John Cunningham, of Adobe UK, played down the significance of the move and stressed that the print market remained an important one for the US software giant.

He said: "It's really just that the official programme, which was created to help with the transition to InDesign, is no longer required.

"Maybe it looks a little bit more daunting, or that Adobe isn't interested in the traditional print side anymore – of course we are, it's still a huge part of our business."

Adobe announced the closure of the Adobe Partner Connection Print Service Provider Program at the beginning of January, "due to declining membership".

Quark was quick to respond to the programme's closure, launching a one-year free membership offer for Adobe users wishing to join its own print-based scheme, the QuarkAlliance.

However, Cunningham said that he didn't think Adobe users would switch en masse to Quark as a result of the offer.

"InDesign has such a strong, firm base out there in the industry now and is such a widely-accepted standard, that I don't see people seeing [the closure of the print partner programme] as negative, as long as they can get the technical support as and when required," he said. "It's not a case of: right, we've finished the programme and so now we turn our backs on you."

Cunningham added that Adobe continues to run two InDesign user groups in the UK, in London and Cardiff, and that it has a "good strong relationship" with the BPIF, as well as having a presence on various best practice bodies, such as the Pass4Press committee.