Microsoft screwed up by dropping Publisher 2002–its home, home office, and small-business desktop publishing program–from retail editions of Office XP. This easy-to-use designer is available only as a standalone or as part of the Small Business edition of Office XP that some computer makers bundle with their PCs. But thanks to its tight integration with Microsoft Word and multiple color processing methods. Publisher is a must-have upgrade for anyone who needs to design newsletters, brochures, and even simple Web sites for home use or for a small business. With a price just a fourth of Adobe PageMaker’s, this is the desktop publisher for the masses. Unless you want professional-level tools, forget PageMaker or Quark; thrifty Publisher is simply less hassle.
Like PowerPoint 2002, Publisher finally offers a print preview so that you can proof final layouts and color separations without wasting paper. Also, Publisher publications now contain both process color (used in color photography) and spot color (used for coloring individual graphic elements such as logos, tables, or lines). As if that weren’t enough, 2002 can process as many as a dozen spot color elements in the same document–a big increase from the meager three in 2000.
Publisher remains the best desktop publisher for small and home businesses. It’s even a credible, easy substitute for the expensive and difficult HTML editor FrontPage. If you’re using an older edition of Publisher, upgrade to 2002 even if you don’t move to Office XP. Looking for your first business document designer? This is it.