Adobe PageMaker 7
Software Review by Rip YarnallTypesetters have been using PageMaker since the earliest days of the personal computer. It was originally known as Aldus PageMaker—with which I had a few brief encounters—and became Adobe PageMaker a few generations (of the application) ago.
I don’t remember exactly when Adobe Systems bought it from Aldus, and the date is not all that important. Just another example of the big fish gobbling up the small fish as the market evolved. I’m happy to report that Adobe has taken an industry staple to stellar standards of which Brother Aldus could only dream.
Some word-processing applications and plenty of consumer-friendly page-layout software programs enable John Q. User to design and print acceptable pages for most purposes. However, Adobe PageMaker (and Quark Express—a Macintosh typesetting application) are the choices of professional typesetters.
Did that parenthetical expression in the previous sentence interrupt your train of thought and hinder—albeit without total derailment—your ready comprehension of the text? The Adobe PageMaker 7.0 User Guide is guilty, in extremis, of just that annoying practice. It is the same in the Adobe PhotoShop Elements User Guide and therefore probably likewise in all Adobe’s user guides.
For every tool or operation (and there are hundreds) the user guide gives directions for both Windows and Mac versions. Sometimes it is Windows (and Mac) while other times it is Mac (and Windows). Adobe’s desire for PCPC (Politically Correct Personal Computing) is laudable, but such frequent parenthetical presentations prevent precise concentration and continuity of thought while reading the user guide.
Okay so there is a strong economic incentive to combine OS references in a single publication, but being inconsistent as to which OS is presented parenthetically only deepens the disruptive effect of combining Windows and Mac directions in the same sentence. With the exception of that issue which complicates the learning process (for those of us who try to read manuals), the user guide is direct, precise and unambiguous in its instruction on the amazingly comprehensive set of features offered by PageMaker.
Precise alignment and adjustment of text and graphic elements on a page is one of the outstanding features. Adjustments as tiny as a thousandth (.001) of an inch may be made and there are five tracking settings available to adjust the amount of space between letters of text. Kerning, the spacing between specific pairs of letters, is highly adjustable globally as well as in definable sets of text and, to add eye appeal to a page, individual pairs of letters may be custom kerned.
My favorite is an application within the PageMaker program that automatically re-arranges pages of a document from sequential alignment to the proper order for making a booklet. It rearranges pages so that they will be sequential when folded together into booklet form.
When pages are folded and stacked together to make a booklet, each successive page will stick out one page thickness farther than its predecessor, pushing the margins of each page slightly out of alignment so that no two pages’ margins are aligned with another. That’s not a problem we all face everyday, but it is a real consideration when printing booklets of more than a few pages. PageMaker handles that issue by letting you set what it calls a Creep Factor. Then the program moves the content of successive left-hand pages to the right and of right-hand pages to the left by the amount of the creep factor you choose. That way when the booklet is stapled and trimmed all the edges and margins will be aligned.
PageMaker allows you to build your document with that kind of precision throughout the process. Its many tools provide easy and efficient arrangement and rearrangement of text, graphics and photos on the pages of your document.
New features in PageMaker 7.0 include:
Data Merge: Lets you merge text and graphics from spreadsheets and databases to create custom publications.
Enhanced PDF Support: Now you can create and view files in Portable Document Format (PDF) and modify such documents right from within the PageMaker application.
Place PDF: Easily add .pdf documents to your publication by dragging and dropping or by using the Place dialog box.
File Conversion and Filter support: Use included converter utility to open both QuarkXpress (3.3—4.1) and MS Publisher (97—2000) files in PageMaker.
HTML-Based On-Line Help: PageMaker 7.0 includes complete documentation in an HTML-based help system. It contains essential information on using all of the PageMaker commands, features and tools, as well as keyboard shortcuts and full-color illustrations.
Native Support for PhotoShop and Illustrator files: These Adobe products’ files can be manipulated in PageMaker without sacrificing their original attributes.
Whether you are making a one-page flyer or an incredibly complex, multi-page report or typesetting a book; building your own publications from scratch or taking advantage of PageMaker’s hundreds of customizable templates; you can get professional quality publications for both print and electronic distribution.
Minimum System Requirements for Windows:
Intel Pentium Processor; Windows 98, NT (with Service Pack 5 or 6), 2000, Millennium Edition or XP; 32 MB of available RAM; 175 MB of available hard-disk space; Video card with 800x600 resolution and 8-bit/256 colors; CD ROM drive.Minimum System Requirements for Macintosh:
Power PC processor; Mac OS software version 8.6 (with Apple Font Manager Update version 1.0, 9.1, or Mac OS X (Classic); 16MB of available RAM; 100 MB hard-disk space for installation; 800x600 monitor resolution with 8-b-t/256 colors.
Adobe PageMaker 7
Adobe Systems Incorporated
345 Park Avenue
San Jose, CA 95110-2704
www.adobe.com
1-800-833-6687
MSRP $499.00; Upgrade $79