Skip to content
SPECIFICTION
Get listed

Lacuna vs Layout Department

Lacuna

lacuna.pub

Layout Department

layoutdepartment.com

Side by side

FigureLacunaLayout Department
Price from—Free
Free plan—Yes
Free trialYes—
Open source——
WindowsYesYes
macOSYesYes
LinuxYes—
Plans published32
Spec score · Desktop Publishing Software8.1 (#10)8.1 (#11)
Spec score · Book Layout Software7.9 (#16)7.9 (#17)
Intended usersThe maker describes the 1-machine license as suitable for individual authors and the 3-machine package as a small-team package.The free edition is intended for artists with a simple print practice, small press publishers, and small print shops.

Plans

Lacuna

  • 1 Machine$149, paid once
  • 2 Machines$239, paid once
  • 3 Machines$339, paid once

Lacuna pricing →

Layout Department

  • Community EditionFree
  • Paid License$29, paid once

Layout Department pricing →

In their own words

Lacuna

Lacuna has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.

Visit lacuna.pub

Layout Department

Layout Department turns PDFs into imposed print files for books, zines, and booklets. Choose a sheet size, pages per sheet, binding, and other settings, then export a print-ready PDF. Its documented layouts include Booklet, Perfect Bound, Magic Zine, and Cover; the default Booklet arrangement prepares pages for folding into a zine, and books can be divided into sections or signatures. Printer marks can include trim, bleed, center marks, page numbers, and sheet labels, with options to disable them or choose defaults. PDF processing happens locally on the user’s computer rather than through an upload. The free Community Edition has no time or page-count limit, needs no payment details, and exports without watermarks or downsampling. It includes basic book and zine layouts, page creep adjustment, cover layouts, and full print-file export. The one-time Paid License costs $29 as a one-time purchase and adds resizing, custom trim size, more imposition layouts, sections, multi-fold, and other options; it includes one year of updates. The app runs on macOS and Windows.

Visit layoutdepartment.com