Serif Template Packs

Although Serif's excellent low-cost desktop publishing program Pageplus includes over 800 good-looking templates, these tend towards the generic.

These Template Packs instead cover specific areas: food and drink, health and beauty, home improvement, sport and fitness, travel, weddings and more.

Each pack includes between seven and 20 templates (see below for prices) and once installed, appears in the Pageplus template library under the Pro Template Packs section.

If you don't have Pageplus, you can download the free Starter edition – although this doesn't include all the features, it does make it possible to create a range of branded stationery (a typical pack includes labels, adverts, brochures, business cards, invoices, purchase orders, compliments slips, envelopes, flyers, letterheads, logos and posters) for less than £10.

The packs have something of an American flavour and while some (like the word ‘realtor' instead of ‘estate agent') are easily fixed, others, such as some of the sports templates, are less useful.

Despite that, these templates are cheap, good-quality and worth investigating. There are decent previews on the Serif website so you can see what you are getting before buying.