Pages
Ships with all Macs.
Capable word processor and publishing program.
Lots of templates for document creation.
Advanced features take some digging.
Proprietary document formats; need to convert for sharing.
If you need basic business documents, envelopes and business cards, this program can handle them easily.
Pages exports to PDF and Microsoft Word formats, and imports Word documents.
Scribus
Open source professional-level software.
Potential steep learning curve.
Might be overkill for some.
Scribus is open source desktop publishing software that is available for several platforms, including Mac.
Apache OpenOffice Productivity Suite
Great for basics.
Not as many advanced features as alternatives.
Might need another program for complex publishing tasks.
Publisher Lite
Over 45 templates.
Available from the App Store.
Word processing and page layout features.
Some features require in-app purchases.
Publisher Lite from PearlMountain Technology is a free desktop publishing and page layout tool for business and home use.
Inkscape
Free, open-source vector graphics software.
Ideal for designing flyers, book covers, etc.
Also supports page layouts.
Less word processing support than other options.
More suited for users familiar with graphic design.
Use it for creating text and graphics compositions including business cards, book covers, flyers and ads.
Inkscape is similar in capabilities to Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw.
Although it is a graphic software program, it’s quite capable of handling some page layout tasks.
