# Adobe InDesign 16 Hacker News commenters recommended Adobe InDesign and 20 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months. **Verdict:** People recommend it as the industry-standard layout tool for print work, with precise page control and output printers accept. Critics most often call it buggy and bloated. ## Why people recommend it - Industry-standard tool for print work (3 comments): "If you want to get the best out of your printer during the pre-flight process, then you're absolutely want to be sending them a PDF file that came out of the Adobe toolset." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48178131)) "the printer's preflight team will be more willing (and able !) to help you if you are using industry-standard tools" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46193192)) "which I believe is an industry standard" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47148113)) - Precise control over page layout (2 comments): "Indesign was such a satisfying way to layout documents." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46240829)) "wanted explicit control of the page" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47294618)) - Needed for graphics-heavy layouts (2 comments): "If it's graphics/presentation heavy, you most likely will need something like InDesign." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46656377)) "you really need InDesign to do that properly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47723921)) - Better than Word for layout (2 comments): "I should have used Word and InDesign; that combo would have prevented so many headaches and been more stable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48053656)) "I'd rather use Word (ugh) or InDesign for layout." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48700364)) ## What people warn about - Flaky, buggy, bloated over time (4 comments): "InDesign is kind of flaky and will sometimes change layout or make other visual changes in response to apparently nothing at all." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48286538)) "Lots of problems in Adobe Creative Cloud on Win 11 (primarily Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator) in recent months too." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48921126)) "InDesign's many, and I mean MANY, annoyances, weirdness, quirkiness, failures to follow other Adobe app standards" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49466696)) - Quirky interface and workflow (4 comments): "InDesign has some powerful features, but it bogs you down more and the results feel less reusable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49961412)) "I much prefer the interface of Pixelmator and Pages to Photoshop and InDesign" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48997157)) "given how fed up I was with InDesign and its quirks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46240641)) - Expensive subscription, online validation (3 comments): "try to re-validate my subscription at that moment, without even a one-day workaround to no Internet connection" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49961579)) "it forces them to use Photoshop or InDesign with expensive cloud subscription plans" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50052961)) "$264/year each for Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere, InDesign" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47826431)) - Error-prone layouts, weak EPUB output (3 comments): "InDesign's EPUB output is horrifically terrible, especially if you're trying to use custom fonts/graphics for page headings." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48285590)) "Traditional catalog design in InDesign is extremely prone to errors and inconsistencies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47812808)) "changing the page size will probably break the layout" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48487199)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Microsoft Publisher](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-publisher.md): 14 recommend - [Scribus](https://hackerapproved.com/p/scribus.md): 8 recommend - [Affinity Publisher](https://hackerapproved.com/p/affinity-publisher.md): 7 recommend - [Vellum](https://hackerapproved.com/p/vellum.md): 6 recommend - [Adobe FrameMaker](https://hackerapproved.com/p/framemaker.md): 5 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.adobe.com/products/indesign.html) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Adobe InDesign", https://hackerapproved.com/p/adobe-indesign/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).