Format: PageMaker tips
These are extracts from the FORMAT NEWSLETTER.
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SPELLING AND LINE ENDINGS
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One of the most commonly overlooked reasons for text rerunning when you open a PageMaker file (or many other programs' files) on another computer, is that the hyphenation will be different because there is a different user dictionary.
In PageMaker it is tempting, and very easy, on running a spell check to add words which you know will come up again. But, if you allow hyphenation points in such words then you can expect the line and column endings to be different if you open that file on another computer. The only way to avoid this is to send the user dictionary (udc) file along.
Keeping user dictionaries in step is a problem which few system supervisors have even considered.
A cure-all system would be to copy over all user dictionary files as part of a daily maintenance (a simple batch file would do this on Windows machines).
Perhaps a little better may be to copy the user files to another name first, so you can see what words they contain with a view to adding them to a master user dictionary file.
The Dictionary Editor can be used to look at and consider what words your operators have added. You may also find that a hasty click on the Add button during spellchecks has also added a few words which are misspelled, and which will therefore escape the spellcheck for ever afterwards. You are also likely to find some strange hyphenation points -- remember that one tilde indicates the most preferred place to hyphenate.
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The PM 7.0.1 update is a 8.5MB update available at:
<http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=1378> for the Windows (English) version of the updater. . <http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=1375> for the Mac (English) version. The download pages give a list of the many faults said to be fixed.
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Andromeda's new version 1.2d of PhotoTiler is a PageMaker 6.5 and 7 plugin that organises images for personal and small business use. It could well be sufficient for the smaller publication to handle images in real estate ads or catalogs, or for personal use. Full version is downloadable for US$44 or the upgrade costs US$19.95 See <http://www.andromeda.com>. The plugin provides a simple means of loading and labeling images into PageMaker documents. A demo (1.2MB for PC, 630kb for Mac) is available.
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If you are having problems with PageMaker's Build Booklet plugin, one way you may be able to isolate a particular page which is causing the trouble is from within the Build Booklet dialog. Progressively select a page in this dialog and click on "Delete". This will remove that pages from the imposition, so, if the new publication is then created, you will know that the problem is with the "deleted" page. Because the page has not actually been deleted, just not included in the imposition, you can then go back to that page to see if you can find the problem. Causes could be empty text blocks, linked text blocks on master pages, and damaged items could be on master pages. Check too that it is the 1997 version of the plugin and not an earlier one, that linked graphics are stored locally and that there is ample space in the temp folder for the working files used in creating the new file.
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One of the updated files for PageMaker 7 from Adobe is an updated "Publication converter", necessary because the old one has the unfortunate effect, if you try to use it to convert PM6.5 files to PM7 files, of deleting the old files without creating new ones. The updated plug-in, does not add the ability to convert PM6.5 files: but it will give an error message: "Cannot convert *.p65/*.t65 files."
In an accompanying note Adobe say: "The Publication Converter is not designed to convert PageMaker 6.5x files to 7.0. It is designed to convert PageMaker 4.0-6.0 files to 6.5 files only."
Certainly "PageMaker 7.0 can open PageMaker 6.5 files natively" as they say, but it opens them as an "Untitled" copy of the file which the user has to rename.
We have an answer, going back to ancient DOS days, but it still works with current versions of Windows. Create a text file (in Notepad or any text editor) called renamePM.bat and pop it in any folder where you have a batch of files to convert to PageMaker 7. The text file needs just one line: RENAME *.p65 *.pmd
Double click on the file once you've placed it in a folder in Explorer and it will rename all the .p65 files in that folder. They will now be opened in PM7 as if they were PageMaker 7 files and will keep their name. (As with any work of this kind, keep a backup of the files).
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Two members of the PageMakr List have compiled a guide to color management in PageMaker. The PDF from Scott Oswald and Rick Dumont covers color fundamentals, color management basics, and finally its application in Adobe PageMaker. You'll find it at: <http://www.makingpages.org/pagemaker/tips/> then click on the link for PageMakr_CMS.pdf It's a 2.75MB download.
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PageMaker users are often told that "you can move from version to version (within one platform) or you can cross platform (if the version numbers match exactly), but not both at the same time".
However PM7 to PM6.5 is the exception to this. If you go via the File>Open route you can *usually* open a PM7 file in PM6.5 on either the same platform or the other one. And you can open a PC version of a PM6.5 file from PM7 on a Mac and vice-versa.
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There's a new version (1.15) of Jonathan Bressel's CopyFile script on the PageMakr List website. Reach it from the PageMaker troubleshooting document at <http://www.makingpages.org/pagemaker/tspmdoc.html>. The script enables the creation of a new document from an old one by copying all the items over -- and hopefully not copying the cause of any problems. There's another script at the same place by Olav Kvern which goes a stage further in recreating the objects themselves from their properties.
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Adobe must be wondering what else they can do in the custom install dialog for PageMaker 7. There are scroll bars but a lot of users, including experienced ones, seem to be missing the fact that scroll bars mean there are other items to choose -- such as the Templates and Filters, though the installation process puts in a few filters whatever you choose.
If you find that things are missing, go back to the CD, choose Custom install, deselect the first item (the program itself) and then *scroll down* -- there's the usual option to make a detailed selection on Filters, avoiding installation of the one's you'll never use.
DATA MERGE IN PAGEMAKER 7
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One of the new features in PageMaker 7 (apart from the fixes to work with latest versions of the Windows and Mac operating systems), is the DataMerge plugin. Merging data can achieve much more than just an individualised form letter, and we have created an example of this in a suggestion for a very simple ad booking system, working with Excel, that might suit a small magazine or newsletter.
It forms a chapter in our book "Publication production using PageMaker". But, for a short time, the 151kb PDF can be downloaded from: <http://www.worsleypress.com/download/DMadbookings.pdf>
As mentioned last issue, our books are now being distributed in the USA by FAP Books Inc of Florida, who have a tollfree number 888-511-5125 -- call 352 332 5104 outside the USA -- or they can be faxed on 352-331-6603. The US price on "Newspaper Production using PageMaker 6.5" is US$29.95 plus $3.75 postage, and that includes access to a private web site with scripts and templates.
Any subscriber to "Format" can get a 10% discount by mentioning "Format".
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Need to have PageMaker 6.0 and 7 working on the same machine. We reported in the previous Format that there were problems with this, but they've been solved by a small download. See <http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/8aee.htm>
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PAGETOOLS AND PAGEMAKER
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The complex method of getting most of PageTools to work in the Windows version of PageMaker 7 has now been reduced to three steps -- about the same as in a workaround to get PageTools working on a Mac.
Incidentally, Harry Ewell who developed the Windows workaround, comments: "Most of the 200+ visitors have mentioned that they read about the conversion from your newsletter--thanks!!". He adds that "Limeleaf Publications, who figured out how to get PageTools to work with the Mac PageMaker 7.0, inspired me to shorten my previous multi-step process to only 3 steps."
On the same subject of PageTools and PM7, Don Brichta reports that he tracked down the "crash on closure" in Windows which brings up a warning dialog after PM seems to have closed to a conflict with PM's library plugin. If you don't depend on having the library palette active, you can try removing or deleting the file libpal.add from the Plugin directory.
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A bug in PM7 for Windows which didn't exist in PM6.5: Apply Text Wrap to an object and then move it with the arrow keys. As soon as it comes up against another object you can move it once more, then it stops. You can still move it from the Control palette but not from the arrow keys.
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Adobe PageMaker ColorSync Component Update 7.0 enables you to start PageMaker 7.0 without receiving the error "The application Adobe PageMaker 7.0 has unexpectedly quit, because an error of type 1,010 occurred. You should save your work in other open applications and restart the computer."
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In Windows a crash in PageMaker and maybe some other programs stating that there is a "Kernel32" illegal operation problem can be caused by an install of Acrobat 5. Document 325876 in the Adobe knowledge base apparently has the answer -- it's to do with a couple of seldom used files, and there are now some updated files to solve the problem -- or for many, they can just be deleted.
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Craig Faichney replied to Marcye's problem in the last Format: "when you try to lasso with the mouse, you fly off the page.":
"This has been around since version 6.0. I asked the Adobe rep about a fix for 7.0 but he looked rather blank. Obviously, not a problem on his end. Maybe Adobe can shoot me a copy of 7.0 and I'll report back to them? :) As a workaround... do your marquee and let it fly off as much as it wants. Do a Cntrl 0 (that's the zero from the top line of the keyboard) and your art will be centred and highlighted."
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Another PageMaker 7 upgrade hint: If you use many printer styles, copy your printer styles file to the new program's folders.
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A PageMaker hint for using pull quotes: The key seems to be to use a large size quote mark, or one from a font such as Zapf Dingbats, use the same leading as the text and use baseline adjustment in Control palette to get it into the right position. Set up and apply styles for the beginning and ending quotes, and a separate one for the text with the quote marks in separate paragraphs to the quote itself. Then select the whole pull quote, select "No style" and then remove the carriage returns between quote mark and quote at the beginning and end.
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PageMaker 6.5 is one of a number of older programs which, when used under Win2000 may leave phantom instances of itself running when it should have closed. It seems that it is necessary to go to Task Manager whenever PageMaker is closed to get rid of the phantom. Otherwise one is heading for trouble. Just occasionally one may get a message after PageMaker appears to have closed reporting that an error has occurred. In such cases there may or may not be a phantom.
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Bryan Hanssen, Production Manager of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society writes: "I just want to thank you for writing and posting the PageMaker script that allows you to save 2 copies of a file at once. Although simple and necessary, making backup copies can seem like a burden, which I think this script will help ease." The script, called "Savetwice", is one of those recently posted on our web site at <http://www.worsleypress.com/pubprod/scripts.html>
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A Mac PageMaker hint which comes in the "this shouldn't work" category but has been confirmed by several users: If you find that the Save for Service Provider plugin saves your system fonts as well as the ones you want, then try changing your default Story Editor font from Geneva to Times. Of course you can just toss the system folder out of the stuff you are preparing for a service bureau or printer.
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The PageMakr List has a new web site: <http://www.makingpages.org>. This includes the PageMakr FAQ and the "Troubleshooting PageMaker Documents" help file.
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There are two main ways to leave PageMaker's Story Editor: Command-E/Ctrl-E, returns you to layout view at the current location of the text cursor. Command-W/Ctrl-W returns you to the page/view you were at when you opened the Story Editor.
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In PageMaker you've properly set up all your styles with specific leading values... but then you need to apply autoleading just to a few words, or an inline graphic... The shortcut is Ctrl-Alt-Shift-A (Command-Opt-Shift-A on a Mac). Remember it as All the modifier keys plus A for autoleading (well all but Control on a Mac)
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Because of file format changes in Illustrator 9.0, PageMaker 6.5 cannot create previews of EPS graphics saved in Illustrator 9.0 EPS format. If you use the Create Preview If None Exists option, PageMaker does not attempt to create a preview for the EPS graphic but instead uses the one created in Illustrator.
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Getting unusually large PDF files from PageMaker Plus? Basically it's a bug in Distiller 4.0 which came with PM Plus and you should use Distiller 3.0 from the Pagemaker 6.5 CD or request a free upgrade to Distiller 4.05.
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In answer to our method in PageMaker of creating a caption with a picture when text has to run around both (group the picture and caption, then apply text wrap to the group), brought this answer from Jeanne Hubbard at Eugene Print:
"Just to prove that there's always more than one way of doing things... Try placing your caption on a separate layer. Then, when you apply the text wrap to the photo, click the option to 'Wrap text on same layer only.' Then you can expand the wrap beyond the caption without actually affecting it."
We like it.
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Mike Condor writes: "Like Lynette (Format44), I had a problem with the build booklet plugin. The answer was, of course, an empty text box. I solved it by opening the original page on which the error message appeared, then Select All. The empty text box should be obvious and it is simple to delete it."
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Peter Gadsby of Taree, Australia wrote in reply to the suggestion in Format44 that "If you turn on read tags irrespective of whether the text is tagged or not, then PM does not import Word styles (a major cause of BRIs)"
He states: "Well!!! I don't know what a BRI is, but what a useful revelation that was! Major irritations sometimes have the simplest solutions."
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A solution from a member of the PageMakr List may be useful to others for solving a file corruption problem caused apparently by a story which could be found only via the Story Editor. "It turns out it was in a publication that had been changed from double-sided to single-sided. I changed the pub to double-sided in document setup, and there was the text on the left-hand master page. I just deleted it and changed the setup back to single-sided. Problem solved."
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In PageMaker, how can you hide Master Items on only one page of a two page spread? Answer: Use Fly-out menu from the Master Pages pallet. Drop down to "Apply . . ." Select "Set left and right pages separately" and select your page in "page range."
Then in either the left or right page area, select the master page you need and hit "Apply",
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PageMaker's Save for Service Provider (S4SP) plug-in does not work with non-EPS graphics on the master page.
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PAGEMAKER'S TAGGED TEXT
Gaetan Montenot from Mauritius wrote: "We've tried to copy some text in .txt format in PageMaker 6.0 but it doesn't keep the attributes i.e. the bold , italics etc. We've tried the Format copy downloaded from internet but it does not work (doesn't even appear in the plug-ins menu)."
We replied with details of the two methods of tagging text in PM6 and 6.5, which have appeared in a previous issue of Format <http://www.worsleypress.com/format/format26.htm>. Only the more complex one retains details of type attributes. This system is described in detail in the PM6 and 6.5 manuals, but one point often overlooked is that, to use this system, you have to choose tagged text as the format in the export dialog, but leave the "export tags" checkbox UNCHECKED.
Another answer to retaining formatting in exporting text from PM6 is to export to RTF (rich text format) which works well. You may need to install the RTF import and export filters from the original installation disk(s).
Most advanced scripting functions will work directly from scripts within PageMaker only from version 6.5. Our 'Format copy' script <http://www.worsleypress.com/pubprod/scripts.html> works only from PM6.5 because it uses many query commands. They are scripts, not plugins.
It is theoretically possible to send PM's query script commands to version 6.0 via DDE (in Windows) or Applescript (on the Mac), and you are welcome to use the format copy and paste scripts as a basis for working out the necessary commands to do this. The DDE commands under Windows have to be sent from a suitable program such as MSWord, Excel, WinBatch or VisualBasic.
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We were asked: "Importing a PDF file into PageMaker 6.5, some characters came out as boxes or large dots. Do you know what might be wrong?"
One possibility is that the PDF is from InDesign or other program which creates version 1.3 PDFs (the kind which is produced by Acrobat 4). PageMaker can only correctly read version 1.2 PDFs (those created by Acrobat 3) but it tries to read the later version (as do earlier versions of Acrobat), sometimes with strange results like blobs in place of some characters.
There were also some problems with the first release of Acrobat 4 which were corrected by the free release of the 4.05 update... though InDesign has always created correct PDFs compatible with Acrobat 4.05.
Printing the PDF from Acrobat 4 to an EPS or even as a PS to recreate an Acrobat version 3 PDF should create something you can bring into PageMaker provided the fonts have been correctly embedded or are available to the system. Other options include rasterising the file which can be done in Photoshop.
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Ever set up lots of ruler guides in PageMaker and want to copy them to another file? You can. Use the plugin for grid lines. Set the guides the way you want them to be in one publication, then open the Utilities menu > plugins > Grid manager, save the current layout in the guides folder and then you will be able to access them in any publication. You can use the same system to copy guides from one page to another in the same document.
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Another PageMaker hint: If you are checking multiple stories or a story running over multiple pages in Story Editor, such as spell checking, and want to return to the layout view at the correct page and with any highlighted text still highlighted in layout view -- use Control-E in Windows or Option-E on a Mac.
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You have your PageMaker styles nicely defined, and you alter one paragraph. Now you want to apply that changed style definition to all instances with that style.
Go to the Control Palette, hold down shift and control and click in the style name box (which will now have a plus sign next to the name). A dialog box will appear which states: "Press OK to update style with current setting". That's the Windows way -- on a Mac it's the command or splat key plus shift.
InDesign 1.5 has the same functionality -- as a menu item (Redefine Style, from the flyout menu of the Paragraph Styles palette).
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Drag a filename from Explorer, and hold it over the PageMaker icon on the taskbar. Keep holding it and PM will come to the front or maximise. Then you can drag the filename over and drop it into PM. However, if a file is already open in PM, this will place the PM file in that.
This system can be used to cut and paste between Photoshop and PageMaker as well.
If you accidentally drop the file on the toolbar icon you'll get an error message -- just keep holding it there until the application opens.
Also, where do you have your task bar? If you work mainly in print media, your jobs are mostly in portrait format, but your screen is landscape. Having the task bar at bottom or top reduces space still further, whereas putting it on the right (or left if you are left handed) increases your workspace. All you have to do is grab an empty area with the mouse and drag it. It’ll stay in the new position when you reboot.
A quick way to change from pointer tool to text tool and back? In Windows, function key F9 toggles between the pointer tool and whatever other tool you used last. Holding the Control key and tapping the spacebar does the same thing. (Holding down the spacebar will give the magnifying glass. On a Mac you need shift-F1 for the pointer tool and shift-option-F1 for the text tool.
Just finished setting your print options in PM and remember something that needs to be done? Save your settings by holding shift and clicking what did say Print, and will now say Done.
A great idea for overcoming the problem of vertical positioning of inline graphics in PageMaker scripts came from Perry Whittle on the PageMakr List: Now I'm thinking that I need to write my "baseline shift" script by using custom values for superscript, which is a scriptable type attribute.
PAGEMAKER SPELL CHECKS
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In PageMaker, if you have stories with lots of names, and do a spellcheck of "all" stories, you can spend ages clicking on "ignore" for those names.
A way to avoid this is to create an identical style to that used for the names copy, but with "none" in the dictionary selection of the Paragraph setting. The spell check will skip those paragraphs.
You can also use a script: highlight the story or part of a story, and run a script with the line:
Dictionary "none"
The disadvantage of either method is that you are left with manual hyphenation only -- unfortunately you cannot select even "manual with algorithm" when you have "none" as the dictionary, but in most of this kind of copy you have few options but to hyphenate only where obvious rivers occur.
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