I don't get In Design?

You're 13 dys too late mate - it's not April 1st...

Saying Word or Photoshop is better than InDesign is like saying a screwdriver is better than a saw. It depends entirely on the job.

Word is great for typing documents.

Photoshop is brilliant for editing images.

InDesign? That’s what you use when you need to combine text, images, precise layout, and professional print output all in one package.

It’s not about making it easier for beginners. It’s about giving professionals control where it counts: typography, styles, master pages, print marks, bleed, colour profiles, linked assets, packaging files, and so on.

If you've never had a print job bounce back from a printer because Word mangled your fonts, colour profiles, or bleeds... consider yourself lucky.

So no shame if Word works for you. But if you're serious about professional print or long-form layout, InDesign isn’t half-baked. It’s the whole kitchen.

The Publisher Panic
One of my first forays into Microsoft for professional output was a logbook for a well-known car manufacturer. They submitted it in MS Publisher. (Which, to be fair, is 100 times better than Word for layout. Still the wrong tool, but at least it knows it's trying.)

They didn’t want the “hassle” of setting it up in Quark properly. So I had to go down to the estimators' office just to edit it, because Publisher was PC-only and they were the only ones with PCs.

I got it over the line CMYK, bleeds, crop marks but not because Publisher made it easy. It's not about the software, it's about the experience behind the wheel. Anyone can glue two bits of wood together. A carpenter makes it last.

The Photoshop Magazine Fiasco
Someone once submitted an entire magazine in Photoshop. Each page a separate file. Want to edit page 51? No problem just open 52, check the reflow. Then open 53. Then 54. Maybe page 50 needs a tweak now too? You see where this is going.

Yes, Photoshop can be used for print-ready files. Doesn’t mean it should be. A magazine needs structure and layout tools. Using Photoshop is like icing a cake with a hammer technically possible, but morally questionable.

PowerPoint Playing Cards
I’ve had a full deck of playing cards arrive in PowerPoint. Looked fine on screen, but didn’t translate to print. Every single card had to be tweaked. We had to make PDFs, open them one by one in Illustrator, and untangle the mess.

Great idea. Bad tool. In the end, it cost them more to fix than it would’ve cost to just do it right from the start.

The Word Report on the Brink
Then there was the 120-page annual report, built entirely in Word. Looked OK on screen... until print day.

Fonts changed randomly. Images were stretched like chewing gum. Headers wandered into the margins like ghosts. The whole document was a ticking mess.

I asked, “Did you use styles for headings and body text?” They said, “What’s a style?” I knew we were in deep.

We rebuilt the whole thing in InDesign properly. Master pages. Styles. Correct image placement. Print-ready PDF with marks and bleeds. No drama. No stress. Just done right.

Here’s the thing with Word
It uses system fonts. Not all fonts are created equal or even the same version. Move that document to another machine and the fonts can go rogue. Text shifts. Layouts break. It's like playing Jenga with a blindfold on.

InDesign links to fonts, images, colour profiles the whole lot. It gives you tools to manage and control the outcome.

Can I design a print-ready job in Word? Yes.
Do I? No.
Because it’s like trying to fix a car engine with a spoon.

If Word’s working for you then grand.

No judgement. If you’re happy using it, keep going.

Just remember MS Paint works too.

So does writing on the back of a cigarette pack and leaving it in the rain.

But don’t mistake “it prints” for “it prints properly.”

[Don't be] unwilling to learn.--Benjamin Franklin, 1755

found it a pain to place photos ...What am I missing?

File>Place...  or drag and drop from the Finder.

@Indie767

It's like comparing a basic version of a Notepad = Word - to Word = InDesign 😉 

To be kind, a lot of capabilities for designing and producing quality materials for print and digital publishing.

If you're truly happy with the design work you get from Microsoft Word, nobody here will dissuade you. You're working with the tools you like and you're getting the results you're looking for. That's all any of us want in life. InDesign can do a lot more in designing and producing print-ready materials, but if you don't need or care about those extra tools and capabilities, I personally am happy for you.

Good luck with your future efforts,

Randy

What are you missing? Proper training for one thing. 

Word is a very good word processor that can do simple layouts. InDesign is a complex page-layout program. They are not meant to compete.