Microsoft Publisher

Microsoft Publisher

Microsoft Publisher 2010 running on Windows 7
Developer(s)	Microsoft
Stable release	2010 (14.0.4763.1000) / June 15, 2010; 16 months ago (2010-06-15)
Operating system	Microsoft Windows
Type	Desktop publishing software
License	Proprietary commercial software
Website	office.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher/

Microsoft Publisher is a desktop publishing application from Microsoft. It is an entry-level application, differing from Microsoft Word in that the emphasis is placed on page layout and design rather than text composition and proofing. The current version is Microsoft Publisher 2010 for Windows; there is no version for Macintosh.

In Microsoft Office 2007, Publisher retained the traditional toolbar of previous Office versions, unlike other Office 2007 programs, which featured the new ribbon interface. Microsoft Publisher 2010 contains the new ribbon interface.

Publisher is included in higher-end editions of Microsoft Office, reflecting Microsoft's emphasis on the application as an easy-to-use and less expensive alternative to the "heavyweights," with a focus on the small business market where firms do not have dedicated design professionals available to make marketing materials and other documents.^[1][2] However, it has a relatively small share of the desktop publishing market, which is dominated by Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress.^[1] Publisher has historically been less well liked among high-end commercial print shops, compared with other desktop publishing applications.^[3]

Publisher's position as an entry-level application aggravates many issues (particularly in older versions) such as fonts unavailable and embedded objects not available on service providers' machines. Instead, Publisher comes with tools to pack related files into a self-expanding application. Many higher end features like transparency, object shadowing, slugs, text on paths, and built-in PDF output were either not fully functional or unavailable in previous versions.^{[citation needed]} However, recent versions have greater capabilities concerning color separations and proper process coloring output.^{[citation needed]} Publisher 2007 also includes the capability to output commercial press quality PDF with embedded fonts.^{[citation needed]}

Publisher's proprietary file format (.pub) is unsupported by almost all other applications, including other Microsoft products, although Corel Draw X4 features "open only" support. As such, Publisher is generally recognised to be of limited functionality where multiple-user electronic editing or dissemination is concerned. Adobe's PageMaker software saves files with a .pub extension but the two files are incompatible and unrelated. Publisher supports numerous other file formats, including the Enhanced Metafile (EMF) format which is supported on Windows platforms. The Microsoft Publisher trial version can be used to view .pub files beyond the trial period.^[4]

Release history

Name	Version Number[5]	Release Date[6]	Included in Office packages
	1.0	1991
	2.0	1993
Publisher for Windows 95	3.0	Sept. 15, 1995
Microsoft Publisher 97	8.0	Dec. 8, 1996	Small Business Edition
Microsoft Publisher 98	8.5	June 21, 1998	Small Business Edition 2.0
Microsoft Publisher 2000	9.0	Sept. 7, 1999	Small Business Edition, Professional, Premium, Developer
Microsoft Publisher 2002	10.0	May 31, 2001	Professional OEM, Professional Special Edition
Microsoft Office Publisher 2003	11.0	Nov. 24, 2003	Small Business, Professional, Professional Plus, Enterprise
Microsoft Office Publisher 2007	12.0	Jan. 27, 2007	Small Business, Professional, Ultimate, Professional Plus, Enterprise
Microsoft Publisher 2010	14.0	July 15, 2010	Standard, Professional, Professional Plus

See also

• List of desktop publishing software
• Comparison of desktop publishing software

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Desktop Publishing Software 2007 Style
2. ^ PCWorld Publisher 2007 Review
3. ^ Microsoft Publisher 2007 Review
4. ^ "Where is the Publisher viewer?". Microsoft. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher/HA102339061033.aspx. Retrieved November 7, 2010. 
5. ^ The version numbers follow the Office version numbers.
6. ^ "Microsoft Publisher Life-cycle Information". http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/default.aspx?sort=PN&alpha=Publisher&Filter=FilterNO. Retrieved 2011-10-23. 

External links

• Official website
• Official Microsoft Publisher Team Blog
• Office 2010 product guide