Layout software: A complete guide to optimizing your business documents

The choice of a layout software is important for any business that wants to layout high-quality professional documents, whether catalogs, brochures, business cards, or marketing materials.

With these tools, you can harmonize text, images, and graphics to provide a consistent visual presentation.

This guide will explore the best layout software available, their benefits, and how they fit into an overall product information management (PIM) strategy with solutions like NuDE.

What is layout software?

Page layout software, also called Desktop publishing (desktop publishing), allows you to create printed or digital documents, with professional formatting.

This type of software offers various functionalities: text manipulation, image integration, and graphic element management. These tools are used for materials such as catalogs, brochures, books, and advertisements.

With software like SolidCatalogue, proposed by SolidPepper, it is possible to automate the layout of catalogs by directly using centralized product data in a PIM software.

This integration significantly reduces creation time while ensuring a consistent and up-to-date layout.

Why use layout software?

The advantages of layout software are multiple:

• Time saver : The manual layout can be time-consuming, especially with a large volume of products. Tools like Adobe InDesign available to SolidCatalogue allow you to quickly create catalogs by automating repetitive tasks, in particular by using models or by directly integrating product databases via PIM software such as NuDE.

• Visual coherence : This software makes it possible to create reusable models, thus ensuring a homogeneous presentation on all product supports, while respecting the company's graphic charter. NuDE offers solutions that allow this consistency by centralizing all the company's product information.

• Easy to update : A catalog or brochure often needs to be updated with new information, prices or promotions. Good layout software integrated with a PIM solution makes these updates easy. You can change information in real time and reflect these changes instantly in your documents.

• Creative flexibility : By using tools like Adobe InDesign, designers can work on highly complex documents with total freedom in fonts, colors, and fonts. SolidCatalogue, via its Adobe InDesign plugin, also allows customization while automating essential elements.

The 4 best layout software for businesses

Here is a selection of the most efficient software for layout, adapted to different professional needs (Find our Full 2024 comparison of the best desktop publishing software):

1. Adobe InDesign

• Features : Advanced typography tools, integration with Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator).

• Why InDesign? This software is ideal for creating complex documents such as catalogs or magazines. It is the industry standard for desktop publishing.

• Integrating with SolidPepper : SolidCatalogue integrates Adobe InDesign to automate catalog layout from product databases

2. Affinity Publisher

• Features : An economical alternative to InDesign, intuitive interface, easy image and text management.

• Why Affinity Publisher? For small businesses or teams on a budget, Affinity Publisher is a great alternative to InDesign, while offering advanced layout features.

3. QuarkXPress

• Features : Interactive layout, advanced color management, and creation of interactive digital content.

• Why QuarkXPress? It's a robust option for editors and publishing professionals, with an emphasis on producing both print and digital content.

4. Canva

• Features : Drag-and-drop interface, ready-to-use templates, ideal for novice users.

• Why Canva? Canva is an easy to use platform, ideal for creating visual materials quickly without advanced technical skills. However, it is more suitable for small projects than for creating complex catalogs.

Our solution: automate layout with SolidCatalogue

One of the main advantages of SolidPepper is Its SolidCatalogue software, designed to automate the creation of catalogs and sales materials.

With SolidCatalogue, businesses can generate catalogs from Excel databases Or of ERP systems suchlike SagE or Oracle.

SolidCatalogue benefits

• Catalog automation : The software retrieves product information from a database and automatically generates a catalog in accordance with Graphic charter of the company. This saves hours of manual work.

• Simplified updatess: SolidCatalogue allows you to update catalogs by Real time. When prices or descriptions change in the PIM database, the catalog is automatically adjusted.

• Flexible formats : Catalogs can be exported in PDF formats for printing or in InDesign format for further customization.

Why integrate layout software with a PIM?

The integration of layout software with A PIM system has a number of advantages:

• Centralization of product data : A PIM like the one offered by SolidPepper allows you to store all product information in one place. This simplifies catalog organization and ensures that all information is up to date.

• Automating tasks : With solutions like SolidCatalogue, businesses can automate layout and focus on other aspects of marketing or sales.

• Multi-channel consistency : NuDE by SolidPepper ensures that your data is consistent across all your sales channels (website, marketplaces, brochures, social networks). One updating in the PIM is instantly reflected in all media, including automatically generated catalogs.

Conclusion

The good layout software can transform the way a business creates and updates marketing materials. Whether it's product catalogs, brochures or other materials, these tools save a lot of time and guarantee professional visual quality.

By integrating these solutions with management software such as SolidPepper and its NuDE PIM, you can centralize your data and automate the creation of catalogs, thus improving the productivity and consistency of your marketing materials.

If you are looking to simplify and optimize your layout processes, solutions like SolidCatalogue combined with professional software such as Adobe InDesign or Affinity Publisher are essential choices for businesses looking to save time and ensure consistent quality.

‍Get Started for Free for 30 days with SolidPepper's NuDE and SolidCatalogue solutions and start streamlining your business.

FAQS

What is layout software?

Page layout software, or DTP (Computer Aided Publishing), allows you to create and design printed or digital documents, such as catalogs, brochures or advertisements, by harmonizing texts, images and graphic elements.

What is the best layout software?

Some of the best layout software include Adobe InDesign, Affinity Publisher, QuarkXPress, and Canva. These tools are adapted to different types of projects, whether complex or simpler.

What are the advantages of using software like SolidCatalogue for layout?

SolidCatalogue makes it possible to automate the creation of catalogs from product databases, thus saving time and guaranteeing visual consistency and simplified updating.

How do you integrate layout software with a PIM system?

A PIM (Product Information Management) system like NuDE from SolidPepper centralizes product information. This data can then be automatically integrated into layout software to create catalogs or brochures that are updated in real time.

Why is it important to automate catalog creation?

Automation reduces the time spent on manual creation, ensures consistency in product information, and makes it easy to update. It also allows documents to be produced more quickly, especially when numerous products need to be integrated.

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