CONTENTS
========
1. MAILBAG
2. TILING PLUG-IN
3. SCRIPTING THOUGHTS
4. SOFTWARE FOR NEWSPAPERS
6. UPDATES
7. HINTS
9. MAKING A POINT?
1. MAILBAG
==========
We said last issue that if you edit the Windows registry to get back the right-click mouse shortcut for one-handed zooming in and out in PageMaker, you'd lose the equally useful context menu. We were wrong.
Aleksandar Stojkovic, who made the original suggestion, replied: "You can get context menu by clicking shift+right mouse button. So context menu is not lost. :) Actually, context menu is 'obligatory' because Microsoft will not license program without it."
So, you can have the best of both worlds...
-----
Mike Vaughn wrote asking about whether he could produce a newspaper and what program was best. We repeated advice we've given before but added: Remember too that there is a lot more to producing a newspaper than the computer side -- organisation of editorial, setting advertisement rates (one of the biggest problems as a mistake here can lead to success killing a paper), distribution, and legal problems of copyright and defamation etc.
2. TILING PLUG-IN
=================
There's been a slowdown in plugins for PageMaker, as developers wait to see what K2 brings, but here is a new one which looks useful: PhotoTiler from Andromeda Software Inc.
Guy McCool, of Andromeda Software technical support writes: "We have produced many award winning plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop ...and have just released our first PageMaker plug-in, PhotoTiler.
"This is a productivity/time saving product that provides automatic 'tiling' images from a source set into a template layout page which the user quickly designs by keying in #columns, #rows, margin widths, etc. PhotoTiler then very quickly tiles the images into the pages of a new document.
"We sell this product at our website as an immediate download product..."
The website is <http://www.andromeda.com> and there is a demo version of PhotoTiler there which is limited to doing just one row or column of images -- but that is enough to show you if it could be what you need.
As it allows for any distance between the pics, it could be very useful for catalogue type publications like real estate and car listings. You could easily script replacement of the graphic filename text with text for an ad or editorial. Simple, yet effective for US$44.
3. SCRIPTING THOUGHTS
=====================
We have been working on a PageMaker scripting job which has been a considerable challenge, but which, so far, PM Scripting's language has been able to meet...though we've come close to giving up a couple of times. The challenge was to take a couple of specially written QXP extensions and achieve the same in PageMaker. These thoughts may help not only in PM but with other programs.
Manipulating a string: there are some limited script ways of doing this, but my general answer now is to write the string to the pasteboard of the open file and manipulate it there, using TextCursor, TextSelect and GetStoryText. If you get its object number you can return to it or delete it at will. By the way, has anyone got the Lenlist() function to do what is claimed?
Achieving the equivalent of QXP's inline boxes: With a PM script you can draw a box, cut it and paste it into position in a text block. Then, to equate to the content (in our case the details and name of the classified ad which will be copied in later to replace the box), we put that info in a para to follow the box, make it paper colour and 4pt with zero leading, and it can just be seen as a few marks on the bottom edge of the box. Click on the script and it identifies that you've clicked on an inline box and that you either want to know what the filename is of the ad you are looking for or go and get it.
Making objects chase the text: We've also thought of putting the single column boxes on a separate layer and hiding the object number in the text block. Then, if the text block is rerun, a script could find the object numbers and move the objects to the new position. A trial ran into all kinds of problems but I still think the idea should work.
Making scripts do multiple things: We've replaced a whole series of scripts with one visible script that calls a mass of hidden scripts by identifying the state of PM, the type of object the user has clicked on and even some aspects of the PM file name.
Hidden scripts: this works in Windows, but I'd like to know if the same can be done on a Mac. If you give a script an extension other than txt or spt, it doesn't appear in the Script palette, yet can be called by name from another script.
Setting defaults: by writing to a log file, you can create a script from a script, and then "Include" that script in the same script (you start with a script which just has one line ("return") to make this work first time). So a dialog box, for example, can come up next time with the defaults being what you entered last time.
Varying dialog boxes according to what you've already done: The Static items in dialog boxes can also contain variables, so you can change the wording in dialog boxes according to the state of the file.
Help files: You can create an About... or Help... pushbutton which will bring up a dialog box comprised entirely of Static lines and a single pushbutton. For complex things we're thinking of having a pushbutton which will create a new PM file (from a script) that contains the advice complete with graphics. Running the script again could identify that the help file is open and will close it...maybe deleting everything in it so it can't be too easily corrupted or changed.
Both the strongest and weakest aspect of scripts is their openness. Like a web page, if you see a script doing something you like, you can open it and look at the code. However, that makes it difficult to control something you've written. There is a growing culture of sharing ideas, which I hope will continue, even though that makes it harder to gain a direct financial return. I recently went into a newspaper office to run a training session and found they were already using one of my scripts...it still had my copyright line at the top... but as they are now a paying client I have no reason to complain.
4. SOFTWARE FOR NEWSPAPERS
==========================
Massimo Mezzini of Italy wrote: "And since we are here: would you really suggest using PM 6.5 for a daily newspaper (around 48 pages)? I'm involved in a new project and I would hate having to learn Quark."
We replied, in part: There are a few equivalents of daily newspapers near here (i.e. producing multiple weekly or twice weekly newspapers) using PageMaker that I know from personal contact are using PM successfully -- sometimes for more than 100 pages an issue. However, I have to admit that most of the dailies here are using either proprietary systems or Quark (though in most cases they're sticking with 3.3 of QXP).
In the multiple weekly plants I have direct contact with that are using PM6.5, it seems now to be very stable -- the problems initially could almost all be traced to things like templates converted from earlier PM versions and some suspect fonts as well as some no-name, or old, graphics cards.
The other problems to be considered with a daily are things like news feeds, where the existence of software to handle agency feeds is almost entirely linked to use of QXP. So, a decision may well come down to the extent of wire service material which is to be used and whether there is software to handle this which can output in a way which can be easily fed to PageMaker (I have to admit this is an area I have not had a lot of direct contact with).
6. UPDATES
==========
We've had mentions before of the very useful web site maintained by Peter Ring known as the "user friendly manuals" web site, with lots of tips likely to be useful to anyone receiving the Format newsletter.
However it seems some of our references have been to an old address. While we try to find and update those on our web site, please note that the address is now: <http://www.prc.dk/user-friendly-manuals/home.html>
7. HINTS
========
Sorting Pages in PageMaker seems to cause problems for many people, but it mostly comes down to a lack of RAM. This particular plug-in (which is a plug-in, despite appearing on the layout menu), is very memory-hungry. One way to help is to go to Options... at the bottom of the main dialog window, and in the resulting dialog, uncheck "Show detailed thumbnails". Unchecking facing pages can also help.
A last resort (which can still be a lot quicker than trying to do this kind of job manually) is to break the file into smaller files -- if there are whole sections to move, break the file into these sections and put it together again with the Build Booklet plug-in, using "None" as the layout specification.
-----
Hold down control and click on About in the Help menu of the Windows version of PageMaker to see what filters and plugins you have installed. On a Mac, the command is the same but it's under the Apple menu. If a filter doesn't seem to work, you can check here that it is in fact installed and what version number you have if it is.
------
As with many programs, it often pays not to install everything when you install PageMaker. Filters and plugins take just a couple of minutes to install if you ever need them -- but can add a second or so every time you open the program, as it has to keep track of what is available. With PM, just start the install program and select Custom to be able to deselect installing the main program and go into filters or whatever and find the one item you need. You don't even need your registration number.
------
If you can't create a PDF file, check the name of the folder the original file is in. The Windows version of Distiller can have problems with a folder that has a space in the name.
9. MAKING A POINT?
==================
We just had the PC-IT show, the major adult/business computer show of the year here in Melbourne, and I saw one small stand with a crowd gathered around, just about the only stand which drew such attention. What were they flogging? A fountain pen with a nib strong enough to punch through an empty Coke can...a feature they demonstrated with gusto. At several other stands, usually with a bored attendant or two, I couldn't work out what they were offering, though one had a big notice saying their new version was much improved -- it didn't say what it did.
====================