Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Word represent completely different species. InDesign is used for print design, while the latter is a word processing program that is widely used to create and edit documents. Due to Indesign’s steep learning curve, some wonder if it’s possible to use MS Word for layout work. 

Technically, it is, but there are several reasons why you shouldn’t. First of all, it’s not a page layout program like InDesign. So, while it’s technically possible to use Word, for that matter, without InDesign’s professional layout, it’s basically a Sisyphean’s task. In this Word vs. InDesign battle, we’ll compare the differences between the two programs.

Comparing Word to InDesign is like comparing a toy car to a Ferrari. MS Word file is a text file, and it’s better to keep it that way. Word files have huge limitations. There’s no support for full-bleed printing and other professional tools used in graphics design. Not to mention the horrid color separation, which you’ll see immediately after printing. Even if you manage to anchor graphics correctly, you get drastic reflow of graphics. You’ll spend a lot of money only to get a very inferior print run with underwhelming results.

In summary, if you want an annual report or any sort of document made and printed, Word is perfectly capable of it. But don’t force it to do something it wasn’t designed for. Anyway, here are the pros and cons of designing in MS Word.

Word Pros:

• Widely recognized.
• Pre-installed on most computers.
• Suitable for simple pages with a straightforward design.
• Plenty of layout features.

Word Cons:

• Graphics tend to move around the document when making changes to text and layout.
• Only standard fonts will work.
• Version compatibility issues.
• No CMYK support, only RGB colors with a “robin’s egg blue” effect after printing. Getting your film output correctly will cost you a small fortune if it has to be in Word. TIFs and other bitmapped formats are automatically converted to RGB when imported, making it hard to color separate. 
• Lack of options for professional print production.

As the name suggests, Indesign has all the necessary tools for designing documents. Proposal, handout, or book, you can professionally create each of them. And if you don’t know how to work with it, Indesign layouts will help you start your project. Whether you start from scratch or decide to use one of the provided layouts, it’s a top choice for a professional, technically accurate layout and design. 

InDesign is the global standard in visual design, similar to Adobe Photoshop. Many books, magazines, newspapers, brochures, billboards, etc., were created with Indesign. However, not everyone can afford this powerhouse for designers as official distributors demand a premium price. Nevertheless, if the publishing house is big enough, the investment will pay off pretty quickly. Let’s discuss the pros and cons of using Indesign for professional work.

InDesign Pros:

• About a handful of layouts (including multi-column layouts) if you don’t want to start from scratch. Everything is customizable with plenty of layout options.
• Widely used by print houses and publishing companies.
• Professional print support, including blends, offset printing, and much more.
• Support for all color formats, including CMYK and Adobe RGB.
• Press Quality PDF, making PDF files high resolution and ready for print.
• Embedding text files into existing projects. You can add images without worrying the text will move and vice versa. The images won’t go to other pages. You can also wrap text around them and control it freely.

InDesign Cons:

• Limited accessibility. Most people are familiar with Word, so no designers will have trouble opening a file created with InDesign.
• Due to InDesign’s steep learning curve, first projects can be time-consuming.
• InDesign is extremely expensive compared to Word.
• Text won’t format automatically as it does in Word. You need to apply some kind of formatting manually, so for text flow work Word is arguably better.

InDesign is very expensive software, much more than MS Word. You can get InDesign as part of Adobe Creative Cloud for $20.99 a month. A monthly subscription is the only available option if you want to have constant updates for your software. However, at RoyalCDKeys, you can purchase Adobe Creative Cloud Subscription Global Key for around $40, giving you unlimited access to ALL Adobe programs for three months. A great starting point if you want to try InDesign when official prices are over the top.

MS Office, on the other hand, will cost you $149.99 through official distributions. This includes the entire Office package with Excel, PowerPoint, etc. You can also consider Office 365 Business Standard package with regular updates for $12.50/month. It isn’t cheap either, so we offer a competitive alternative. You can get Microsoft Office 2021 Professional Plus Key Retail Global for $11.52, which is a fraction of the retail price.

We recommend using Word for templates only if the document is relatively simple and it has to be edited by multiple people without access to InDesign. Otherwise, just stick to InDesign if you don’t want to deliver a crappy product. 

When your template has to be more complex and refined, Word simply cannot deliver that sort of quality. InDesign was created with professional work in mind, with a logical and flexible workflow. It may look difficult at first glance, but once you get going, it will be hard to return to Word.