--- title: Adobe InDesign Reviews meta_title: 'Adobe InDesign Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 3439 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Adobe InDesign works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.6 review_count: 3439 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-08-07' parent_category: name: Graphic Design url: https://www.g2.com/categories/graphic-design --- # Adobe InDesign Reviews **Vendor:** Adobe **Category:** [Desktop Publishing Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/desktop-publishing) **Average Rating:** 4.6/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 3,439 ## About Adobe InDesign A professional page layout application for print and digital publishing, InDesign lets you design, preflight, and publish a broad range of content for print, web, and tablet apps. It offers precise control over typography, built-in creative tools, an intuitive design environment, and tight integration with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat. InDesign is built for designers, prepress and production professionals, and print service providers who work for magazines, design firms, advertising agencies, newspapers, book publishers, and retail/catalog companies, as well as in corporate design, commercial printing, and other leading-edge publishing environments. And because InDesign is part of Adobe Creative Cloud, you get access to all the latest updates and future releases the moment they’re available. ## Adobe InDesign Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users find Adobe InDesign to be **user-friendly and intuitive** , making it accessible for creators of all ages. (43 reviews) - Users value the **precision in alignment** and control provided by Adobe InDesign for creating complex layouts effortlessly. (37 reviews) - Users value the **seamless integration** of Adobe InDesign with other Creative Cloud apps for versatile design projects. (16 reviews) - Users love the **all-inclusive features** of Adobe InDesign, enhancing their workflow and empowering creative possibilities. (14 reviews) - Users value the **visual appeal** of Adobe InDesign, noting its polished designs and professional layouts. (13 reviews) - Cloud Integration (11 reviews) - Time-saving (11 reviews) - Fonts (10 reviews) - Users value Adobe InDesign for its **versatile design capabilities** , excelling in both print and digital formats. (10 reviews) - Users value the **versatile content creation capabilities** of Adobe InDesign, enabling professional-quality documents and multimedia easily. (9 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users find Adobe InDesign to have a **steep learning curve** , making it challenging to use intuitively and effectively. (17 reviews) - Users find the **subscription pricing too expensive** for individuals and small businesses, impacting affordability. (17 reviews) - Users struggle with the **steep learning curve** of Adobe InDesign, requiring significant time and effort to master its complexities. (16 reviews) - Users experience **slow performance** with large files in InDesign, causing frustration during their design process. (13 reviews) - Users find the **expensive subscription** model of Adobe InDesign frustrating, preferring a one-time purchase instead. (8 reviews) - Users find the **learning curve steep** , particularly those without prior graphic design experience, making it challenging to navigate. (8 reviews) - Users find the **high premium cost** of Adobe InDesign burdensome for occasional use and small businesses. (6 reviews) - Pricing Issues (6 reviews) - Update Issues (6 reviews) - File Management (5 reviews) ## Adobe InDesign Reviews ### 1. Too intimidating for anyone but dedicated design pros **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Alex B. | Program Administrator, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 13, 2022 **What do you like best about Adobe InDesign?** It's got the most comprehensive set of design tools and capabilities of any product on the market. **What do you dislike about Adobe InDesign?** That said, those tools are very intimidating to new users and, at least in my experience, Adobe doesn't do much to tutor new users. It's sink or swim. **What problems is Adobe InDesign solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have the option to use it for designing posters, posts, and other design products for the academic program I administer. ### 2. InDesign is Great for Any Graphic Designer **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Marketing and Advertising | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 06, 2019 **What do you like best about Adobe InDesign?** I like how InDesign allows for easy story-telling for any business, or even personal usage. Graphic design isn't easy, but InDesign allows for a great way to navigate and learn the program as you go. **What do you dislike about Adobe InDesign?** I dislike how sometimes it freezes. Sometimes it crashes on me, but when I re-open the program, usually it recovers my work. **Recommendations to others considering Adobe InDesign:** I would recommend this software to any marketing department. It's crucial to have a design team for any professional company. I would make sure that employees understand how to use Adobe InDesign or ensure they have some sort of graphic design background. It's super important to have a background in design to be able to understand and use this program efficiently and effectively. I love it! I have used this program for a while now at the place that I work at. Sometimes I go look up tutorials if I forget how to do a certain task, and it's an easy thing to do. There are so many great tutorials out there for anyone who wants to learn more! **What problems is Adobe InDesign solving and how is that benefiting you?** The problems I am solving with Adobe InDesign are basic design techniques and creating amazing graphics for the company that I currently work for. It definitely helps to have some experience in graphic design to be able to know what you're doing on this program. I would recommend watching tutorials on basic how-to's to work this software, because it can be kind of overwhelming sometimes. ### 3. Adobe InDesign is Great for Graphic Designers **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Architecture & Planning | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 24, 2019 **What do you like best about Adobe InDesign?** This program is so great! I absolutely love how Adobe InDesign is so user-friendly. This software is great for creating anything you can imagine. I personally use this software at my workplace, JLG Architects. We create proposals for potential clients every day. This program is a life-saver for all of us here in the Marketing department that use it! It helps us create beautiful work to send out to clients. **What do you dislike about Adobe InDesign?** I dislike how sometimes Adobe InDesign freezes in the middle of working on a project. I've had this happen to me a couple of times, and I had to force the program to shut down since it wouldn't budge. Luckily, it saved my work when I re-opened Adobe InDesign. **Recommendations to others considering Adobe InDesign:** I recommend any marketing department (specifically graphic designers) to use this program. This program is very well known among graphic designers and is the core of graphic design in the design world. I am so glad the company I work for has this program so I can create amazing proposal work every single day! **What problems is Adobe InDesign solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am solving problems in terms of creating beautiful work with this program! Our marketing team at my workplace uses this to create all kinds of things - from proposals to business cards to flyers and mailers - we do it all with this program, Adobe InDesign. I don't know what our team would do without it! We always get complimented on our work and the amazing results that we produce by using this program. ### 4. Okay **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Online Media | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 25, 2019 **What do you like best about Adobe InDesign?** Integrates well with other Adobe design apps. **What do you dislike about Adobe InDesign?** Scaling and cropping features can be difficult. **Recommendations to others considering Adobe InDesign:** There are better options but InDesign is widely used in design and publishing **What problems is Adobe InDesign solving and how is that benefiting you?** Very standard app for the industry. ### 5. good product as an alt to illustrator **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Alexandra P. | Proofreader, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 04, 2019 **What do you like best about Adobe InDesign?** offers different layouts for necessary docs in our business (brochures, business cards, cards, etc) **What do you dislike about Adobe InDesign?** was not intuitive and felt like a lot of times my coworkers were not using it so it made it difficult to pick up/help/create files to collaborate together **Recommendations to others considering Adobe InDesign:** ensure coworkers use same program/are trained/have same comfort level with indesign **What problems is Adobe InDesign solving and how is that benefiting you?** creating options and sales materials for clients that set us apart; clients always seemed to be happy with designs/layouts i created in program ### 6. Not the most intuitive or quickly responsive tool to get a glance at formatting. **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 03, 2018 **What do you like best about Adobe InDesign?** Can handle a lot of pages at a time and detects changes in updated files. **What do you dislike about Adobe InDesign?** The program is slow and has difficulty processing all the files that it seems like it can handle. It is also a program initially intended for print purposes so capabilities are limited. **Recommendations to others considering Adobe InDesign:** It's a program designed for print work. If you are doing something digital, I'd recommend a different product. **What problems is Adobe InDesign solving and how is that benefiting you?** Putting together clear documentation to pass on to other teams. It is beneficial to use indesign because it is easy to update things that have been updated via pdf can keep everything in order. ### 7. Clunky and over crowded **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Performing Arts | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 15, 2018 **What do you like best about Adobe InDesign?** I like being able to move my fields anywhere on the page without being limited to pre-existing fields. **What do you dislike about Adobe InDesign?** Everything else. It is not user friendly without watching multiple instructional videos online. Fields will get buried among one another, becoming impossible to select/move/adjust. Frequently, an image will look great on my screen but when I print it there are fields missing or bleeding off the page. **Recommendations to others considering Adobe InDesign:** InDesign is certainly a useful product for those who have a high level of skill and spend a LOT of time in it. For an occasional user like myself, it is far too much to handle and counter-intuitive. **What problems is Adobe InDesign solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have honestly moved most of our uses for InDesign into Google Drawings and Word. ### 8. Very average compared to other Adobe softwares **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Marketing and Advertising | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 16, 2018 **What do you like best about Adobe InDesign?** I like the concept of the software, what it tries to help me achieve, it's a much needed software. **What do you dislike about Adobe InDesign?** It's not all that efficient to use...There are 2 levels of "frames" around images that are inserted on a page, which means that every time someone wants to move an image, rescale it etc..., they have to take into consideration 2 levels of "frames". Why not just simplify that to 1 level and let the user use clipping masks whenever they need them? **Recommendations to others considering Adobe InDesign:** I wouldn't recommend it unless they really want to make a proper book or magazine with lots of content that needs to be visually appealing. I wouldn't recommend it as a PowerPoint replacement for instance. **What problems is Adobe InDesign solving and how is that benefiting you?** It does help makes book-like documents, design description projects and things like that, which can be 20 to 100+ pages. ### 9. Adobe Indesign CC **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Leigh Ann J. | Lead Designer - Marketing & Innovation, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 27, 2018 **What do you like best about Adobe InDesign?** Indesign is a great program for desktop publishing, catalogs, and printed literature. Program auto saves when it crashes. It packages files for you with ease when sending to a print company. **What do you dislike about Adobe InDesign?** I absolutely hate using Indesign. Out of all adobe software, this is my least favorite. The keyboard shortcuts are clunky. Vector graphics placed must be opened in illustrator for editing, so I’d rather just work in illustrator the whole time, although I understand the pros of this program. I simply hate using it. **What problems is Adobe InDesign solving and how is that benefiting you?** Catalog creation for small and large printed booklets. Creating stock guide sell sheets for sales teams to use when securing new account orders. ### 10. InDesign is powerful but difficult to master **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Photography | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 10, 2018 **What do you like best about Adobe InDesign?** I like the control that InDesign gives over every element on a printed page. **What do you dislike about Adobe InDesign?** I like the control that InDesign gives, but it can be frustrating to begin working with the program cold. There are so many settings and controls that learning the menus and options can be challenging. **Recommendations to others considering Adobe InDesign:** Make sure that users are well trained on this product. **What problems is Adobe InDesign solving and how is that benefiting you?** I created a print magazine from scratch, using InDesign, and felt that it was a professional tool for the job. ### 11. InDesign **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Marketing and Advertising | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 13, 2017 **What do you like best about Adobe InDesign?** Adobe InDesign is built for publishing. Everything about it is perfect for a flawless print process. **What do you dislike about Adobe InDesign?** InDesign is becoming a little un-needed. With new updates the Adobe Illustrator program it I find myself using that more for print projects. The user experience is more simplistic than InDesign. **What problems is Adobe InDesign solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am working to create the best print items as possible with the easiest process to get there. I'm not sure there are many benefits to use InDesign over Illustrator ### 12. Second to Illustrator **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Graphic Design | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 22, 2016 **What do you like best about Adobe InDesign?** InDesign is friendlier to me than photoshop. I like easily rearranging pages. The ability to create margins, columns and rows — grids are clearly really important to me. Can you imagine InDesign for web! How amazing would my life be. I hate having to translate my design to programmers. There is always a disconnect. Is the future of webdesign on the verge!? **What do you dislike about Adobe InDesign?** I dont use it as often as illustrator so I have a bit of a learning curve everytime I jump back into it. I wish there was more streamline between adobe in general. Consistent key commands. **Recommendations to others considering Adobe InDesign:** Be patient and this program will become a favorite! **What problems is Adobe InDesign solving and how is that benefiting you?** Ultimately my clients seem to be more interested in webdesign than print so unless I am creating an interactive presentation I rarely use indesign for my clients. It does come in handy for school though. ## Adobe InDesign Discussions - [What other things do use Indesign for, besides designing a catalog.](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-other-things-do-use-indesign-for-besides-designing-a-catalog) - 7 comments, 2 upvotes - [Will you allow users to edit images later on within InDesign](https://www.g2.com/discussions/12082-will-you-allow-users-to-edit-images-later-on-within-indesign) - 3 comments, 2 upvotes - [How can i make an image (logo text) white in Indesign?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-can-i-make-an-image-logo-text-white-in-indesign) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [What would be the best way to share a book with someone who has an older version of InDesign?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/51997-what-would-be-the-best-way-to-share-a-book-with-someone-who-has-an-older-version-of-indesign) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [How could you make this software so much faster?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/36422-how-could-you-make-this-software-so-much-faster) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [View Adobe InDesign pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/adobe-indesign/reviews?filters%5Bnps_score%5D%5B%5D=2§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-12+12%3A30%3A17+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=f5a274ef-adfc-454b-959d-157edcea0200&secure%5Btoken%5D=614c88393a277e37514ca2d99f800adaa65f43a35c25f9b71ddeb0b43e41de8d&format=llm_user) ## Adobe InDesign Integrations - [Adobe Acrobat](https://www.g2.com/products/adobe-acrobat/reviews) - [Adobe After Effects](https://www.g2.com/products/adobe-after-effects/reviews) - [Adobe Bridge](https://www.g2.com/products/adobe-bridge/reviews) - [Adobe Express](https://www.g2.com/products/adobe-express/reviews) - [Adobe Illustrator](https://www.g2.com/products/adobe-illustrator/reviews) - [Adobe Photoshop](https://www.g2.com/products/adobe-photoshop/reviews) - [Adobe Photoshop Lightroom](https://www.g2.com/products/adobe-photoshop-lightroom/reviews) - [Adobe Premiere Pro](https://www.g2.com/products/adobe-premiere-pro/reviews) - [Canto](https://www.g2.com/products/canto/reviews) - [FlippingBook](https://www.g2.com/products/flippingbook/reviews) - [Microsoft 365](https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft365/reviews) - [Microsoft Teams](https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft-teams/reviews) - [OpenAsset](https://www.g2.com/products/openasset/reviews) - [Shred.ai](https://www.g2.com/products/shred-ai/reviews) ## Adobe InDesign Features **Additional Functionality** - Data Visualization - Mobile App - AI Copilot - Commenting/Notes - Text Editing - Custom Brushes - Generative AI - Watermarking - Engagement Tracking - Pattern, Color & Art Storage - Version Control - API - Third-Party Integrations - Collaboration Tools - Design Templates - Search/Filter - Secure Data Storage - Workflow Management - Data Storage Management - Interactive Content - Drag & Drop Editor - Video Editing - Preview Functionality - Multi-Language - Image Editing - Content Import/Export - Customizable Branding - Content Management - CAD Tools - Content Library - Custom Fonts - 3D Digital Asset Management - Design Management - Presentation Tools - Social Media Integration - Print Management **Design** - Templates - Layout editor - Publishing formats - Saved preferences - Infographics - Asset Library **Platform Additional Functionality** - Mobile Access - File Storage ## Top Adobe InDesign Alternatives - [Canva](https://www.g2.com/products/canva/reviews) - 4.7/5.0 (6,476 reviews) - [Microsoft Publisher](https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft-publisher/reviews) - 4.3/5.0 (993 reviews) - [QuarkXPress](https://www.g2.com/products/quarkxpress/reviews) - 4.0/5.0 (295 reviews)