Customer Reviews

PagePlus X3 Publisher Professional

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

We recently used PagePlus X3 to make a newsletter about our upcoming event. We didn't want to spend alot so decided to try out PagePlus. It was incredibly easy to use and we spent very little time learning the software. The Cut Out Studio helped to optimize the stock images we purchased by eliminating the background. When we were done we converted to PDF and sent right off to the printer. We received several compliments on the newsletter as well as some stickers with the company logo we designed in the Logo Studio. Great product and worth a try!

Ok, I have to admit it - I'm totally converted to Serif software when I hadn't even heard of them 6 months. I've used Microsoft Publisher for years and years, but after using both WebPlus and DrawPlus from Serif I thought I'd give their DTP product a go. THis is more powerful, has loads more features, is far easier to use AND is a lot less money than Microsoft.

I've just made a flyer for an upcoming event. The thing that surprises me most is the drawing and graphics tools which are in here - I didn't need to use DrawPlus, I just did it straight in PagePlus. Apart from saving a load of time, the cool thing is that if you need to adjust a graphic as you're laying it out on the page you can do all the adjustments in place, without having to keep tweaking it in another program, importing it in, realising it's still not quite right, editing it again in your drawing program, etc. etc.

Please, don't spend $160 on Microsoft Publisher - save yourself $60 and get this instead. You will not be dissapointed.

This product is being actively promoted in author/writer communities as a book layout and publishing application. The product description here even says, "perfect for . . . multi-chapter books." Not so.

For starters, it doesn't support different running headers for sections/chapters, nor does it support a different first page header for a section/chapter (even Word or WordPerfect can do those things). What's required is that you create a unique document/file for each chapter. If you want chapters to have a different first page design (like most normal books), you have to create two documents/files for each chapter. Then you use a separate "BookPlus" utility (included) to string them all together, number the pages, build a table of contents, etc. It's very awkward.

The book export options are standard PDF/X-1 and X-1a, with no apparent way to apply the custom settings or profiles that may be provided or recommended by a specific printer/press. If/how OpenType fonts and encapsulated PostScript are supported and handled is unclear. So all in all, several things that no one else may care about (but that really matter to self-publishers who prepare their own books for press) are either not provided or involve more work than they should.

Aside from that, this product seems to be everything it claims. It is superior to MS Publisher in almost every way, and provides a lot of the advanced text, graphic, and color management capabilities that you'd only find in something like Adobe CreativeSuite (yet this is much easier to learn and use -- and obviously more affordable). Actually, laying out the content on a given page is easy and the results are impressive.

I ordered this product because it was being pitched as a "perfect" layout tool for books, capable of producing "unrivaled" commercial output quality. It's not. Granted, for the price, it would have been really impressive if it WAS -- but it's not. So if you're an author or publisher who is considering it solely for that purpose, I think you'll be disappointed. For routine desktop publishing needs, however, I concur with the other four/five-star reviews posted here.

This is one of the greatest products I have ever purchased. The graphics and enhancement features are outstanding. And I just using plain paper to print on. Just imagine if I used photo paper or even a high grade print paper, it would be totally unreal. I love the many additions to the art gallery. And it is easy to navigate through. I had Publisher in 2004 on my desk top and I gave that computer away. So I purchased this Publisher for my laptop because I converted to Vista Windows. I never forgot how I loved the first one. And I love this one even better.

I've been in the bit-banging business for more than 20 years. This product from Serif is Number One. The attention to detail is great. An outstanding appreciation is shown for the types of problems that users may run into in when working in this process environment.

It's a comfortable software to use and it's priced right!

An excellent program for manipulating graphics within documents and creating documents for publication. The PDF edit capability is a real plus. Recommend.

PagePlus seems to have the ability to read minds. I purchased it to do some minor publishing and discovered that occasionally it would pop up a little "suggestion" icon when I was doing something. Instead of the useless paperclip suggestions of Word, these were actually useful. I selected two items, and a "group" suggestion icon appeared at the join point. One click, joined. Amazing. I can't say enough good things about PagePlus.

For the price I don't think that you can buy a product that does more for the price. It was very easy to learn how to use.

I puchased this product because it had excellent reviews as an easy to use and inexpensive desktop publishing system.
Unfortunately, it lacked the one template I need most - a two-sided trifold brochure, so I returned it. This is a British company, and it did not seem to me that it had templates for the kinds and formats of publications that are commonly in use here. At least, not the sorts of things that small non-profits like ours prints.
When I returned the product to Amazon, I was informed that I would be charged the shipping fee for the return, since there was nothing wrong with the product and nothing wrong with the service Amazon provided, which is entirely reasonable.
However, when I received notice of the entire return transaction, there was also a restocking fee that was approximately half the price of the product. I do not recall seeing anything about a restocking fee, or what the amount would be, in the information about how to return this product. If I had, and had any idea of how much it would be, I probably would have kept it.

First of all, ratio price - product offering - performance is great. I am working on a project to write a book and Pageplus has several atributes that really help on this process, specially when you are ready to print or send package to printers. Compare it against other brands and you will be amazed on the price difference.