1. MAILBAG
2. ANSWERS
4. HYPHENATION
6. BAD STYLES IN PAGEMAKER
7. UTILITIES/UPDATES
8. HINTS
9. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
10. LAST WORD
1. MAILBAG
==========
J.Cox, who wrote via aol.com, asked: "How can I send my formatted document over the net?"
We replied: We haven't had any problems sending PageMaker files as email attachments, using a variety of email programs. It is however a good idea to use the standard 8.3 name format, e.g. pmdoc.p65
This will ensure that the mail program treats it as a binary file and not as text. You may also find it useful to compress the file, using a program such as Stuffit on the Mac or WinZip on a PC (there is now a free Stuffit Expander program for PC users). However, because of font problems -- whoever you send a PageMaker file to needs the same fonts installed, we usually send proofs as PDF files.
-----
David Moore wrote from the UK: "I am trying to place Corel Draw files in PageMaker 6.52 in Windows 95. I have tried various ways but none have been satisfactory. Some use up memory and crash my machine, the best one thus far uses the Export function in Corel to export to a CMX Corel Export file version 5 then place into PM. When I convert to a bitmap detail is lost, i.e. arrowheads amongst others. In PM the CMX files change colour; the colour is consistent so acceptable, but the lines are not the same -- detail is lost or where they once touched the lines they are shorter. Why I don't know.
"On another matter what can I use to convert TEX files to something importable into PM?"
We replied: In older versions of CorelDraw we found the best way was one of the EPS export formats -- but I believe there were two and it wasn't the obvious one. Is there still an Illustrator format option? I'll put your query in the next newsletter and hope that someone may come up with a better answer.
-----
Bob Mallet wrote from the UK: "I like FORMAT as it is, yes it is getting larger but who cares when it is full of useful info (especially for us newbies) maybe those who are proficient in DTP work find it to long, but..... .KEEP em coming."
2. ANSWERS
==========
Ewald Wuschke Jr. replied from Vancouver, Canada, to our item last issue on underlines: "Having the ability to specify the thickness of an underline and the distance it should be below the baseline is a feature I miss in PageMaker. I had that feature when I typeset on a Linotype CRTronic. Now, if I ABSOLUTELY MUST use an underline, I try to workaround using paragraph rules."
4. HYPHENATION
==============
We have thought a lot about hyphenation, which is one of the worst aspects of computer typesetting, and so we were interested to read the following on the web site of Dave Saunders <http://www.pdsassoc.com/> who also offers some useful PageMaker scripts including one to renumber items in a list.
He suggests: "In setting type, I often find myself 'fiddling' with a paragraph trying to adjust the spacing to make give a better color to the text than PageMaker achieves by itself. However, this turns out to be a major exercise. Just thinking about the kinds of things I do manually, it is mind-boggling to try to imagine how a script could do all those things.
This is largely because a lot of the things I do amount to judgment calls. But , a script has more patience than me, so it could continue to strive for excellence while I might move on when 'good enough' has been achieved.
"On the other hand, some of my manual fixes include overriding paragraph spacing/hyphenation rules. For instance, I usually have the maximum number of consecutive hyphens set to 2, but sometimes, the best solution for a particular paragraph has three consecutive hyphens. Giving a script the necessary intelligence to be able to make that call seems highly unlikely.
"So, I arrive at the idea that this is not a problem that is amenable to solution by an automatic script. Rather, what is needed is some kind of spacing assistant that is driven by an interactive dialog box.
"PageMaker's built-in scripting language doesn't have much in the way of support for complex dialog boxes, and it has no support for interacting with the document with the dialog box still visible, so this forces me into the use of AppleScript to solve this one..."
That just about sums up what we have been thinking, except that we would be thinking of a program such as WinBatch.
Any better answers (other than watching what may be in K2)?
6. BAD STYLES IN PAGEMAKER
==========================
One piece of advice on the Adobe web site for PageMaker users detailed several things worth trying if you have a "Bad Record Index" error message. But of special interest to those who produce publications which may well tend to have lots of small text blocks, is the following:
"A 'Bad Record Index' error may also occur when you use the Delete key in an empty text block, which causes existing (default) style information to be lost. For example, after you click an insertion point to start a new text block, hit the backspace key several times, and then begin to type. The resulting story contains a text block with a paragraph tagged with style number 0. Because PageMaker's styles are numbered starting with 1, there will never be a style numbered 0. When PageMaker attempts to update the style information, it encounters the unknown style and generates the "Bad Record Index" error message.
"The 'Bad Record Index' error occurs most often in publications that have a few stories containing very small (e.g., one-line) paragraphs."
7. UTILITIES/UPDATES
====================
A file viewer and catalog program for Mac that claims to view not only the expected graphics files, but also earlier versions of FreeHand and Illustrator files, text files, fonts, and PageMaker and XPress previews -- that 's iView Multimedia from Script Software. There are shareware versions to download at <http://www.scriptsoftware.com/iview/> and the registration price is US$25 -- plus an extra US$48 for the XPress preview XTension.
There have been some good reports on a number of graphics lists.
-----
If you are using Acrobat and want to know what tools and add-ons are available (including some shareware items), then check <http://www.pdfzone.com>.
-----
If you have problems in NT with reading the first line of clipboard contents from workstations in limited circumstances, there's a fix described on the Microsoft site.
-----
There is a new edition of the PageMakr List FAQ at: <http://www.makingpages.org/pagemaker>.
or <http://www.worsleypress.com/pubprod/pm-faq.htm>. The FAQ, as well as detailing how the PageMakr email list works, includes a wide range of PageMaker hints and tips.
8. HINTS
========
If you are having trouble deleting or defining styles in PageMaker, try working on them from the menu item Type>Define Styles...
-----
A Windows hint: If you are really desperate for a forward slash that is at the correct angle for fractions, then try selecting the Symbol font and, while holding the Alt key down, selecting 0164 on the number pad (numlock must also be on). This gives the true "solidus" that is available more easily on the Mac.
9. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
=========================
<http://www.printweb.org/> is a useful and recently upgraded site of information for anyone interested in printing. There is an associated, and fairly busy, email list which, while it doesn't cover much in the publication field, is one of those you may find it worthwhile signing on to if you have a problem with the printing aspect of a publication. There are some very knowledgeable practical printers there.
-----
Especially if you are new to scanning (and sometimes if you are not), a guide to what the various colour levels should be for particular objects can be a help. For instance, in what range should skin tones be for common racial skin types? Such values, in RGB or CMYK can be a starting point for colour scans, especially if you aren't sure how well your monitor is calibrated. This is the kind of information at: <http://www.colorbalance.com/>
10. LAST WORD
=============
In view of the reference to hyphenation problems earlier, it may be worth mentioning a hyphenated word from the Sydney Morning Herald:
and 2 percent were rear-
rested for drink-driving.
As someone on a newsgroup commented: "I assume that means they're now sitting on their butts in jail".
Gordon Woolf
The Worsley Press
Hastings, Australia.
====================