investment has been very good. It's very cost effective product. Our service team is on the phone and it takes away from the customer service if they are having to input the same information on applications. Web Merge eliminates additional key strokes while giving customers more time to run their business.

Incentivized

• 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