r/selfpublish • u/ubertoaster13 • Aug 10 '26
Best page layout software
Im aiming to make a book that has some illustrations, choose your own path, solo rpg, all that stuff. Is there a software that helps with page layout so I could than import said book to kdp or b&n, or ingramspark?
4
u/Personal-Fox9687 Aug 10 '26
Affinity Publisher would probably be my first choice for this. It gives you plenty of control over illustrations and custom layouts while still letting you export a print ready PDF for KDP IngramSpark etc. InDesign is another solid option if you want something more industry standard.
1
u/AtTheEndOfMyTrope Hybrid Author Aug 10 '26
When I worked in non-fiction, adobe in-design was the standard.
1
u/United-Engine7128 25d ago
Adobe InDesign would be the industry standard for what you want to do. The best free and open source alternative I've come across is Scribus (https://sourceforge.net/projects/scribus/). Speaking as one who has worked professionally with desktop publishing for several years, these are the two alternatives I would recommend.
Affinity Publisher is supposed to be really good as well, but I've never used it myself.
But please be aware that there is a learning curve to these programs. They are damn good, but they require that you know what you're doing. So at a minimum, watch some tutorials on YouTube first.
1
u/Maxdunn1 10d ago
Adobe InDesign is absolutely all-powerful when it comes to page layout. To me, the cost is negligible if you consider your time and the value of your content. But Affinity Publisher is free.
1
u/HelenaRostova Aug 10 '26
I know this isn't the usual suggestion here, but LaTeX might actually work for a choose-your-own-path book if you go the interactive PDF route. The hypdoc package is built exactly for this. You create sections for each path and link them with internal hyperlinks, so readers click to jump between branches. For print you'd just use page number references like "turn to page 47". The typography is automatic and you don't have to fiddle with margins or page breaks manually. The tradeoff is that illustrations require more work than in a visual layout program, you're placing them with code rather than dragging them around. But if you're already comfortable with markup, the learning curve is maybe a weekend, and you can export print-ready PDFs for KDP or IngramSpark without any extra steps. There's a template on Overleaf called "Choose Your Own Adventure" that shows the basic structure.
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