Download
Free Community Edition
This free version is not a trial, you don’t have to enter your payment details, it doesn’t watermark your files, limit the number of pages you can process, serve you ads, etc. It has what you need to make publications, it just has fewer features than the paid version will.
Are you on your phone? Don’t download the desktop app to your phone, instead: email yourself a link to download later.
Silicon macs are newer with Apple M1, M2, M3, M4 chips, Intel is the older type of chip. Not sure which kind of Mac you have? Click the Apple menu > About This Mac, and check the Processor / Chip label. See more info here if you need help figuring out which version is right for your computer.
Requires MacOS v12 (Monterey) or later.
Paid Version
We’re working on a paid version that will have more features — it’s not quite ready yet. See more details on the Pricing page.
Installing Layout Department
To install, click the download button above while you are on your computer. A file called Layout Department.dmg will start downloading. When it’s ready, click on it to open the file. That will show you a screen where you drag the app icon into the Applications folder.
After that, there will be a popup that says you downloaded the app from this website, layoutdepartment.com, and that Apple has checked it for malicious software and none was detected. Click the open button.
Updating Layout Department to the latest version
Once you have the app installed, keeping up to date with the latest version is pretty simple. Unless something goes wrong, you shouldn’t need to come back here to the website to download the file each time by clicking the button and going through the install process. Instead, Layout Department checks for updates and downloads them in the background each time you start the app. Once a new version is ready, it will give you a little notification.
If you already have the app open and want to check for updates, you can go to the top menu and choose Layout Department > Check for Updates.
If you want to see what version you are using, you can go to the top menu and select Layout Department > About Layout Department and a little box will pop up and show you the version number.
About security and privacy
Here’s more about the app, and there are more security/privacy notes in the FAQ there. The main thing to know is that all your files are processed locally on your computer, and they are not uploaded to the internet. Layout Department is made by Amelia and Adam Greenhall of ANEMONE, who also make Spectrolite.