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A Microsoft Publisher alternative that opens your .pub files

PressLish is a Microsoft Publisher alternative for Windows that opens your existing .pub files and lets you keep editing them: free-placed text boxes and pictures, master pages, mail merge, labels, booklets and PDF. It is bought once for $60, works offline, and doesn't use AI to design for you.

Made for people who used Publisher for years

Most "Publisher alternatives" are design tools that start from a blank page or a template. They can't open the files you already have, so every bulletin, newsletter and certificate has to be rebuilt by hand. PressLish starts from your files.

• Opens .pub files from Publisher 2002 to 2021.
• Publisher-style layout: place, layer and rotate boxes anywhere, link text boxes so a story flows on, use columns, guides and rulers, custom page sizes.
• Familiar menus: Home, Insert, Page, Mail Merge and View tabs.
• Mail merge from Excel or CSV into letters, cards, certificates and label sheets, and catalogue merge with several records per page and a picture for each.
• Print shop ready: bleed, printer's marks, PDF for print, and a print-shop package.
• Yours: one payment, no subscription, no account needed to use it, documents never uploaded.

What PressLish doesn't do (yet)

• Spell check is English only.
• The Mac version is coming soon; today PressLish is for Windows 10 and 11.

Questions

Is there a Publisher alternative that opens .pub files?

Yes. PressLish opens .pub files directly and lets you edit, print and export them, without Publisher installed.

Is PressLish a subscription?

No. A licence is a one-time payment of $60. You can use PressLish for life on one computer, with support and updates until 31 December 2029.

Does PressLish work offline?

Yes. It needs the internet only to start the trial, to activate a licence and to check for updates. Editing, printing and exporting work offline.

Does PressLish use AI?

No. You lay out your pages yourself, the way you did in Publisher.

More guides

• How to open a .pub file without Microsoft Publisher
• Microsoft Publisher is retiring in October 2026: what to do with your files
• Convert a Publisher (.pub) file to PDF, Word or pictures
• Mail merge and labels without Microsoft Publisher
• PressLish for churches: keep your bulletins and newsletters after Publisher
• PressLish for schools: newsletters, certificates and notices after Publisher
• PressLish for clubs, community groups and families
• Microsoft Publisher alternatives compared: PressLish, Canva, Word, LibreOffice, Affinity