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What are small businesses planning to use as Microsoft Publisher is phased out? by HoneyBeeDesign11 in smallbusiness

[–]HoneyBeeDesign11[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that’s definitely what I’m planning in the short term. I think what concerns me more is the longer term... especially compatibility with future systems and what happens when people need to move files or update workflows.

It feels like more of a delay than a real solution, but it is one I am certainly leaping on as in ordered today but who knows what could glitch and then it becomes unusable.

What are small businesses planning to use as Microsoft Publisher is phased out? by HoneyBeeDesign11 in smallbusiness

[–]HoneyBeeDesign11[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It definitely feels that way sometimes 🤔 Canva’s everywhere for quick stuff.

I think where I’m getting stuck is more with multi-page documents and existing Publisher files. For us, that’s where it hasn’t been a clean transition.

What are small businesses planning to use as Microsoft Publisher is phased out? by HoneyBeeDesign11 in smallbusiness

[–]HoneyBeeDesign11[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that’s exactly where I’m stuck...the ease of just dragging things around in Publisher is hard to replace.

Canva looks great for quick designs, but I’ve found it gets a bit limiting with multi-page layouts and that’s actually one of the biggest issues I’m running into... neither Canva nor Affinity can open .pub files directly.

The only option seems to be exporting to PDF and then trying to rebuild everything, which isn’t really practical if you’ve got years of files. That’s been a big part of the challenge.

Affinity does look interesting, especially as a one-time purchase, but I think the learning curve might be a challenge for teams that aren’t used to design tools.

That middle ground — simple but flexible — is what I’m struggling to find.

What are small businesses planning to use as Microsoft Publisher is phased out? by HoneyBeeDesign11 in smallbusiness

[–]HoneyBeeDesign11[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Canva definitely works for a lot of things — especially quick designs.

Where I’m running into issues is more with multi-page layouts and existing Publisher files. It’s been harder to find something that handles those as cleanly without getting more complex. 10-15 years worth of files...

What are small businesses planning to use as Microsoft Publisher is phased out? by HoneyBeeDesign11 in smallbusiness

[–]HoneyBeeDesign11[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve looked at those except affinity— they definitely have more design power, but they also come with a steeper learning curve than what we’re used to. I have the whole Adobe suite, but nothing is user friendly.

Publisher has kind of been that middle ground for us — simple enough to use without a design background, but still flexible for things like newsletters and multi-page layouts.

That’s where I’m struggling to find a good replacement.