CONTENTS
==========
1. MORE ABOUT ACROBAT 6
2. DOWNLOAD ALL THE FONTS
3. BOOK TEMPLATES
4. WHAT'S IN INDESIGN 3 & QXP6?
5. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
6. UTILITIES/UPDATES
7. HINTS
8. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
9. LAST WORD
All Format subscribers can get a 10% discount on any of our books ordered from us or our US distributor. Quote the voucher number of 11204101. If ordering on our web site, enter this number in the voucher box and hit the recalculate button; your discount will be shown when the page is revised. See <http://www.worsleypress.com/wpstore/>
1. MORE ABOUT ACROBAT 6
=======================
There's a lot of publicity for the latest version of Acrobat, and the many forms in which it will be available. Reactions range down from the enthusiasm of Planet PDF which comments: "In our opinion, Adobe's new flagship product Acrobat 6 is the most significant release since version 1.0 came out almost 10 years ago" and add that this was unlike Acrobat 5.0, of which they say "in comparison with 6.0 (it) was a fairly minor update".
One of the changes is that Acrobat will be available in several forms: Elements, Standard, and Professional, while "Acrobat Reader" becomes "Adobe Reader", combining with the ebook reader. With the emphasis on most Adobe programs producing PDFs, it will presumably be pushed as the program able to read the output of almost all Adobe programs. Perhaps we'll see menu items offering "save for Adobe Reader".
This new Acrobat suite adds support for "Fully embedded multimedia" including Flash, MP3, PowerPoint animation conversions and better control over Acrobat transitions. However, this is not necessarily attractive to those in the print world. One asked: "What sort of cash prize is Adobe Inc offering for the first person to break a RIP by putting an mp3 through it?"
Both the "standard" and "professional" versions contain a fully-configurable Distiller. The "elements" version, available via multiple license sale only, and not for the individual, contains a Distiller with a subset of options and features. However, as Elements is intended for large scale office use, it will seldom be met by most DTP users.
Support for PDF/X, preview and creation of color separations, expanded job-ticket functions, and color management are specific to the Professional version. And one comment in the Seybold report that many will be pleased to see: "Acrobat 6.0 Professional lets you separate PDF files directly to CMYK. All necessary functions for professional output of process and spot inks are found here. A nice detail: The user can store his personal setups in a preference file."
There's a table detailing what is in each version at <http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/matrix.html>
Among potentially useful features are the ability to add headers and footers, including in batch application, a loupe tool to act like a magnifying glass on a page, the ability to search multiple documents, and a tool for reducing the size of the current document (File> Reduce File Size). And Help can now open in a separate window rather than over the top of the file you need help with, and offers context sensitive advice.
Acrobat Standard costs US$249 (US$99 upgrade) and Acrobat Professional US$449 (US$149 upgrade).
From what we've seen, we think we will want to upgrade. The question is "when", and many will wait until they start to receive, or get asked for, files which require version 6. But the ability to output separated process and spot color could be the clincher for many.
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Sandee Cohen pointed out on the InDesign list that the two numbers of the PDF version, when added together, are the number of the version of Acrobat which may be required to view them. For instance, PDF 1.5 works with Acrobat 6 (1 + 5 = 6).
2. DOWNLOAD ALL THE FONTS
=========================
In the early days of laser printers and postscript, it was a major selling point to have more fonts resident in the printer. It meant that the computer did not have to download the fonts every time something was printed, and therefor a lot of time was saved if the printer had those 35 fonts.
Times have changed, with faster systems, faster communications between computer and printer, and faster networks. Then came slight differences in fonts, highlighted when users asked why they had a euro currency symbol on their screen, but it was coming out of the printer as some other strange symbol.
Add variations between fonts for special uses and to produce the accents needed in many other languages, and it was becoming chaotic.
Add new operating systems, and new font formats, to the mix, and now the last choice most users want is to substitute the resident printer font for what they are seeing on screen. Yet that is still a default in many systems, and, with reports of conflicts between system versions of fonts (such as the new .dfonts in Mac OS X) and the equivalent fonts which many have installed as a matter of course, I can understand why some designers are taking an easy way out and avoiding any of the "standard" fonts.
We've mentioned the system font conflicts before, and no doubt will again, but there is a fairly simple way to cut out the possibility of a printer-resident font being substituted for the one you think you are using. This is to alter the PPD file, which tells your computer about the specification of your printer, so that your computer believes it has no resident fonts (well maybe just one, Courier), so that it cannot do otherwise than download your fonts.
This is not as frightening as it sounds, because the PPD file, common to both Windows and Mac, is just a text file. To play safe, save a copy to somewhere other than where you find it, then open the file with Notepad in Windows or SimpleText on a Mac.
Look for the section of the file that has a line reading "*% Font Information ====================="
This will be followed by a line that starts "*DefaultFont:..."
Leave these alone.
Then will come several lines which start "*Font..."
Delete all these with the exception of the one that starts "*Font Courier:..."
Save this PPD file, and, if you are using a Mac, recreate or reconfigure the printer to use the edited PPD. Under Windows 2000 or XP, delete ALL the .BPD files in the same directory as the .PPD files. Windows will automatically recreate these. Older Windows system may have a .SPD file, which is a simplified PPD file and which will also be recreated.
Now the printer drivers and applications such as InDesign and even Quark that read PPD files assume that the printers/RIPs have only one resident font, Courier, and will download all other fonts as part of the PostScript job. Note that PageMaker needs its own copy of the new PPD file in its own PPD4 folder as well as the same file in the system accessible folder.
3. BOOK TEMPLATES
=================
Carolyn Kleintank, who bought our book "Publication Production using PageMaker", wrote: "I ordered your book hoping that it would help me format a book. It talks about newsletters, brochures. Where do I find a template for a book?"
We replied: The problem is that there are few standard sizes, and many variations within those sizes. We are just preparing a new book and I have now done the layout 3 times (though not to a finished, detailed stage). Each printer we considered had a slightly different size to get their best price, and I'll give these in millimetres as that is what we are working in; one wanted a page of 240 x 176, another of 225 x 173, and yet another of 235 x 153. There were also different margin recommendations according to whether it was trimmed as a book block and glued, or what is known as "burst binding" where it stays in folded sections but cuts are made so that the adhesive seeps down to hold the inner pages. The latter needs a little wider margin at the spine.
So, before doing the finished layout, you need to ask the printer exactly what dimensions they recommend.
However, while we don't pretend that it is the definitive book template, we have prepared a zipped file containing the actual PageMaker file of the first 14 pages of the book, together with the template used, and another template, based on it, for a more common 6 x 9 size. We won't mind at all if our readers (including those who may open it via conversion to InDesign or QXP) tell us how we could have done a better job.
The file is currently at <http://www.worsleypress.com/pubprod/6x9booktemplate.zip> for Format subscribers. It will then be available only at our PPPM book website which requires a password.
4. WHAT'S IN INDESIGN 3 & QXP6?
===============================
According to eWeek at <http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,,1023323,00.asp>, InDesign 3 will include a Story Editor for editing text frames, JavaScript support and a 'Package for Web' feature that will export InDesign items with an XML structure that can be reused for the Web. Other features will suggested are a Separations Preview palette, a control strip with contextual settings and variables, and text wrap enhancements.
Listed in Quark press releases as features in QuarkXPress 6 are "layout spaces" which will let QXP users share attributes and information in complex projects that include print or Web pages, or different versions of either, in varying sizes and orientations. Style sheets, colors, hyphenation settings, and lists can be shared among layouts and a Synchronized Text feature allows for text edited in one place to change simultaneously in other placed it is used in the same project. Output options will also allow spot colors to be retained with process colors and there will be a layers tab in the print dialog and a listing of inks used.
QXP6 table features will include text flow between cells, tables linked to each other, or linking a table cell to a text box. Tables can have transparent cells and gridlines for placement over graphics. Tables can also be converted into a group of boxes that can be moved, rotated, and reshaped independently. QXP 6 will run natively on Mac OS X (10.2 or higher), Windows 2000, and Windows XP.
PDF processing in QXP 6 is licensed from Global Graphics using their Jaws PDF library <http://www.globalgraphics.com>. Global Graphics have been developing PDF tools since 1994.
There has been some discussion in publishing email lists and newsgroups abour an article which suggested that "QuarkXPress has become the 'Aldus PageMaker' of the 21st century." In the article, at <http://www.macdesignonline.com/issues/janfeb03/mac_lane.html>, Scott Kelby runs through the tale of how PageMaker, originally from Aldus, was developed, along with the LaserWriter, for the Mac, and started the whole industry of desktop publishing. "It was used by everybody", Scott recalls. Then, while Aldus were distracted, "QuarkXPress pretty much pulled the rug out from under them."
He suggests that Quark is now being similarly distracted, adding web development tools to XPress, while Adobe was focusing on making InDesign Mac OS X-native, and adding more features aimed at high-end layout professionals. "I can't believe I'm about to say this (because I had my doubts that it would ever happen), but with InDesign 2.0, Adobe has actually 'PageMaker'd' Quark.
While I think Scott may have bent a few of the aspects of Aldus/Adobe/Quark history to emphasise the point, the acceptance of InDesign in places such as the QuarkXPress email list may indicate that his conclusion is not too far off the mark.
It will be interesting to see whether QXP6 pulls Quark back from the edge.
5. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
========================
Guy Halligan asked: "I'm using InDesign all the time now. Does it have a 'build booklet' feature like PageMaker to create 2-up printer spreads?"
We replied: Not quite the same, but there are several scripts around, including a Mac one of the Adobe Studio site <http://studio.adobe.com> (click on the Exchange button), and one for both platforms which comes with ID in the scripting folder on the CD. The latter is in the Goodies section and has a PDF on how to use it. Shane Stanley also has one for Mac at: <http://files.macscripter.net/ScriptBuilders/Publishing/Imposition_scripts.hqx>
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Art Kilgour wrote from Canada: "How can I 'throw away' the fonts that are listed on PageMaker's menu? I find that over time, certain font names get stuck there, even though the fonts aren't active on my system. This gets annoying, to say the least. What preferences file do I have to trash (on a PC)? I tried the basic PageMaker preferences file, but it didn't work."
We replied: You can try changing the "compose to:" printer in Document setup, then change back to the original and resave.
The font environment is a setting that's difficult to get at, as there is no keyboard or menu access. However, there is a script command so open the script palette, select new script from the flyout menu, give it a name and then paste in the following and save:
changeenv installedfonts
return
If that doesn't work, you might have to use Jonathan Bessel's script to create a new copy of the file. See <http://www.makingpages.org/pagemaker/tspmdoc.html>.
Art replied: "Again, you're right on the money. That's so simple (changing 'compose to' printer). I wish I'd thought of that! How many years have a I lived with this irritation? I remember seeing a script (maybe similar to the one you have) in an Olav Martin Kvern column once for this problem -- alas, it didn't seem to work for me. Your workaround was brilliant. And it took about two seconds."
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Newspaper publisher Mike Koewler wrote from Cincinnati, Ohio: "I've written to you before about Serif PagePlus. Here's an update. We celebrated our 20th Anniversary recently and made several changes in the paper. The biggest was moving to full color on some pages; before we only did a spot color. I also used to supply laser camera ready proofs from which negatives were made, the switch required sending composite pdf files. PP was up to the task. By using only CMYK eps images, I was able to produce exact reproductions of photographs (including a huge picture of the High School State Basketball Champs!) and files that passed PitStop's preflighting criteria. This was great, as it saved me from learning a new program and converting hundreds of ads."
We comment: PagePlus is a much underrated program and its latest version is well up to handling many tasks in Publishing. Perhaps its biggest failing is its price. It is just too cheap for what it is: US$129.99 including "hundreds of templates, fonts, wizards and tutorials" for version 8. Details at <http://www.serif.com/>
6. UTILITIES/UPDATES/PLUGINS
============================
Adobe has released two new OpenType type collections: Type Basics is a 65-font collection for US$99 with families such as Bickham Script Std, Blue Island Std, Minion Pro, Myriad Pro, Chaparral Pro, Utopia Std, Kepler Std, Adobe Caslon Pro, Adobe Garamond Pro, Gill Sans Std, Palatino Std, and more. Essential Scripts is a classic set of eight script and handwriting fonts for $59, including Poetica Std, Mistral Std, Balzano Std. See <http://www.adobe.com/type> for details. The Type Basics package is the small type listing on the left, not the big display on the right. Incidentally, we notice that Mac users receive a .zip file just as do Windows users, stressing the point that OpenType is a common format across platforms, though there then has to be warning that older versions of StuffitExpander can mess up the download (they do tell you how to fix it quite simply).
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MacFixit <http://www.macfixit.com/> suggests that there may be a way to boot Mac OS 9 on Macs released after January 1, 2003 - which are designated by Apple as exclusively capable of booting Mac OS X. They add that Apple recently posted a new file to its private Apple Service Provider web page (accessible only by account-holding Apple technicians and resellers) titled "MacTest Pro for Power Mac G4 (March 2003) Version 7.8.1 supports all iMac (Flat Panel) 15 inch systems only."
This possible solution is only readily accessible by Mac service providers, but at least you now know that they know.
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Paul Durrant of Durrant Software in the UK has put a new version of his Page Shadow XTension for QuarkXPress on his web site. Page Shadow 1.1 lets you turn off the gray shadow to the bottom right of each spread and is available for QuarkXPress 4.x and 5.x, Mac and Windows. See <http://www.durrant.co.uk/> and fill in at least the name field on a form. In total Paul has 7 Mac and 5 Windows XTensions available free on his site.
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Adobe has released a "Long Document Performance update - all languages" for InDesign 2.0.2 which may speed the reflow of text in long documents. Mac: <http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=2100>. Win: <http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=2101>
7. HINTS
========
One of the scary things for printers is finding that a file defines a rich black as 100% of all the CMYK colors. It is true that adding some of the other colors will produce a richer black, but it is also easy to produce a total amount of ink which is more than the paper, and printing process, can stand. It is not unusual for printers to suggest ink totals of 320, 270, or even just 240 percent, so it is best to ask what the maximum amount of ink should be. There is a detailed on-line discussion at <http://www.ledet.com/margulis/ACT_postings/SeparationIssues/ACT-Rich-Black.htm> about rich black
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Some references to the Apple knowledge base can be frightening -- the URLs can go on for line after line. Therefore you may like to note that everything after the first "&" character can be dropped. A URL which ends with "artnum=xxxxx" will normally find what you want.
8. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
=========================
Tony Stevenson produces some useful email newsletters such as his Internet Update, covering "what's happening on the Net" and a monthly summary of his "sites of the day". See details at <http://www.mkdsoftware.com.au> where there are also links on a variety of subjects including newsletter publishing and self-publishing. Recent editions of his newsletters included links to sites on historic office equipment, Microsoft's "template gallery", meanings of first names, Internet searches by email, plus hints on marketing and web site development, to name just a few.
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Etymology Online is resource on where words came from: <http://www.etymonline.com/>. For example: "format - 1840, via Fr. & Ger. from Mod.L. liber formatus 'a book formed' (in such and such a way), refering to shape, size; from pp. of formare 'to form'."
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Can you can tell the difference between Arial and Helvetica? Take a test at <http://www.iliveonyourvisits.com/helvetica/>
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Ideabook has some useful ideas and links to DTP sites at <http://www.ideabook.com>. Similarly there are links and references of mixed quality, but with some very useful ones at: <http://www.101publishinganswers.com>
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Bob's quick guide, in cartoon form, to the Apostrophe: <http://www.angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif>
9. LAST WORD
============
The April Fool's Day story in TidBits newsletter fooled some. Titled "Microsoft Word 5.1 for Mac OS X", the story by Tonya Engst told of an upcoming release of Microsoft Word 5.1 for OS X, "a carbonized version of Word 5.1a that preserves most of the features and all the look and feel of the highly popular Word 5.1." Tanya added that she'd been "revamping a book I wrote back in 1993 - The Word Book for Macintosh Users".
Gordon Woolf
The Worsley Press
Hastings, Australia.