Microsoft Publisher vs CorelDraw: Features and Disadvantages

If you are a web designer looking for a high-quality yet affordable program for creating web pages, business cards, logos and other content for websites, then check out this comparative Microsoft Publisher vs CorelDRAW review to understand what software can fully satisfy your needs.

Microsoft Publisher is aimed at creating design and altering the look of web pages. It contains many handy tools, an extensive color palette, AI design check, and offers integration with Microsoft OneDrive. Users also appreciate the possibility to use many free templates with various color mixes in order to create one-of-a-kind designs.

CorelDRAW is a full-featured vector editor that allows customizing guides, attaching objects to their points, creating unlimited pages, and working with 1-3 point perspectives. Moreover, you can add text, draw with a pen, and combine perspective with objects drawn on a standard orthogonal plane.

Microsoft Publisher or CorelDRAW – which program to choose? In fact, much depends on your particular needs and the tasks you have to fulfill. Microsoft Publisher is positioned as a simple-to-use editor focused on individuals and small companies. The software comes with multiple templates that can be customized for a particular project. You can change colors, font styles, columns, size, and other parameters.

The bragging point of the program is the “WordArt” function that helps users combine layers and images to create covers, logos, etc. When you add a background image, Microsoft Publisher doesn’t degrade its quality, so the resulting design will look professional and beautiful.

A large array of preset color palettes is another advantage of the software. Thus, you can cope with unique brand development faster keeping the elements of your design coherent.

Microsoft Publisher provides you with a specific menu where you can choose among several predefined shapes. After you add it to your presentation, you can change the border, fill it with color, or add embossing, shadows, or highlights to make your design original. The menu with shapes also contains a pen, using which you can draw anything from scratch, e.g., curls.

Besides, when you have text for publishing, the software uses Word capabilities, providing you with built-in notifications about spelling or grammatical errors it recognizes. This is a really handy feature you need to consider comparing Microsoft Publisher vs CorelDRAW. Then, you can initiate a full scan of a file to see available options so that your final product looks flawless.

CorelDRAW is an intuitive editor suitable for creating multi-page layouts, as well as simpler designs such as logos and illustrations. While comparing CorelDRAW vs Adobe Illustrator, I highlighted that CorelDRAW surpasses the competitor with well-designed tools for forming nodes, grid filling, direct connection, adding shadows, and more. In addition, the editor doesn’t pixelate a design, so you can get a high-quality print.

CorelDRAW comes with 2,000+ creative assets that include 60 professionally designed templates to quickly make certificates, ads, business cards, letterheads, flyers, posters and more without preparing all the elements from the ground up. Typically, templates are used for creating page layouts and typography projects.

Unlike its rival in the Microsoft Publisher vs CorelDRAW battle, this software has a separate “Objects” docker for quick management of all components of a document. There are controls to hide, rename, search for objects and rearrange them. Opening the “Object Properties” docker, you can control formatting, fill, and other settings.

Another advanced feature you won’t find in free graphic design software is the possibility to work with pages in the Pages Docker as if they are layers or groups. You can also switch to a new "Multipage" mode, in which all pages are displayed at once in the form of a grid; this makes it easier to see how pages work together and allows you to move objects from one page to another by dragging and dropping them.

The commenting and collaborative editing processes have undergone positive changes. Now, after you’re done with your project, you can share it with colleagues on the cloud, so that they can add comments and edit it.

Users favoring Microsoft Publisher can choose from several pricing plans. The basic plan includes 1TB of cloud storage, secure files handling, and optimization for any device for $5 a month. Paying $12.50/month, you get all the above-mentioned goodies, plus advanced Office apps. If you want to have total control over your data, top-tier security and protection from cyber-attacks, get ready to pay $20.00 monthly. The company also offers a subscription for $8.25/month. In this case, you get top-notch Office apps, ongoing support, and 1TB cloud storage.

If you need the program for home use, it makes sense to choose a personal subscription for $6.99 a month or a family offer for 2-6 people priced at $9.99/month. You will get up to 6TB of cloud storage and improved data security.

As for CorelDRAW, you can also choose from several subscription variants. You can get a subscription for personal use for $390 and receive a full suite of features, free support, and future updates. Alternatively, there is a subscription for large enterprises that include team collaboration tools and remarkable data security. When you subscribe, you need to fill out a form indicating your company. Then, you will find out the cost of this subscription.