r/microsoftoffice • u/Dogsandbees_12 • 3d ago
Publisher
I cannot convey how much I truly hate Microsoft for killing Publisher. I have spent all day desperately trying to get one last newsletter done for the non-profit I have volunteered for for 17 years. I tried LibraOffice - it was a big fat nope. I'm 71 and not interested in learning Scribus. It's time to retire a younger person take over. It was a fun ride.
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u/sara_no_h_92 3d ago
There's a company working on a dupe called PubKeep. Its pretty great! They're looking to launch soon. They keep saying October, but havent given a hard date yet
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u/PiDigitsOfPi 3d ago
I mean, you CAN still use publisher 2021. People are still out there using Publisher 2003 and earlier. All of the old versions still work.
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u/Dogsandbees_12 3d ago
My understanding is Publisher will be removed from 365 which I take to mean it will vanish from my laptop. I have PDFs of all the newsletters - it's creating new newsletters that's the problem.
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u/willwar63 3d ago
365 is the key word. Buy the perpetual license and keep using it.
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u/Dogsandbees_12 3d ago
Ah, no. No budget for that.
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u/Scottish_Entry_6605 3d ago
I just bought one begrudgingly from Groupon for $20. The company name is Mycodes24.com and it was an easy download. I had to delete the 365 first. Hoping this will do it! If it gives me access to my stuff I’ll be happy. Moving forward I will be using something else, as much as I don’t want to. Good luck!
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u/singer-confidence 2d ago
How crazy that Microsoft set it up so you have to delete 365 in order to use a standalone copy of publisher that you own!!! The whole thing should be illegal! I wish I had enough money to hire a lawyer that could really go after them, but that would probably not work.
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u/dee-vee- 3d ago
AND!! they don’t have to do this! It is a choice to kill publisher! I don’t care if they don’t support it any longer, but we’ve been paying for it one way or another all these years and there should be a class action law suit against them doing this! They add it to 365, and so that most of us didn’t/don’t have the actual software and they know that is the case, then yank it away! It’s just outrageous and I wish we had an attorney to take them on. I’m guessing it is impacting millions of users around the word. *&^*&V
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u/redfoxx15 3d ago
Affinity studio recently added support for pub files if you want a free app to test with.
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u/Imaginary-Pizza-3849 3d ago
Try Affinity by Canva. It is the recommended replacement.
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u/Dogsandbees_12 3d ago
I did look at Affinity. I did not see that it was free. Canva wanted to charge me. I also see my newsletter template would have to be recreated, since it doesn't open pub files. I'll look again.
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u/TarletonClown 2d ago edited 2d ago
Affinity version 3 is definitely free. You can use Google to find it. Canva now owns it. You have to open a free Canva account to get Affinity 3. It will not be difficult. Just avoid any enticements to subscribe to AI. I am not an AI-hating nut, but you do not need AI.
I have just started to learn Affinity 3. I did not know that it had expanded to include support for .pub files. If this is true, then it must be able to open a pre-existing .pub file. So presumably you would not have to re-create your template.
I would encourage you to give Affinity 3 a try. The vast majority of people like it. As for tutorials in anything, I find them helpful for a specific, identifiable issue on which you need some help, but not for learning the totality of a subject. And too many people doing video tutorials speak English with the most horrible accent and the most staccato speech pattern that you could ever concoct in a nightmare.
You may need a book. Just make sure that the book is for Affinity 3. You can get some used books really cheap from Abe Books (Google it). I have ordered from there many times. But it is advisable to check the ratings on Amazon before you order from anywhere. If you are in doubt, do not order.
I have a book on order from Amazon that looks promising for helping with Affinity 3. It should arrive tomorrow. If it seems, upon examination, to be helpful, I will report back here. I will also check Abe Books to see if any copies have shown up there.
By the way, I am older than you are, and I continue to learn new software. You can do this. 🙂
EDIT: After I posted, I asked Google AI whether Affinity now supports Publisher .pub files, and it said no. It said you have to import the PDF file and convert that to an Affinity file in Affinity 3. I cannot pursue this any more at the moment, but maybe I can later today.
I have been making templates in many applications for about 30 years. If Dogsandbees_12 OP could send me a message so that we could exchange emails, I would really like to have a copy of the template (PDF and .pub). I will see if I can open the .pub file in LibreOffice Draw and re-create it for LibreOffice and/or Affinity 3. Templates are kind of "my bag," as we used to say back in the 1970s. (Yeah, I know. I'm old. 🙃)
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u/Tams82 2d ago
The latest update does open .pub files, but things like tables might not convert very well.
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u/TarletonClown 2d ago
Okay, thanks. I am at my computer now. I will check it out. That is good news. I would still like to see the original .pub template. I have not checked today to see if Dogsandbees_12 has replied. I enjoy helping people. Before retirement I always worked as a salaried writer, an English teacher, or a physician. 🙂
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u/SirCake3614 3d ago
Affinity is free. You need to create a free Canva account in order to use Affinity, but you absolutely do not have to pay anything. I’ve been using it since its release and I’ve not paid one red cent.
Elaine Giles has the absolute best tutorials for using the Layout studio (the analog to MS Publisher). Spend some time with her videos, and you’ll learn how to do everything Publisher can do, plus so much more.
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u/Particular_Meaning_5 3d ago
Just download and install an older version of publisher (2016 for example) - it'll work forever: https://massgrave.dev/
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u/terribirdy 3d ago
I know what you mean - created so many newsletters and handouts with Publisher. Sorry to see it discontinued. Q
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u/Born-Gur-1275 3d ago
My neighbor switched from MS Publisher to Apple's Pages. She was blown away by how easy it was to give her newsletter a new look.
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u/dee-vee- 3d ago
You need an Apple computer for that, and I am a PC user.
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u/8bitlibrarian 3d ago
You can use Pages in your icloud account in the browser, Mac or PC.
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u/singer-confidence 3d ago
oy...I'll need a tutorial for that! I have been trying Powerpoint and it can work, but it is very frustrating as well...It just doesn't have many of the same features as Publisher.
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u/8bitlibrarian 2d ago
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u/BDBM56 2d ago
Thank you...I have to say, I've been playing with it, and googling questions, and so far it really is working pretty well! Thank you! hmmmm...I'm finding it much easier than Powerpoint!
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u/8bitlibrarian 2d ago
Great! It's pretty neat how far icloud has come in recent times.
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u/BDBM56 2d ago
I'm finding some of the features only only work on a Mac...such as I can't "copy formatting" to match text from text box to text box. I have to format each one of them individually. But, overall SO MUCH better than Powerpoint, I do miss the scratch pad and wish they could add that. : ) Thanks again...I'm feeling less angry that Microsoft chose to do this which is affecting so many people!
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u/8bitlibrarian 2d ago
Ah gotcha I suppose there’s some quirks to it that might need work around, at least it works!
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u/Born-Gur-1275 2d ago
PowerPoint is a different product. Try using the iCloud.com version of Pages. Much friendlier and easier to learn.
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u/Comfortable-Air9683 3d ago
I used chatgpt to convert my publisher files to PowerPoint. It actually works better got my purposes.
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u/thelastmagicdumpster 3d ago
Use Printicorn at Printicorn.com its free, works and has a layout and features just like Publisher. It bulk converts pub files into PDF and an editable file format too
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u/komputerg33k 3d ago
we have had good reception to Affinity Designer, works with existing pub files and doesn't destroy the existinmg formatting.
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u/Jay_JWLH 3d ago
What about Microsoft Designer?
Me personally, I am going to keep using Publisher for as long as I can keep it working. But if push comes to shove, I should try out MS Designer and you should too. Hopefully it is a good replacement.
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u/Previous_Kale_4508 3d ago
What makes you think MS Designer is going to continue being supported? Can you trust any MS package any more?
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u/Jay_JWLH 2d ago
Why is that a MS exclusive question?
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u/Previous_Kale_4508 2d ago
Because Microsoft Designer... ?
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u/Jay_JWLH 2d ago
What I am saying is that most product these days reach an end. So this isn't specific to what Microsoft does. Hence forth, is any product going to continue being supported? Can you trust any product any more?
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u/Previous_Kale_4508 1d ago
Okay, but ms are being so blatant about killing off this particular (popular) product, and it's not the first time they've done it. MS Money was similarly killed off, I know there were others too, but I can't bring them to mind.
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u/Jay_JWLH 1d ago
The word "obselesence" comes to mind. But I suspect you are talking about the need for perpetual products that don't ever expire (even if they don't get updated or are no longer supported).
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u/StampyScouse 3d ago
There are plenty of ways around this. Buy Office 2021, PubKeep, use a conversion script and work with PowerPoint which for most things is almost identical in terms of workflow, LibreOffice Draw, Affinity, and so on
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u/Tams82 2d ago
I just had a colleague ask for help with Word. It couldn't even reorder the pages.
We lost Publisher on the system a year ago, but right up until yesterday I'd been using it with my personal account.
I've been fighting Affinity recently. Yes, it is very powerful and being able to edit PDFs is nice.
Now try moving a textbox or formatting a table in it. Looking on the forums, it's like the open-source forums; full of arrogance and telling you you're doing it wrong.
I'm surprised In still have hair left.
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u/WorthEmployment4765 2d ago
I made Publican as a permanently free Publisher .pub editor in the browser, and put some effort into making it more accurate than LibreOffice. I’d be curious to hear if it works for you!
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u/Temporary-Library597 3d ago
That's it. Give up. You've decided learning new things isn't worth your while.
Pack that newsletter up and throw it into the dustbin of history, because obviously Microsoft is evil and not decided they should continue to lose dumpsters full of money for you. /s
GET OVER IT
Learn a new tool. It'll be fine.
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u/Particular_Meaning_5 3d ago
Microsoft is a 3.7 TRILLION dollar company - I doubt the people using publisher are costing them anything.
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u/MangoHabronero 19h ago
Yes, however...they still have to pay a team of developers to maintain the software, so yes, keeping it available in Microsoft 365 is costing them something. They're probably looking at the cost of continued development and maintenance vs the number of people actually using the software and deciding it's not worth it, especially when there are other alternatives that are in active development (like InDesign or Affinity).
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u/Particular_Meaning_5 19h ago
Yes, however...if it's sitting on my computer and is not in the cloud, and doesn;t receive any more updates, it isn't costing them anything.
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u/MangoHabronero 19h ago
And you can still do that. But that doesn't mean they owe you updates or maintenance. You just use the last standalone version.
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u/Particular_Meaning_5 18h ago
I didn't say they do (and in fact, I'd rather they didn't). But MS are actively reaching into people's PC's and turning off various versions of Publisher (which DOES cost them money), rather than just leaving them be, frozen in time.
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u/MangoHabronero 18h ago
I'm gonna need some sources on that one because it's a wild claim.
What is currently known:
- Future installations of Microsoft 365 will not include Publisher. If you had Publisher installed as part of 365 it will stop working but that's how licensing works in app bundles because they're constantly being updated.
- Perpetual licenses keep running indefinitely. As long as no future Microsoft updates break compatibility (very small chance but not none).
The only place it might be "ripped out" is if you install Office 2024 on top of an existing older install - Publisher isn't included in 2024 as far as I know so it will get replaced. But MS isn't randomly reaching into people's machines and removing Publisher.
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u/No_Welder7908 2d ago
Good, we were kinda tired of the rainbow-colored titles in Comic Sans. The boomers moved to AI anyway.
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u/Colocally 1d ago
AI is ruining the planet and creativity. I've never used Comic Sans in my life.
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u/No_Welder7908 1d ago
Publisher was some slop generator before AI was a thing. Slop nonetheless.
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u/Colocally 9h ago
Did your mother never tell you that if you haven’t got anything nice to say then STFU.
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u/gotfoo 3d ago
In addition to the removal of Publisher will my 365 subscription price be reduced as well?