Adobe InDesign supports creating digital and print documents such as flyers, stationary, posters, and other types of media, with rich graphics, images, and more. Adobe InDesign is available standalone or as part of the Adobe Creative Suite collection of media management and creation products.
$31.49
per month
Adobe XD
Score 6.1 out of 10
N/A
Adobe XD is a prototyping and UX/UI option for website and mobile application design, featuring a range of UI tools and and templates, a versatile artboard and contextual layer panels, and deep integration with Adobe's creative suite of products for fast import of objects from these applications.
Adobe InDesign is very well suited to image-heavy publications, such as children's books, cookbooks and coffee table books. It gives you almost complete control how to arrange these elements, and to be able to tweak them with precision. The software is an absolute necessity if one is developing interactive eBooks, especially for the Apple iTunes store. Unless coded by hand, I am not aware of any other tools to handle this. It is a powerful toolset, and can take on most anything publishing related that you throw at it. I personally have found that it doesn't do too well with reflowable eBooks (like for Kindle Amazon), but it retains that capability.
Adobe XD is particularly useful and extremely easy to learn if you are a designer or a frequent user of the Adobe Creative Suite. Like all Adobe software, the tools, shortcuts, and interface are very similar to each other and allow for easy migration. Now, if you are not a frequent user of Adobe, it will probably cost a bit more to learn how to use the software, plus it is probably not going to be worth the price just for Adobe XD.
Customization - With Adobe InDesign, as well as many other applications in the Adobe Creative Suite, I can fully customize my workspaces and save different workspaces. This makes it easy to navigate through my project and have the panels and tools I need easily accessible and configured based on my project needs.
Styles - Adobe InDesign has character styles, object styles, and tables styles. This speeds up my workflows and allows me to easily apply the same format across multiple elements. This is super helpful, especially when working with length documents.
File compatibility - I can easily export my files into so many different file types.
The Book feature - This feature is really helpful when creating books or very long documents with multiple sections.
Wireframing/high fidelity mockups. We're using it for both responsive websites and apps.
Prototyping. It just gets better with each update, especially with auto-automate.
Ridiculously small learning curve. In my opinion, everything seems to be just where I would expect it to be, especially being familiar with other Adobe products.
It would be wonderful if InDesign would do automatic spell- and grammar-checking like Microsoft Word or Google Docs. While it is possible to spell-check your documents, the technology could be improved by being automatic and grammar-checking.
It can be really frustrating that keyboard shortcuts are different for the same tool between different Adobe products. I wish they would make shared tools the same shortcut. For someone who uses multiple Adobe products, usually in conjunction, it can be hard to remember which program is which keyboard shortcut and not accidentally select the wrong tool.
While I listed the linked images as being a pro, it can be a con if users don't package their files (especially when working with others on the same file). It would be really helpful if Adobe automatically populated a package file with images assets and typefaces. I can't tell you how many times I have been unable to locate a linked file or had to request them from a colleague.
I've had great experiences with the product and plan to continue to use it. It has been my go-to product for designing and creating materials. I have had great luck with it and have been able to create all of the needed marketing materials that have been requested for our company.
We utilize many of the applications in the Adobe CC suite and our usage of this application came about simply because it was the one that was already paid for. Bearing that in mind we will definitely be renewing the software upon the expiration of the licensing. I am not sure if this is the solution we would go with were it not already included, we would have to evaluate all other options
If you know what you are doing it is an amazingly granular and powerful application. You can control pretty much any aspect of the design and layout of your documents and make changes globally and rapidly. But, if you don't know what you are doing...you will be staring at your screen in bewilderment for a long time. You can learn it, but be ready for a hefty time investment.
Adobe XD is basically on life-support now, there are much better software out there that do everything XD can do, and a few that you don't even have to pay a monthly subscription fee on. While Adobe XD is great as shortcuts that are used in other CC software works, and its integration with CC is great. But it still lacks compared to its closest competitor.
Adobe support is ok but not great. Chat support often doesn't initially understand the question at-hand and it takes awhile to get to the right agent. Phone support has long wait times, and though I've had more luck there, it does take quite a time investment if you are looking for help. However, Adobe does have some online learning solutions available as well as a knowledgebase for frequently asked questions. If you're looking to learn how to use the platform, there are lots of resources which can typically be found in a few Google searches. If you have a technical issue with the system, that's going to be a bit more of a time investment as far as getting a tech's assistance to resolve the problem.
I have not had a need to connect with the Adobe XD support team as of yet, but from past experience when dealing with the other products, the support has been very very good, and I would have no reason to think that this product would be any different. There are a good number of training videos on the Adobe site for this product as well as on other social media sites so a quick search should let you find the answers in several different ways.
Canva is a valuable design tool for simple applications, such as creating a social media banner, flyer, or leaflet, particularly for those with no prior design experience. Its use of templates and straightforward tools to add pictures and text makes it a good choice for straightforward tasks. However, if you want to create a publication or designs that are more intricate, then InDesign is the tool for you.
Adobe XD used to be able to stack great, but I would select Figma over Adobe XD any day. Much better features, better quality of life features and includes darkmode. Another great part of Figma is the fact you can strickly use it in a browser without having to install any apps, but if you do install the apps, it works great if not better.
A great ROI for time in my small architectural practice, [especially] when a design has been updated and a report needs to be submitted. We can be submitting many reports that all look similar, clean and beautiful. We just save as the file and replace the images with more updated images. This way the client finds it easy to navigate updated reports, as many as they can be.
