Adobe InDesign pushes the envelope for desktop publishing

Microsoft Publisher used to be one of my favorite applications from the extended Microsoft Office suite. Technically, it is still part of the more comprehensive Office 2013 Professional suite, and it is installed on my PC, but I never use it any more. The vast majority of what I used to use Publisher for can be done directly from Microsoft Word now, so the idea of a dedicated desktop publishing application seems unnecessary.

It turns out, though, that as applications like Microsoft Word have matured to take over basic desktop publishing capabilities, desktop publishing tools like Adobe InDesign have evolved to meet more sophisticated page layout and page publishing demands.

I wrote about Adobe InDesign in this blog post:

Desktop publishing used to be the primary reason for owning a PC—it was a business in and of itself. I know I am dating myself, but I remember when someone with a PC, a printer, and a desktop publishing application could actually make decent money producing flyers, menus, and other simple publications for others. Those days are long gone, but the concept of desktop publishing has also evolved over time, and software like Adobe InDesign has managed somehow to keep up and remain relevant.

It would be anomalous today to find someone so Luddite that they don’t have access to a PC, printer, and basic page editing tools to produce their own flyers and such. However, once popular applications like PrintMaster, The Print Shop, or Microsoft Publisher have all but faded out of existence. That is partly a function of the fact that the basic page editing tools are available in most word processing software as well—so there is no need for a specialized tool, and it is partly a reflection of how technology—and how we use it—has evolved over time. Simply put, we have apps and websites, and people are much less likely to need dedicated software to create a flyer today.

I had a chance to spend some time talking to Chris Kitchener, a product manager for Adobe InDesign. It was evident from his respect for the history and evolution from desktop publishing to Web design, apps, and eBooks that he is passionate about the topic. Kitchener was also very excited about Adobe Creative Cloud, and how the cloud-based subscription model compresses the development lifecycle and enables Adobe to roll out changes and updates more frequently.

Click here to read the full story on Forbes: Adobe InDesign Continues To Define Desktop Publishing.

Have you used Adobe InDesign lately? Weigh in below in the comments to share your thoughts about the application…