You’ve probably heard of Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop. I get many questions from readers asking which software is better for making printables. So here are some of the things to consider and which software I think is best for what:
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Microsoft Word Pros
- Probably already have the software installed on your computer
- If you don’t already have it, it’s cheaper than Photoshop and you can buy it outright rather than a subscription
- Can use custom fonts you’ve downloaded from the internet (see here)
- Can do landscape or portrait page orientation printables
- Can quickly make calendars
- Less confusing menus than Photoshop (i.e. Word doesn’t have a layers menu or Secondary menus)
Related: How to make planner printables using Microsoft Word: An Introduction
Microsoft Word Cons
- Your printables will probably end up looking the same all the time as it’s not a design software
- Limited in what it can do – you can’t do all of the same things as Photoshop
- Not ideal for making printables with patterns
- Can be frustrating to use when aligning things, things moving on the page when you don’t want them to, aligning margins etc.
- No color swatches menu so you have to manually enter the HEX or RGB color codes
- Not ideal for printables at non-typical page size
- Very basic shapes tool – you can really only do circles, squares or rectangles
- Image quality isn’t as good
Microsoft Word is best for
- Starting out making printables
- Personal use
- Don’t want to use patterns, clipart and other design elements
- Making quick and simple printables
Learn how to make printables in Microsoft Word
Photoshop Pros
- Have complete control over the design
- Can use whatever page size you like
- Can use custom fonts you’ve downloaded from the internet (see here)
- Can do landscape or portrait page orientation printables
- Can design right to the edge of the page (i.e. no page border) which is not as easy to do in Word
- Better for making planner covers
- Can easily make planner accessories e.g. printable dashboards
- Rulers too is helpful for aligning and page margins
- Can make other things such as labels
- Can download shapes (there are plenty of free ones online!) such as hearts, flowers, objects, Christmas theme graphics etc.
- Layers menu means you can store multiple designs in the same Photoshop file and organize into folders – good for comparing different colourways, patterns, size variations etc. for the same design
- Can save the finished file in multiple formats – Photoshop (PSD), image (JPG or PNG) etc.
- Easy to make simple and quick changes to a template to create a new design
Related: How to make printables
Photoshop Cons
- Can be intimidating if you’ve never used it before (although it doesn’t need to be – I have plenty of tutorials on how to get started in Photoshop here)
- Can be more time consuming to initially set up templates for some types of printables
- Have to buy as a monthly subscription (Adobe no longer let you purchase outright)
- Software and design files take up hard-drive space on your computer (although it’s good to backup onto an external harddrive anyway)
Photoshop is best for
- Creating decorative printables (patterns, clipart, ombre effects etc.)
- Creating lots of printables – use the same template and quickly switch out the pattern, change the colors etc.
- Creating printables at non-typical page size (for a specific planner e.g. 7 x 9″) plus you can add cutting guidelines
Enroll in my email course for a tutorial on how to make a weekly planner from scratch! (Click here)
So which is better?
It depends what you want to make.
If you prefer patterns, clipart, want to be more creative and have more control over the design and create printables which you sell, then I’d use Photoshop.
If you want to make printables for personal use, need something that’s quick, simple and easy to use, then I’d use Microsoft Word.
If you don’t have Photoshop, you can purchase and download it here (my affiliate link).
DIY Planner tutorials
- How to make planner printables using Microsoft Word: An Introduction
- How to make planner printables (advice from a planner addict that’s made over 4000 printables)
- How to make an A5 size, 2 page weekly planner printable in Photoshop (video tutorial)
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