1. INDESIGN QUERIES
2. TAGGING QUERIES
3. PDF PRIMER IDEAS
4. EMAIL ATTACHMENTS
5. BASIC TRAINING IN PAGEMAKER
6. EXTENSIS SUITCASE
7. ANSWERS: EPS FILES/CLIPPING PATHS
8. UTILITIES/UPDATES
9. HINTS
10. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
11. LAST WORD
1. INDESIGN QUERIES
====================
We have received several queries about likely plugins to InDesign -- whether, for example, there will be database plugins. Little information is currently available and we have yet to see the software development kit (we gather that although many have seen the SDK, non-disclosure agreements are still required).
However, we understand that wellknown PageMaker expert Olav Kvern has almost completed the InDesign scripting guide, so it should not be long before there is a clear picture of what will be involved in scripting for the new program.
From the point of view of those producing formatted publications, the ease with which InDesign can be scripted will play a major part in a decision on whether and when to upgrade.
At present we have been unable even to give our clients who are using our scripts an indication of when we would be able to produce versions for InDesign, or if in fact we will be able to do so at all (though we'd be surprised if we can't). We know that InDesign can be scripted via Applescript on the Mac and Visual Basic from Windows, but there has not been an indication of a platform independent means as with PageMaker.
One advantage of PageMaker's scripting has been the ease with which some complex tasks can be scripted. For example, it took under two days for one person to produce a script which would take tags listed in a dummy ad and find the pars with those tags in the output of a tagged text file and paste text and pictures into the appropriate frames, resizing some of those frames if necessary and applying text styles such as reverse where needed. That script could save many hours' work every time it is run.
The following is a quote from Tim Cole of Adobe: "PM and Frame will not be replaced by ID. ID in its first release is aimed primarily at magazine and other design intensive layouts, and that's why the first feature set is what it is. There has, however been a great wave of interest expressed by newspaper publishers as well, and that will likely be taken into account as ID is further developed and updated."
The one thing we can say with certainty is: It will all become clear within the next few weeks.
2. TAGGING QUERIES
==================
Jeff Greensmith, pre-press technical manager for Hebdo Mag Espaa in Tarragona, Spain, wrote: "We use Quark Xpress text tags to pre-format real estate ads in Quark 3.1, usually when text is supplied on disket. Our IT technician has automated this process for 2 or 3 long running ads (and our classified section), by writing programs which take an ASCII text file and convert, for example:
Ref: 0965 Mediterranean Drive, Charming 3 bed house in....
into
@TEXTSTYLE1:Ref: 0965 <B><K>MEDITERRANEAN DRIVE,<B><K> Charming 3 bed house in....
"This is a great time server, but I would like know if there are available any Mac or PC word processors (Tex? BBB Edit?) with search and replace routines which would enable us to do away with the need for a custom written program for each real estate client. I can do a great deal with the search and replace in Xpress and Word, but my ideal is to reduce the process to a few macros that *anyone* can use. Or can the whole thing be done with the macros in Word?
"At present we are Xpress3.32/Mac based but are in the process of moving to PM6.5/NT.
"Any help would be most gratefully received, not least by our long suffering IT techie! He assures me he will eventually write a program in Delphi to do all this, but in the meantime we waste a whole lot of time inefficiently formatting real estate ads.
"2) Real estate ads with linked text boxes: Many of our real estate ads use linked text boxes with vertical justification to ensure that the box is filled. A <\b> tag ensures that each paragraph doesn't run into another one's box. Despite our best efforts to educate our clients, paragraph lengths vary considerably meaning that some boxes are not properly filled. Is there a way in Xpress 3.3 and PM6.5 (a script for example) to automatically increase the text size of individual boxes contents to the maximum possible, within defined limits?
"Many thanks, and keep up with the good work with the newsletter."
We replied: The easiest answer to your queries is that yes, you can do it in any of the ways you specify.
One client of ours, is producing PageMaker tags via Word macros. We have then scripted the interpretation of some styles and details -- such as looking at the telephone number to import a suitable map to show the area and resizing some type depending on how many words are in the paragraph.
We have been using PageMaker itself, driven by scripts, to import a text file with database code and use a series of find commands to interpret these codes as PageMaker formatting (the same can be done in XPress - in fact for one job we are creating the PageMaker script to do exactly what is being done in QXP from the same database output).
However, we're currently looking for an improvement in speed and have therefore been looking at a way of using a compiled scripting program on the PC such as WinBatch to do the translation -- with the possibility of using a simple translation table which the program reads into memory as it starts, so that anyone would be able to change or add to the translation codes. When this is working properly, the plan is to convert this WinBatch program into a properly compiled C++ program that could be crossplatform, but whether we go that far will depend on how well the interim method works -- it could be good enough on its own.
Incidentally, we have found that while our Mac is faster at opening programs and when working in programs such as Photoshop, it is much slower than our Win NT machine when processing scripts -- a lengthy PageMaker script with lots of disk accesses on the NT takes just over a minute when the Mac takes 12 minutes to do the same job.
Do our readers have other suggestions?
------
In a related query, Chris Myers of Weaver Mfg. & Sales Co. Inc., of the US, wrote: "Hey Mates ... Just wondered if you had or knew about ways of automating changing links - or other external type automation?"
We replied: There's a ReLink script command in PageMaker that lets you give a new file name with an optional path. This can also be controlled by DDE on PC or Applescript on a Mac, so the simple answer is: Yes.
The GetLinkInfo command can get the existing filename so it would not be difficult to construct a lookup table to say, if the file is this, replace it with that.
The quick and dirty way is to set graphics in PM to automatically update and then to change the name of the new graphic to that of the old graphic and put it in the same folder where the old one was. This can also be done with text files but these lose formatting unless they use one or other of the two PM text tagging systems.
3. PDF PRIMER IDEAS
===================
Dave Stewart of Snohomish Publishing Co wrote: "Owen Watson asked about a primer document for PDF to the printer or Service Bureau. Snohomish Publishing has been accepting PDF files for almost 3 months from a couple of newspapers that are located on the islands here in Washington State. The newspapers are running process color and build colors. We have also run spot color jobs to film from PDF files. Spot color is a lot trickier and you must follow the instructions and have your DTP software configured correctly for spot color.
"After initial snafu's when we first started testing it with customers it has become the medium of choice as our PantherPlus RIP handles the files just fine. The size of the files allow internet transfer to be extremely timely even with a 28.8 connection. We have run into a couple of glitches but they are directly related to the customer not following the advice in the handout."
Dave gave permission to put the PDF file of advice on using PDF on our website, so you'll find it at <http://www.worsleypress.com/download/snohomish.pdf>.
4. EMAIL ATTACHMENTS
====================
Rule one with email attachments is never save or open one where you don't know in advance what it is, who it is from and why you want it. If that rule had been followed, Melissa would not have created the havoc she did.
However, even when you do know what it is and that you do want it, there can be problems in getting it. For example, the PDF from Dave Stewart referred to above, came forwarded from our format listserv and therefore arrived as part of the single-section message.
We were just about to email Dave for a copy direct when we decided that it was a good exercise in solving a problem we'd had before. The answer was to cut and paste the "Base64" section as a text file, drop it onto WinZip which unencoded it, then rename it as a pdf and do a search in a text editor for the %pdf which Acrobat reminded me is the start of all pdf files. Once I'd deleted everything up to the "%pdf" it opened perfectly.
5. BASIC TRAINING IN PAGEMAKER
==============================
Don Hawkins wrote from Arizona: "I hope you can help... I'm currently a newspaper reporter but I'll be moving into production in two weeks. My job will be designing and printing advertisements for the paper using Pagemaker 6.5. My question is this: Since I have never used Pagemaker, and my company is so small that training is virtually non-existant, what would be the best way for me to get a crash course in Pagemaker? I'm expected to produce results almost immediately, and I am a quick learner, but I need advice on how to pick up the basics as quickly as is possible - any help you can give is very appreciated!"
Among suggested books have been Adobe's Classroom in a Box for PageMaker and also Pagemaker 6.5 Complete, both of which have user reviews on the Amazon site <http://www.amazon.com>. However we also suggested contacting the local community colleges which often run introductory courses for PageMaker, and while these are aimed mainly at general business users, they do usually offer good value for money. The tutors on some of these courses may also offer one-on-one lessons privately. Someone who is in Don's position may also find it useful to contact non-competing printers and publishers nearby to see if some hands-on lessons can be arranged. We've found that someone who has an outline knowledge of what an ad should look like can be trained in the basics of PageMaker in an hour or two. It will then take a while to get up to speed as they gradually learn the tricks and shortcuts.
We heard back from Don that in his first afternoon he had set one ad and had been told his predecessor used to take an hour to do the same. We don't think it will be long before he'd plan on doing it in less than half that.
7. ANSWERS: EPS FILES/CLIPPING PATHS
====================================
It was intriguing to read on the PageMakr List that some problems with separations from EPS files in PageMaker were solved by installing the latest postscript printing files update from the Adobe site, despite the problem not seeming related to any of the problems the update was said to solve. However, Adobe do recommend that these updates be applied by anyone printing to a postscript printer. The updates are dated April 1998 and replace a previous updates file set.
-----
Angela Urquhart, production manager of Nationwide Promotions in Nova Scotia, Canada wrote: "I am a recent subscriber to your newsletter. I think it is a great way to learn new tips for newspaper production. I wanted to make a comment about a piece that was in your last newsletter about transparency and clipping paths with graphics from PageMaker. I noticed that you suggest saving the graphic as a TIFF file to bring into PageMaker.
"I send my work on disk to a printer which uses an imagesetter for output to film. They require that I save my files with clipping paths as EPS with a flatness value of 3. They tell me that the flatness value is sometimes 2 for some imagesetters, so you would have to ask your printer which value is best for them. The reason, they said, that they require the file as an EPS rather than a TIFF is that the imagesetter will not recognize that file's clipping path in TIFF format.
"Of course I found this out after having sent a job to them with the files saved as TIFF files. I had printed proofs from my Postscript printer, which did recognize the clipping paths, so I did not anticipate any problems. Since that time, I have taken their advice and have been saving as EPS with a flatness value of 3. No output problems."
We replied: You're right to mention the possibility of problems.
Any imagesetter which conforms to Adobe's postscript 2 specification should handle TIFFs with clipping paths but there are two caveats -- there are some high quality RIPs which don't absolutely conform to the postscript standard, and there are still a lot of imagesetters around which are genuine postscript level 1, or an emulation of it, and that didn't know what to do with a TIFF clipping path.
There are also some printers and bureaus around which have updated equipment but not their ways of working, though yours obviously isn't in this category. It will still pay anyone wanting to use clipping paths with TIFFs to run a test file.
The point about flatness levels is also worth mentioning as this can result in a file printing successfully on a laserprinter but not on an imagesetter. Entering nothing in the entry for flatness levels *should* result in the right setting for whatever imagesetter is specified but I'd feel safer with the level at what the printer recommends.
8. UTILITIES/UPDATES
====================
There have been several reports of problems with TypeStyler on the new Macs, but a new version is supposed to be released this month. There is a 60-day demo at <http://www.typestyler.com/>
------
One advantage which Multi Ad Creator2 has over Creator which we were not aware of when we made the comments in the previous issue of Format is that it can save EPS files with fonts, which may be an important consideration for some users.
9. HINTS
========
Anything where you are fiddling with existing files must carry the usual caveats of making copies and being careful but the attached hint from Jim Dornbos on the PageMakr List may solve a lot of problems where you try to print a separation from a file and find that a graphic or table prints on every separation because while it appears to be black it is in fact RGB and has converted to every plate of a CMYK set. The black plate will often have a grey image instead of black.
Jim wrote: "You can paste the following into the PPD for the printer that you're using to print separations and it will force it to separate correctly to just the black plate.
*JobPatchFile 0: "/_P65SEPucrk 0 def /_P65SEPucrm 0 def /_P65SEPucry 0 def/_P65SEPboostk 1.0 def"
It all goes on one line. I have it right near the top - after the *PCFileName: line and before the *% General Information and Defaults line.
"What it does do is apply what's essentially 100% undercolor removal - taking out even amounts of R, G & B and adding in black. When we get customer supplied files containing any kind of RGB chart or graphic (pretty much anything except photos), this patch will get rid of the tint colors underneath what should be solid black. Colored solids or tints seem to be handled fine, and retain something close to their RGB color after being converted to CMYK."
Of course, if time allows it may be better to take the graphic into Illustrator or similar and convert it to what you want.
-----
Shortcuts for styles in PageMaker unfortunately apply only on the Mac platform -- where you can use the splat (apple, command, propeller, whatever...) key with function keys from F1 to F12 (F1 is always No Style). Then use the shift with F1 to F11 to apply styles 13 to 23. (The second lot works with 6.5, I'm not so sure with version 6, though the first lot defintiely do with both). This works best if you start your styles with the equivalent number.
------
The best way to find out the formatting PageMaker needs in tagged text is to select a text block with the text tool, then select File>Export>Text, and in the formatting options select "Tagged text" but make sure that Export tags is NOT checked. PageMaker has two tagging systems. There is simple tagging, which produces just paragraph tags and character tagging which produces the complex tagging that let's you specify just about anything that can be produced in PM.
10. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
==========================
You can now search for AppleScript issues that relate to QuarkXPress 4.0x in the KnowledgeBase, on the Quark web site <http://www.quark.com/>. There are also a range of discussion forums for QXP issues.
--------
There a useful JPEG FAQ at: <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/faqs/jpeg-faq/part1>
11. LAST WORD
=============
The James Joyce classic "Ulysses" has many references to the Dublin Evening Telegraph for 16 June 1904. Now you can see that newspaper as a PDF file at <http://www.pdfzone.com/>.
The issue was discovered during demolition of a row of old houses in 1967. The four-page oversize broadsheet is reproduced with PDF bookmarks to the items mentioned in the book. It has a 24 x 26 inch page size which forced the abandonment of plans to reprint it in a traditional way -- the would-be hard-copy publisher in Scotland couldn't find a remaining newspaper press that big. The PDF file isn't big -- 513kb.
Gordon Woolf
The Worsley Press
Hastings, Australia.
====================