# Adobe InDesign Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra

> Is Adobe InDesign the right Graphic Design solution for you? Explore 339 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/233314/Adobe-InDesign/reviews

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Adobe InDesign

4.8 (339)

[View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/233314/Adobe-InDesign/alternatives/)

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/)

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Last updated March 13th, 2026

# Reviews of Adobe InDesign

Ease of use

4.1

Customer Service

4.2

## Pros and Cons in Reviews

JO

Joshua O

Instructional DesignerFacilities Services, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“InDesign is incredible tool for designing templates and documents that allows for great flexibility and customization.“

December 10, 2025

JR

Josep R

Graphic designerFurniture, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“It does not offer many options for simple photo editing, nor does it offer many vector editing options, so for any minor touch-ups you will need to use other software.“

September 29, 2025

JO

Joshua O

Instructional DesignerFacilities Services, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“Great tool for designing templates and doing some basic image editing.“

December 10, 2025

Kwesi R

DesignerDesign, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“Also as part of the CS subscription based model it can be costly to run particularly for hobbyist or freelancers.“

March 25, 2026

RQ

Renea Q

Graphic DesignerGraphic Design, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“It’s an incredibly powerful tool with virtually unlimited options for layout, typography, and customization, making it ideal for crafting professional, detailed templates that I sell to clients.“

October 31, 2024

VL

Vivien L

Graphic designerDesign, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“My least favorite part is not being able to work with vector graphics directly in the program and having to switch back-and-forth to illustrator.“

October 10, 2025

RQ

Renea Q

Graphic DesignerGraphic Design, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“InDesign shines with its extensive export options and seamless integration with other Adobe products like Photoshop and Illustrator, which are essential when working on intricate projects across multiple platforms.“

October 31, 2024

TS

Travis S

Communications DirectorReligious Institutions, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“I do not use it for creating web pages or other formats that it can create.“

August 19, 2025

## Showing most helpful reviews

Showing 1-25 of 339 Reviews

Sort by:

Most Helpful

Rating

Company Size

Reviewer's Role

Length of Use

Frequency of Use

Joshua L.  
Head of Brand and Design  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "The industry leader in desktop publishing"

November 10, 2025

5.0

Having switched from Quark XPress many many years ago, InDesign has evolved into a power piece of desktop publishing software. It's range of features and integration with the rest of the Adobe suite make this an essential application for our design team.

Pros

Adobe InDesign allows my team and I to consistently create high quality, professional print ready publications.

Cons

It's inability to work effectively from files saved on network drives means i have to copy files to a local drive before working on them.

Switched from

[QuarkXPress](https://www.capterra.com/p/178598/QuarkXPress/)

InDesign surpassed Quark in terms of functionality and reliability

Review Source

AM

Anna M.  
Owner, designer, web designer  
Design  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Number one design tool"

March 25, 2025

5.0

It’s my number one tool, I design 99% of my designs using InDesign. I love the fact that it has advanced text options while being vector programme at the same time. In designing layout options are crucial and it has the best layout options for print and web (and mobile)

Pros

I think it is the most powerful tool for a graphic designer. The combination of all the options for typesetting and designing and vector editing and creating makes it number one for me.

Cons

Limited options for gradients and also the lack of angled grid lines.

Switched from

[QuarkXPress](https://www.capterra.com/p/178598/QuarkXPress/)[CorelDRAW](https://www.capterra.com/p/124823/CorelDRAW/)

Cause InDesign is much better especially for publications. It works with vectors and text si it was almost like combination of the two software I used before.

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Designer  
Design  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Create multipage layouts for professional looking books and brochures"

March 25, 2026

5.0

Pros

Once you get past the learning curve, InDesign is perfect for your print design needs. As a part of the Creative Suite, it seamlessly integrates with other programs meaning that assets and design elements can easily be shared. Also it is very easy to create templates for future projects.

Cons

You will need to use Photoshop or Illustrator for image/vector file editing support. Also as part of the CS subscription based model it can be costly to run particularly for hobbyist or freelancers.

Review Source

JI

Jennifer I.  
Graphic Designer  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Consider another option"

October 29, 2025

1.0

I've been using InDesign since it was Aldus PageMaker (over 30 years), and have never been more disappointed. Adobe is moving into a subscription-based model to boost profits while cutting corners (a recent forced "upgrade" removed access the entire Pantone library of colors). If you're looking to get started in layout, use a web-based option, or consider QuarkXpress or Corel Draw. These fat-cat companies need to be called out on their cheap practices.

Pros

I've been using InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop for decades. They do the same functions as expected, until recently when they refused to pay for Pantone color access. Makes me wonder how much functionality will be lost in future "upgrades."

Cons

Subscription based, no Pantone color library access. Less and less features, more and more cost. Web-based, free options are taking the design world by storm and will soon out-pace Adobe products, and similar.

Review Source

Kim Z.  
Creative Manager  
Airlines/Aviation  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Adobe is Awesome"

December 29, 2025

5.0

Ive been using it since before when it was Pagemaker and then went to Indesign. Adobe has great software for designers.

Pros

Great software, I like the automatic numbering of pages for books, programs, etc. I love how you can drag drop from other adobe softwares. You can set up master style sheets for headlines, body text, subheads, etc, so everything with match exactly. I highly recommend this to anyone.

Cons

You cannot draw in it. I wish they would bring some features from Illustrator into InDesign so you can draw more. Wish I could make printer pdf spreads from pdfs like you used to be able to do directly in the software.

Review Source

CH

Clifford H.  
Graphic Designer  
Design  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "The industry standard these days - popular, low cost, fairly easy to use."

April 11, 2025

3.0

As you might expect, it's compatible with other Adobe products (Illustrator, Photoshop etc) which is helpful when you're designing and you get various files you need to import into the layout.

Pros

It's the industry standard these days - everybody uses it.

Cons

I personally prefer Quark Express for DTP design, though I realise Indesign is preferred by others, and Quark can work out more expensive.

Alternatives considered

[QuarkXPress](https://www.capterra.com/p/178598/QuarkXPress/)

Reason for choosing Adobe InDesign

Everyone was switching to Indesign from Quark, so I needed to be compatible.

Switched from

[QuarkXPress](https://www.capterra.com/p/178598/QuarkXPress/)

Everyone was switching to Indesign, and at the time it was cheaper.

Review Source

Charles A.  
Creative Director  
Cosmetics  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Still the best despite all the competition out there."

February 21, 2025

5.0

I use it regularly though not as much as Illustrator. It does the job and makes things look beautiful and nice with the right steps. I tried to not use Adobe but I can't, it's engrained into half the things I do in a day,

Pros

It's just as good as it used to be. Easy, intuitive. Good for PDFs, books and syncs well with what the printers also use.

Cons

Nothing. It's just a useful application which hasn't changed much over the years, and I hope it doesn't.

Switched from

[QuarkXPress](https://www.capterra.com/p/178598/QuarkXPress/)

It was a long time ago when Adobe Indesign came out and Indesign was part of the Photoshop package.

Review Source

VL

Vivien L.  
Graphic designer  
Design  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "My favorite DTP program"

October 10, 2025

5.0

Pros

InDesign being an Adobe product makes it so easy to use and connect with other Adobe programs, all the features that it offers makes my work so much easier.

Cons

My least favorite part is not being able to work with vector graphics directly in the program and having to switch back-and-forth to illustrator.

Switched from

[QuarkXPress](https://www.capterra.com/p/178598/QuarkXPress/)

It became the new industry standard and being an Adobe product was a must for me

Review Source

AH

Alicia H.  
Digital Marketing Specialist  
Information Technology and Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Go-to for page layout - Adobe Indesign"

February 3, 2025

5.0

It remains the designer's choice for page layout. Beginners may face a learning curve, but with tutorials and practice, it becomes an indispensable part of any design workflow.

Pros

Adobe has always been my go-to for page layout. It integrates with Photoshop, Illustrator, and Adobe Fonts. I can seamlessly move from one application to the next, enhancing workflow efficiency.

Cons

It requires an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, which can be expensive for freelancers or small businesses.

Switched from

[QuarkXPress](https://www.capterra.com/p/178598/QuarkXPress/)

The ability to integrate with all the other Adobe products and the features that Indesign offered.

Review Source

RM

Ryan M.  
Owner  
Design  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "The only choice for print design!"

February 7, 2025

5.0

Indesign is so easy to use but like other Adobe apps, it's really powerful.

Pros

Started using Indesign from the first version, I never really got on with Quark and pushed my agency to Adopt it.

Cons

I think it's pretty great to be honest, I'm using a slightly older version due to my older setup.

Switched from

[QuarkXPress](https://www.capterra.com/p/178598/QuarkXPress/)

Indesign was much better and aligned to the other apps I was already using.

Review Source

JH

Janice H.  
Marketing Specialist  
Retail  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "I use InDesign on a daily basis"

May 9, 2024

5.0

I use InDesign almost every single day of the week. Have been very happy with all of it and InDesign help is very good at helping me to solve and learn new avenues of creating.

Pros

I love Adobe InDesign and honestly don't know where I would be without it. I love being able to seamlessly import and export with other Adobe products and also being able to create just what I need

Cons

Nothing to report on this. Love InDesign.

Reason for choosing Adobe InDesign

Recommendations of several printers that we use who were fazing out use of Quark.

Switched from

[QuarkXPress](https://www.capterra.com/p/178598/QuarkXPress/)

Recommendations of several printers that we use who were fazing out use of Quark.

Review Source

JF

Julie F.  
Marketing  
Mechanical or Industrial Engineering  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Great Software, But Rather Complex"

January 12, 2024

5.0

Like all Adobe programs, InDesign is incredibly powerful and robust...almost TOO powerful. It's got a lot of little intricacies you likely will never use or need...If you do, great--they're there! But if you don't, them it's just more buttons and tabs and windows and options for you to have to dig through in order to reach the features you DO use. Still a million times better than trying to layout a document in Microsoft Word though!!

Pros

It's very powerful and can do a ton of things. After using InDesign, and being able to customize so much of my graphic design and text, I now prefer to use this over most programs, including Microsoft Word. The guides are always helpful, ensuring that my elements are evenly spaces and aligned properly. I love being able to easily copy an entire page and all it's elements, and then rearrange things while still in the same document so I can see how a design progresses as I tinker with various elements of the layout and end up with several variations and options. The program is capable of so much, and I'm always continuing to learn more new and helpful tricks.

Cons

1\. The cost. Thankfully this is paid for by my employer, because I wouldn't be able to afford to use it otherwise. It's also rather annoying that I don't have the option to just outright purchase a license to OWN. No, like most other software these days, you can only "lease" it, paying by the month. This program does not have enough major updates to truly need access to the latest version. I could work from an older version quite happily. 2. FONTS. I don't know what the deal is, but I always have issues with the fonts, and regardless of how many times I waste my time, reconnecting each font style when I open a document, I inevitably have to do it each and every time. It's time consuming and cumbersome, and considering the fonts are installed directly in my computer's font library, I don't see why it has such an issue. I could possibly understand if I were only using font's from Adobe's library on the cloud, however, this particular font is installed. 3. The fact that I cannot easily change the color of an icon with a cover overlay or something similar. It's a minor point, but as icons have become so popular lately, they are featured in almost all of my documents and layouts. The only way I've found to do it thus far is a messy workaround that involves using the Inner Glow feature, and changing about 6 different but specific settings in order to change the color of the icon. It's a bit of a hassle for a task that feels rather basic. 4. My user view/layout. You have the option to customize your own layout, which I have done...and yet the layout CONSTANTLY gets reset back to the default....and my custom one has disappeared, so I don't even have the option to select it any more! Given that experience, I haven't bothered to create a new custom view because it seems futile, since it'll continue to be reset with each update, AND I'm not confident that view won't mysteriously disappear like my previous one. 5. Not the most intuitive. Its complexity is both a blessing AND a curse, and if you use a lot of other Adobe products, it'll look familiar and you'll be able to identify a lot of the buttons and figure things out. However, new people will likely have a bit of a struggle learning their way around. Also, there's SO many features that a lot of them area tucked away, "hidden" in various drop downs, buttons, options, etc. It's hard to remember where things are if you don't use them very regularly. It's difficult to truly learn the whole program. I've been using it for 13+ years, and I still feel like I'm just mediocre with it.

Switched from

[Quark Publishing Platform](https://www.capterra.com/p/10003971/Quark-Publishing-Platform/)

Moved to a smaller company that gave me the option to choose what graphics software I wanted to use. Given my past experience with Photoshop and Premiere, I chose to stick with Adobe tools, and I was glad I did--I found InDesign much easier to use than Quark.

Review Source

RN

Rumbani N.  
Creative Director  
Media Production  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "InDesign Scissor Hands (Compression like a king)"

January 22, 2025

5.0

InDesign is an amazing app and I highly recommend it to anyone doing really large books down to 1 pagers. This software would be perfect if the images weren't a headache to handle.

Pros

I love that no matter how many pages and how heavily I load ID with graphics and images, the final PDF export is super light. Whatever compression works with InDesign, that is epic. The layout features and possibilities are incredible and make this a contender amongst similar apps even within the Adobe family.

Cons

The most annoying thing about InDesign is the way it handles images in the editing process. There has to be a more intuitive way of adding and editing images. Drag and drop is good but when i have to adjust the image on 2 fronts, first the actual image and then the bounding box, it slows me down in image intensive designs.

Review Source

TA

Tabarak A.  
Graphic Designer  
Design  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Your page‑layout workbench"

May 6, 2025

4.0

Pros

Adding text boxes, placing images, or changing page templates in InDesign happens almost instantly. The program therefore brings solid help for everyday layout jobs

Cons

When a document reaches many hundreds of pages, the application pauses while I open the Pages panel or create a print‑ready package.The preflight checker also labels safe fonts as errors now and then, which means another round of checks.

Review Source

SA

Samantha A.  
Digital Content Strategist  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "An easy to pick up design tool! "

January 16, 2025

5.0

Pros

As someone who works with Adobe products every day, I think that InDesign is the most user friendly for people just getting into graphic design work. I think it is easy to use the text features, as well as to layout photos, add details like strokes, colorizing, transparencies, and fades.

Cons

I find the pen tool weirdly hard to use and that typing on a path can be finicky.

Review Source

CM

Carl M.  
Director of Visual Media  
Photography  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Perfect for contract building."

February 18, 2025

5.0

Overall I love InDesign and will use it weekly. This software has got me in the room with millionaires and has changed the look of my business. I will continue to recommend it to all of my associates.

Pros

I love that I am able to create professional proposals for my business. Being in government contracting requires professional quotes and Adobe InDesign allows me to do that with ease.

Cons

They don't have tutorials to teach you how to use features. That would make the software that much better.

Review Source

ES

Ellie S.  
Senior Marketing Campaigns Lead  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Great tool, tough to learn"

April 24, 2025

5.0

Pros

Adobe InDesign is a powerful design tool with a lot of flexibility

Cons

I personally found that InDesign has a very steep learning curve

Review Source

JC

John C.  
Video Editor  
Marketing and Advertising  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "One of a kind tool"

February 5, 2025

5.0

Since college, I've trusted InDesign for its design power despite its complexity

Pros

Adobe InDesign offers precise typography, versatile tools, and pro-level layouts.

Cons

Steep learning curve and requires a subscription for full access.

Review Source

SK

Sanaa K.  
Owner  
Design  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Professional Layout Design with Precision"

February 7, 2025

4.0

A top choice for designers working on publications, offering powerful tools for layout and print, but requires time to master.

Pros

Excellent for creating print and digital layouts with precise typography control and seamless integration with other Adobe tools.

Cons

Has a steep learning curve, and the subscription cost can be high for casual users.

Review Source

SA

Sam A.  
Photographer  
Photography  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Industry standard software for a good reason."

March 20, 2025

5.0

Pros

As part of the Adobe Creative Suite it integrates well and is an industry standard piece of software.

Cons

Steep learning curve can be off-putting.

Review Source

ZD

Zoe D.  
Student  
Architecture & Planning  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "The Place for Publications! "

September 10, 2024

5.0

I have used this software to make a few portfolios and research booklets. I loved using InDesign since it allowed me to make everything very neat and aligned with countless fonts.

Pros

The countless features, guides, and tools that make your project come to life. It is easy to use and brings everything together and is much needed for publications.

Cons

Sometimes the scaling / framing of images was a bit tedious to deal with but still works.

Review Source

MA

Mohammed A.  
Civil  
Civil Engineering  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Great job for ideas"

June 27, 2024

4.0

It was an enjoyable and easy experience in completing daily work tasks, as my work depends most of the time on making presentations, submitting proposals, and presenting them clearly and well.

Pros

The thing I liked most about the program is a program dedicated to advertising, brochure, and presentation works that provides high quality and accuracy in graphics and innovative and modern presentation methods that keep pace with global progress at all levels of the world.

Cons

It requires high-powered computers to run the program, and it also needs some money to buy the software for the program, but it is probably the best.

Review Source

Adham H.  
Senior Social Media Specialist, Senior Graphic Designer  
Broadcast Media  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "From portfolios to 100 page catalogs, InDesign is capable of that"

January 7, 2024

5.0

I've used Adobe In-design for the first time back in 2017, i created my first portfolio for my design business, and that's when all the doors opened, i've used InDesign since then for all of my top clients, from company profiles to product catalogs, i've done it all and it always had my back. i recommend it for everyone who wants to create anything for digital publishing and offline brochures, catalogs, product base, online and offline portfolios, and magazines

Pros

I usually use it for catalog design and portfolios and company profiles, it certainly have the best features, easy to use most of the time, exporting is pretty fast, the fact that you can add multiples layers of complex designs and even edit your previous PDF's.

Cons

Sometimes the app crashes out of the sudden, but that's about it, and i wish there was more templates to use.

Review Source

Marija Š.  
Geaphic Designer  
Design  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Best Layout and Publishing software for proffesionals"

May 13, 2022

5.0

Adobe InDesign is easy to work with once you get a hang of it. I also have Adobe CC so it is my go to for 99% of all of the publishing and printing projects.

Pros

Adobe InDesign is NOT an easy drag and drop software, and as such it takes some time to master it, but if you do you will get all encompassing tool for printing and publishing. It offers all the functions to make your designs work in almost any scenarios. Master pages are amazing time savers so you don't need to copy and paste repeating elements on each and every page of your book, magazine or brochure. You can also setup automatic page numbering, chapter naming or Table of contents, which are all huge time savers. It is the best software for text editing especially for the large text blocks like books or magazines.

Cons

Adobe InDesign's biggest strength is also it's biggest weakness, it should be used as a part of Adobe Creative Cloud collaborative tools, which means if you need Photo Editing or Vector Editing and design you will need to that in Photoshop because these tools are non existent in InDesign. So if you are looking to by cheap software you need to look somewhere else, this is not for you. In order to unlock all of the powerful tools you need to have all of Adobe's Creative Cloud suite of applications.

Review Source

nA

neji A.  
Editor in chief  
Newspapers  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Let's Indesign"

November 3, 2022

5.0

Well, during several years we had been using Indesign and it had been successes whth. We used to use Quarkspress but we changed mind and had no reason to regret. In paper projects which are our main activities; nothing stopped us to got ahead whith Indesign and Adobe in sum.

Pros

As I said before, you can't not adopt Indesign as partner when you decide to do some publishing works, for paper or online forms. I can pretend that it is a publishing portal as long as it collaborate whthdifferent Adobe tools. It can even be enough to you if all elements are ready to insert.

Cons

I had some problem with switching between Machintosh and Microsoft Indesign. Sometimes you have to do this, but the rivality between the Apple and Microsoft make the shipping hard and may break some links inside the product not yet finished.

Review Source

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