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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    Shorthand

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AShorthand enables the user to create interactive multimedia stories for any online audience — all with no code. The vendor boasts that Shorthand is used by hundreds of publishers, brands, non-profits, and more — including the BBC, Honda, Business Insider, and Doctors Without Borders.N/A
    Pricing
    Microsoft PublisherShorthand
    Editions & Modules
    Microsoft Publisher
    $139
    one time purchase
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft PublisherShorthand
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft PublisherShorthand
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Shorthand
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    92%
    Would buy again
    12 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    10 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    92%
    Happy with the feature set
    12 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    80%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    4 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Microsoft PublisherShorthand
    Content Creation
    Comparison of Content Creation features of Microsoft Publisher and Shorthand
    Feature
    Microsoft Publisher
    -
    Ratings
    Shorthand
    9.0
    1 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Content collaboration00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Content Publishing
    Comparison of Content Publishing features of Microsoft Publisher and Shorthand
    Feature
    Microsoft Publisher
    -
    Ratings
    Shorthand
    6.8
    1 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Content hub00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Embedded CTAs00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Content distribution00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
    Content promotion00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft PublisherShorthand
    Small Businesses
    Adobe InDesign
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Contently
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Adobe InDesign
    Score9.2 out of 10
    CoSchedule Marketing Suite
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Adobe InDesign
    Score9.2 out of 10
    PathFactory
    Score8.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft PublisherShorthand
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.4
    (13 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.3
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft PublisherShorthand
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
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    Shorthand
    Shorthand is ideally suited to visual stories where you have a good number of images and/or embeds or video to include. It is well-suited to long-form stories, where you wish to keep the readers' attention longer than usual. It can help to differentiate particularly important or intriguing stories from others on your website - and for this reason, it could be used as a premium content tool, perhaps for subscribers. It can also be used to showcase stories about awards you've organised, giving them special treatment. It is less suited to breaking news, or very time-sensitive news stories, as it can take some time to prepare, post or update shorthand stories. And it doesn't work well for stories with strong accompanying imagery
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    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
    Shorthand
    • Enabling visual storytelling with multiple pictures
    • Embedding rich media within a story, including video
    • Engaging readers for longer than average dwell times
    • Making it easy to create striking article design without coding experience
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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
    Shorthand
    • Additional flexibility in how text is overlaid on pictures would be welcome so that there are more choices on what images to use with particular layouts
    • Enabling users to control the path of text - for example, enabling runaround - could enable some excellent designs
    • Adding additional section templates could speed up design
    • More flexibility in caption placement would be helpful
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    We use this product 2-3 times a month and have not been able to find a comparable alternative.
    Incentivized
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    Shorthand
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    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
    Shorthand
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Shorthand
    I have never known it to be down during my use of it. All you require is an internet connection to log in and you can use it on multiple devices. Adding ease of accessibility, there are simple ways to log in. I've also never known a Shorthand story to go down once live on our site.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Shorthand
    Due to the integration with our content management software, there is a short delay on our site while it loads, which may cause some readers to drift away. However, I've seen other sites where it instantly loads articles, so I believe this to be down to the content management software behind our site more than Shorthand itself. Once that brief initial period is over, it doesn't require additional loading time.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    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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    Shorthand
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    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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    Shorthand
    No answers on this topic
    Scalability
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Shorthand
    As a web-based service, it is easy for users to log into from anywhere. Content can easily be shared, as you can set up teams that enable access to each other's work as required. And content can be reviewed by others before publication using the sharing function. You can also view how an article will look on different devices.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    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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    Shorthand
    • Helped us create one of our top 10 most-read and most-shared stories in the last year
    • Enabled us to elevate key pieces of content, boosting dwell time on our site
    • But can also be time-consuming to adopt for some stories, meaning you need to choose well what stories really deserve the investment in time
    • Boosted collaboration between teams via its ability to share, including offering the chance for others to preview content prior to publication
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Shorthand Screenshots

    Screenshot of Easily add sections and adjust styling.