Which page layout program for you? The following are the major
contenders.
The web addresses given are, where possible, those of an independent
information site, often that of a mailing list serving users, rather
than
of the software company itself. Most give links to other useful sites.
Almost all have trial versions available for download usually with a
time
limit, though a small number have other restrictions such as on
printing
which cuts out a major aspect of testing such software.
It may be worth noting that most submissions to printers are now in the form of PDF files. While many printers also accept, commonly, QuarkXPress and InDesign files, and somewhat fewer accept PageMaker and others listed here, it is always a good idea to check before spending money and time in preparation. Maybe download a trial version, prepare a file from one of the templates which most include and ask one of the printers you may be considering to check that it can be read into their system. For example, not all PDF files are created equal. Depending on your plans it may also be important to consider what training and other help with page production may be available locally.
Any top quality word processor: If most of your work
is straight
down the page, or very simple multi-column newsletters, then MS Word or
Word Perfect or OpenOffice etc. may be all you ever need. However, in
such
programs it can be difficult to achieve small movements of graphics or
text
items without much planning. There's a lot of Word advice at: <http://www.mvps.org/word/>
Microsoft Publisher: Comes with many templates and
with
"wizards" to help you achieve a passable layout in a very short
time while shielding you from the technical side of print production.
Best
suited to the person who has to produce a printed item occasionally,
and
the latest versions are much more acceptable by many printers, who are
now
less likely to tell you: "Publisher file? No we won't touch
that." It also does a fair job of producing simple web pages. Publisher
2010 has been included in the beta release of Office 2010 and shows
many
enhancements. <http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher>
Adobe PageMaker: It may not work with the latest operating systems because its code is old and convoluted, though it still provides professional quality output (it is, for example, still used by a few small newspapers). Fairly easy to learn and also easy to automate with templates and scripts. It emulates the pasteboard working method; assemble the contents of a page on the surrounding pasteboard and then drag them into position. Will work on anything that will run Win98 or better with 32MB of RAM. Current version: PageMaker 7 which was released to work with Windows XP and Mac OSX Classic mode. The PageMakr List website: <http://www.makingpages.org/pagemaker>
Adobe InDesign: This started as a complete rewrite of the PageMaker code, long before Adobe bought Aldus, and it is marked by an ability to produce top quality typesetting -- better than anything seen since the days of handset metal type (with the possible exception of TeX, a command-line typesetting system that is horrendously hard to use). It provides many of the facilities users of page layout programs have been calling for. Beware of some of the very early versions. There are many plugins, including many aimed at magazine and newspaper production. The program can also be scripted in several ways. InDesign is currently at version 6 which is part of Creative Suite 4. The InDesign List: <http://www.listsearch.com/indesigntalk.lasso?manage>QuarkXPress: Quark has produced a Windows version of its page layout program for many years, but if you think Quark, you think Mac -- one of the reasons being that the Windows version cannot be scripted. It is also the most expensive of the layout programs, but will work on almost anything you can call a Windows computer. The latest version is QuarkXPress 8 which works under Mac OSX 10.6 and Windows 7. Try the email list at <http://www.siclist.org/mailman/listinfo/quarkxpress> but be warned of it being "somewhat snarky".
Corel Ventura: This program originated from Xerox PARC along with the graphical user interface, the mouse, postscript, and, it seems, almost everything else which plays a major role in today's computing. However, the transition from the GEM operating system to Windows was a disaster and it was not until a major rewrite after acquisition by Corel that it started to regain credibility. It was updated slowly and is currently at version 10 which works with Windows XP. Well worth consideration but any user will be in a minority. Like InDesign, and unlike QXP, Ventura can be scripted under Windows using Visual Basic. There is no current mention of a free trial. A starting point is <http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1152105061811>
Serif PagePlus: Often forgotten, this program has the advantage on price, but many users swear by it. I know of at least one newspaper produced using it. If capital cost is a problem, you should look at this program (currently US$99.99 for version X4 which is compatible with Windows 7). It is also an effective PDF editor. There are active forums at <http://forums.serif.com/index.php>
Adobe FrameMaker: This is the program of choice when you have complex long documents. Have you heard the story that the maintenance manuals for a Boeing 747 weigh more than the aircraft itself? I'm not sure that's true, but they are produced in FrameMaker, which specialises in handling tables, indexes, etc. The Framers forum is at <http://www.frameusers.com>
Creator: Originally known as "Multi-Ad Creator", this was a Mac-only program used by many (we could almost say most) Mac-based newspapers for producing all those mini-display trader ads, which were then taken as EPS files into pages in QuarkXPress. Yellow-page directory firms around the world swore by it. Now it has grown into Creator Pro 8, a fully-fledged page-layout program for PC as well as Mac and you can get a 20MB trial version from <http://www.triotech.com.au>.
Ready Set Go: In the earliest days of DTP, the choice,
on a Mac, was
PageMaker or Ready Set Go. And RSG was around for many years until
development stopped and many users moved to other programs. It was
revived
under new owners Diwan Software in the UK and is at version 7 for the
Mac.
Very recently they released version 1 for the PC on which it offers a
workmanlike and low cost alternative. There's a 9MB 14-day demo at <http://www.diwan.com/ready/prsg.htm>
Scribus has versions
for Linux, Mac and Windows. It includes features such as CMYK color,
separations, spot colors, ICC color management and PDF creation. It is a
free program under the open source system. Version 1.3.5.1 was released
in
August 2009. There is an effective forum. <http://www.scribus.net/>
Pages is a combined
word processor and page layout application from Apple, part of the
iWork
productivity suite and runs on the Mac OS X operating system. Version
4,
was released in January 2009 and a number of Apple-designed templates
such
as letters, résumés, posters, and outlines are included. <http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/>
I
have not tried but you may also like to consider the following: iStudio
Publisher 1.1 (Mac) <http://www.istudiopublisher.com>, PageStream 5
(Windows, Mac,
Linux and Amiga, with betas for MorphOS) <http://www.pagestream.org/>,
Greenstreet Publisher (originally Timeworks and
sold under
many other names) <http://www.greenstreetsoftware.info>,
InPage which is aimed at the Urdu/Arabic languages
<http://www.inpage.com/>,
Swift Publisher (v.2.3.2 includes support for Mac Snow
Leopard, OSX
10.6) <http://www.belightsoft.com/products/swiftpublisher/overview.php>,
RagTime 6 (available for Windows 7 and Mac OSX 10.6)
<http://www.ragtime.de>
This
article first appeared in PC Update, the magazine of the Melbourne PC
User
Group, in October 2001. This revised version, 2009, may be reproduced
without fee
provided it is credited as being written by Gordon Woolf and a
reference
included to his web site at <http://www.gordonwoolf.com>
Gordon
Woolf has written several books
including "Publication Production using PageMaker" and "How
to Start and Produce a Magazine or Newsletter", detailed at <http://www.worsleypress.com>.
He is a co-owner of the PageMakr List, a self-help email list whose web
page is at <http://www.makingpages.org/pagemaker>.
He can be contacted at gordon@gcwnet.net
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