CONTENTS
========
1. ADOBE ANNOUNCES PAGEMAKER 7
2. WORSLEY PRESS BOOKS IN U.S.
3. USING WORD'S SPIKE TO REARRANGE COPY
4. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
5. UTILITIES/UPDATES
6. HINTS
7. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
8. LAST WORD
1. ADOBE ANNOUNCES PAGEMAKER 7
==============================
We can predict that, when the new PageMaker 7 is actually seen, it will bring a chorus of "Is that all there is?"
In reality, InDesign was the true PM 7, but was perhaps more like PM X, a sudden jump that left many people wondering whether they can or want to cope with such a dramatic change.
InDesign is the rewrite of the code of PageMaker that started before Adobe bought Aldus. That PageMaker 6.5 was labeled as a half-version release when it was the biggest jump in capabilities the program has had in its lifetime (with the possible exception of the color addin to, if I remember rightly, PM4) was a sign that the 6.5 to next generation was likely to be even bigger.
It was so big that many of us did not recognize it as the same program, and it was too big a jump for many. I was among those who played around with InDesign but kept returning to the safety of PageMaker. The change to InDesign was too dramatic.
But why bring out PM7 at all? Simply that the computing world had moved on. PM6.5 had problems working with the latest operating systems -- Windows2000 and Mac OSX.
And while individuals can make the choice to stick with the old and reliable, those working in most companies cannot -- if the decision is made to update, then everyone updates. If their program is PageMaker and it won't work in the new surroundings, then PageMaker would have to go.
So, PM7 is a fix to work under the latest operating systems, with new filters and a few bonus bits thrown in. For me the Datamerge will be a bonus worth getting -- it is far more useful than just for envelopes (you could base a small publication's advertisement design around it).
If PageMaker 6.5 does everything you need now, then why spend the US$79 (or whatever)? Or at least wait for PM7.01. If even one of the extras, such as the ability to work with Distiller 5, to convert Quark 4.1 and MS Publisher 2000 files, to place latest version PDFs, or PostScript 3 EPS files, or the datamerge plugin, then it doesn't seem too much of a burden to pay US$79. However the street price estimate of US$499 does seem a little high in comparison to InDesign's price.
But again, I think the reaction of most on seeing the update is going to be "Is that all there is?"
One quote we have seen was: "Just odd to see Adobe lop off a product's head and then there's its tail still hopping around." But there is still a market for a more basic page layout program that still has many professional features -- and that program is PageMaker.
2. WORSLEY PRESS BOOKS IN U.S.
==============================
Books from The Worsley Press, such as "How to Start and Produce a Magazine or Newsletter" and "Newspaper Production using PageMaker 6.5" are now available in the USA. We appointed FAP Books Inc. of Florida as a distributor at the beginning of this month and stock reached them about a week ago. This means that orders will be filled from stock kept in the USA and payment may be made in US dollars including payment by check.
We have also arranged that if you tell FAP Books that you want the "Format discount" those of you in the US will get 10% off the US prices. You'll also pay local postage rates instead of international airmail. Our magazine book is priced at US$19.95 and the Newspaper Production book at US$29.95 with shipping within the US and Canada at US$3.75 for the first book and US$1.75 for each additional book.
FAP Books is an offshoot of Florida Academic Press and among its other books is the Complete Publishing Resource Manual by Linda Able.
Incidentally, there are no limitations on where our books are bought. If a sudden exchange rate change makes either the US or Australian sources a "best buy" for you then you can buy from that source, wherever you are.
3. USING WORD'S SPIKE TO REARRANGE COPY
=======================================
Microsoft Word's spike is a little known but very useful tool.
Open a document you want to grab bits from; highlight the text or whatever that you want to spike and press Control+F3. Go to the next item you want to spike and repeat the operation. When you have everything you want from that document, close the document but do NOT save the changes, so that the bits you have cut and spiked are restored to the document when you close it.
Go to the next document and do the same.
When you have all the bits and pieces you want, open a new document (Control+N) and press Shift+Control+F3. Everything you've spiked is dumped in the new document so that you can sort and arrange them as necessary.
If you type the word 'spike' and press F3, everything you have on the spike will be copied to the new document. You can do this again and again until you press Shift+Control+F3, which empties the spike.
Some items may not be in the right order, so put the cursor in an item or highlight a block of text and press Shift+Alt+Up(or Down)Arrow to move the item (a paragraph or set of paragraphs) up or down. This is a great timesaver for those fiddly cut and pastes in lists.
My thanks to Robin Brown of Australia on the CopyEditing List for that advice.
The only disadvantage seems to be that, having selected several items, you can only paste them as a group, but you can of course delete the ones you don't want in that position and paste again elsewhere.
For more information see the Word Help menu under "spike".
4. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
========================
Jeff Greensmith wrote from Tarragona, Spain, to say: "I am trying to make more use of Word macros to pre-format newspaper property ads. Text preparation is in (Spanish) Word 98 (Windows NT4), page make-up in (Spanish) Quark 3.3 for Mac (OS8.1).
"The kind of thing I need to format is the following:
054-876 MEDITERRANEAN DRIVE. Charming 3 bedroom terraced house, 2
bathrooms, garage, garden, communal pool. 28.000.000 ptas. Tel.977.900.800
"Typically I need to put the initial reference number, street name, price and telephone number in bold. I have successfully created search and replace macros for putting the reference, price and telephone number in bold, and also for cleaning up the text, removing hard returns, applying styles, etc. ...
"... but there is something that I am unable to solve: using search and replace, I need to select, either individually or all at once, the words in a text that appear in caps, for example MEDITERRANEAN and DRIVE.
"I have found the way to select cap characters individually, and also the way to select words individually, but not the way to select all the words in caps. Any help would be most gratefully received. If this is something that can more effectively be solved in Quark with a freely available Applescript, please let me know where I can find it!
"Thanks in advance, and keep up the good work with the Format list."
We replied that we could not come up with an obvious answer for doing it in Word, though VBA has an AllCaps function and it should therefore be possible to do it by brute force of checking every word to see if it is in caps or not).
It may be easier to do it via Applescripting for Quark as there are commands there such as "considering case". We presume it is not as easy as jumping the first word (the reference number) and applying caps to the next two words.
We've always been a little wary of using Word's own formatting to bring text into a page layout program, preferring to find a way of tagging a plain text file (The QXP and PageMaker tagging languages are almost identical and InDesign's is more verbose but has a similar structure).
Can anyone else help?
-----
Robert A. Rosenberg wrote in answer to the question last issue on batch PDF creation:
"I do not know if Mr.Seiter is using a Mac or a Windows machine. If he is using a Mac, I think that what he wants to do can be done with a Desktop Printer (DTP). What he needs to do is create a Desktop Printer, set its options to Print to PDF, and fire up PageMaker. Dragging the Folder with the PM files onto the DTP Icon (he may need to open the folder and select the files since I do not remember if the DTP support will accept a Folder) will open each file one-at-a-time in PM and so a Print command of them which will use the Printer to create the PDF. Note that it is NOT totally automatic since the PRINT button in the Print Window needs to be pressed for each file."
5. UTILITIES/UPDATES
====================
icWord is a useful Mac utility that allows you to read MS Word files from Word 2 up to 2001, from both Macs and PCs. You can print the contents, or view them on the screen, while maintaining the formatting. All for US$19.95. It is available from Panergy Software <http://www.icword.com> with a free 3.1MB 30-day trial download (slightly smaller if you pick the PPC-only option).
6. HINTS
========
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.
-----
We've had several requests recently for sources of templates for newsletters and while several layout programs include such templates, one of the best sources of ideas for newsletter layouts is frequently a colleague's wastepaper basket -- while the information in the newsletter is not needed. there may well be some good ideas in someone else's layout.
-----
If you need to use some dummy text in a layout, particularly one that is destined for possible web use, and need to use a dummy domain name, try <http://example.com>. It is registered to the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority and though IANA has made no public statement, it is used as a "dummy" function by a number of web admin organisations. Several of the others that you might think of using are X-rated sites.
-----
Getting strange characters on your PC screen when you type? It is most likely not a virus but an innocent setting. Windows has a keyboard shortcut that lets you change keyboard layouts, and it's an easy shortcut to hit accidentally: by default, it's holding down the left Alt key and pressing Shift. If the machine was configured for Canada, you've just toggled your settings to use the French keyboard layout.
To fix the problem, go to Start, Settings, and open Control Panels. Double-click Keyboard and select the Languages tab. At the top will be a list of installed keyboard options, with the default one highlighted. Also on this panel you will see the hotkey or shortcut that changes between them. Select the language you want and disable the keyboard shortcut.
-----
There is a "power paste" option in InDesign. Choose Edit > Paste in Place (Cmd-Option-Shift-V or Shift-Ctrl-Alt-V) which pastes an object in an identical position. It now does the same in a different document or page, which it didn't in the first version of InD.
7. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
=========================
If you have a problem with any MS Office application, an answer may have appeared in "Woody's Office Watch for Mere Mortals". Head over to <http://www.woodyswatch.com/wowmm/archives.asp>. You can subscribe to this and other free email newsletters produced by Woody Leonard and his frequently irreverent crew of Office Experts.
-----
Macscripter.net is a great resource for applescripters: <http://macscripter.net>
-----
If you want to know whether something is a trademark, try the International Trademark Association's site at <http://www.inta.org>. Look for Trademark checklist.
-----
One of the world's great newspapers, the Guardian, in the UK, has published its new style guide on its web site, at <http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/styleguide> as a 292k PDF.
-----
There are general QXP hints at <http://www.tri-techcanada.com/quark1.htm> though many would apply to any DTP program, such as "When running with spot colors, remember to change your screen angles for each color. As default, each spot color will image with the screen angle of black (45degrees). By changing the Screen value to cyan it will give the angles at least a 30% difference. If left unchanged each color angle will remain as black resulting in a moire pattern.(a motley screening effect.)"
-----
You can get a sample issue in PDF format of Design Tools Monthly at <http://www.design-tools.com/>. Mainly useful for Mac users but has some info useful on the PC side too. There are also some useful Mac utilities for download from the same page.
8. LAST WORD
============
We cut the following from somewhere, but we cannot recall where. "A company watches for second offenders -- people who have infected their computers with more than one virus by clicking an attachment. They are assigned to a "class" that consists of the instructor explaining how to NOT open an attachment: "See, here's a file with an attachment. Notice I'm not opening it. To not open it, I simply don't click this icon. Let me show you that again..."
-----
The following is a quote from Pat Gallagher, a main mover in Internet based business to business supply, but we feel it could apply equally to publishing industry moves to XML: "All we know is that if you don't jump on this bus, you'll get left behind; if you try to stand in front of it, you'll get run over. But when you get in your seat, there's still nobody driving it and we don;t know where we're going."
Gordon Woolf
The Worsley Press
Hastings, Australia.
====================