US Serif Software PagePlus X8

I thought that this would be an improvement over Publisher. Instead, It will not let me specify the size booklet that I want to produce and import of off file had been disastrous. I managed to get it to format in inches once, then it reverted to centimeters and won't allow the change again. Worthless!

This product did not meet my expectations. The description implies there is more clip art than there actually is. To use "pictures" you have to download your own, other programs I have used had a much more extensive library of art to use. Maybe I choose the wrong program but the product information implied you could do anything CREATIVE with Page Plus. You can't .

It says "Desktop Publishing Made Easy." That's a bit of a stretch. It's from Serif, and like some of their other software (the website builder, for example), there are lots of capabilities, but the learning curve can be very steep and some of the things that get left out are head-scratchers. On the plus side, there are plenty of template for everything from business cards to brochures to booklets, so you can produce work materials with your color laser printer and the appropriate paper stock. Inserting images is a breeze. You can export in just about any image format you can imagine. Creating pdf's is easy (to a point--see below). But I suspect that anyone using this for even modest DTP or publishing on the web will still find it frustrating. I bought it for creating text formats and covers for indie publishing of hard copy books in the hopes that I could avoid the outrageous subscription fees of Adobe Acrobat Professional. I found working with modifying images to be awkward to say the least. Options aren't laid out clearly and logically, and once you start to use an effect (for example the shadow tool), it can be difficult to figure out how to get rid of it. The artistic text tool is okay to start with, but again, "tinkering" with it to get exactly the right effect seems almost impossible For example, the "instant 3-D" feature on text is cool the first time you try it, but frustrating in that it seems impossible to modify it other than to move the text around or increase or decrease size. It gives you shiny block letters, but if all you want is a bezel or subtlety, forget it.. If you're into actual book publishing, as I am, it will output in pdf/x-1a and pdf/x-3, which you will need. It does a preflight to identify errors but doesn't call it that, and when the time came to upload finished files to CreateSpace and IngramSpark for publishing, IngramSpark rejected the output. I'll keep it and continue to fiddle with it to learn as I go along, but frankly, I suspect that in the end, using other image editing programs and getting a one-month subscription to Adobe Acrobat when the time comes to upload files will be easier and with a better outcome.

This is the best software I was able to find for general layout & paste-up of complex documents with mixed graphics and text. It does work, and the user interface is not too terribly cumbersome but it also crashes from time to time for no apparent reason, so save your work often. In my opinion this program is not suited to heavy work. I would hate to have to lay out a whole book with it. But if you don't have too much h that needs done, and you don't want to spend a lot of money, Serif is a workable solution for layout, paste-up, and they do have a companion image editor and drawing tool that certainly beats Paint and similar freebie programs.

This is a very powerful DTP program. The basics are pretty intuitive, but there are tons of more advanced features to learn. The users guide is a definite necessity if you really want to capitalize on the power. Serif will sell the CD guide for just $20 to PagePlus registered users... But, really, this should be included as part of the PagePlus purchase. Otherwise, this is a GREAT product.

I couldn't use the software because Serif product key was not provided. I spent about 4 hours trying to contact Serif to get it but no luck.

Disappointed. Not what I expected. Too many paid add ons.

I believe that the program will do what I need it to do but not easy and not intuitive. And they charge for the manual! If you have time (and patience) to go thru a bunch of tutorials you can figure it out. The program is priced well as an alternative to Adobe and IS easier to use. But don't expect to get it all in one sitting ( or 2 or 3 or....)