CONTENTS
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1. AN INDEX OF ADVERTISERS
2. INDESIGN CONFERENCE
3. NEW VERSION OF CREATOR
4. EFFICIENCY AND LAYOUT PROGRAMS
5. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
6. UPDATES AND HINTS
7. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
8. LAST WORD
1. AN INDEX OF ADVERTISERS
==========================
How do you automate producing an index of advertisers listing for a publication? That's a question we have been asked twice recently. And it is a point covered in our new, just published, fourth edition of "How to Start and Produce a Magazine or Newsletter".
The book states: "Most page layout programs have a table-of-contents feature which is primarily intended for book use. However, this feature can also be used for contents lists in magazines and newsletters, usually by requiring the user to mark which style tags are applied to those headings you wish to list in the contents. You can then move items around and recompile the contents list as you go to keep track that everything is included. You can include multiple files via a “book” feature to have the table of contents compile over several files.
"However there is another use for such features and that is to compile an index to advertisers. To achieve this, specify a tag that is applied only to the name of advertisers in the layout or include a non-printing line with the name of the advertiser in each advertisement. Such an index will make the advertisers happy — and think how much time you will save in trying to find a particular advertisement in a back issue!"
The book does not go into more detail but the TOC function of a page layout program such as InDesign requires that either the same style be applied to a paragraph which contains the required information, or, more likely, that an additional line is included in a style that will be hidden, or almost hidden, in the ad -- such as being in 1pt type and/or in paper color.
Another way is to use Index entries. As an ad is typeset in InDesign for example, with the Index palette open, select the words to be indexed and click on the "create new entry" button in the palette. The words selected will appear in the dialog and you also have the option of indexing under another character or word (for indexing Bill Smith & Co under Smith rather than Bill).
Once the index entry is created it will survive being copied and pasted, or imported into another InDesign file, such as to a page or group of pages.
With either method, there will have to be a separate stage for complete ads placed as PDFs, TIFFs etc. These need an extra frame added with a TOC style or an index entry but these frames can be marked non-printing.
To create a buyers' guide type of listing, use Topic Levels in InDesign's indexing. Highlight the text in your text block, which is the company name, then click the new entry icon. The firm's name will come in the top field but the black arrow lets you move that down and type in a category in the top box, or select an existing item from the lower panel. You could add a list of topics, for example from another InDesign document, via the Import Topics item in the Index palette menu, so these are available for selection in the New entry box.
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Also in our new book we mention advertisement booking systems. Because this is a rapidly changing field, we have listed the details on our web site. You'll find it at <http://www.worsleypress.com/magbook/adbooking.html>. We are currently tracking down further information on some of the systems and updating the listing as it comes in. Some are in the big league but many are adaptable for smaller operations.
2. INDESIGN CONFERENCE
======================
An InDesign Conference was held in Boston a few months ago, and one will be held in Melbourne, Australia - our home town -- from October 14 to 16. Speakers will include, from the US, David Blatner, Sandee Cohen, Deke McClelland and Michael Stoddart, plus, from Australia Mike McHugh, script expert Shane Stanley, and Andrew Tudor who is the production services manager for Lonely Planet. From Australia now where he works for Fuji Xerox, comes Eliot Harper who was on the InDesign team for Adobe as technical pre-release program manager.
That's quite a lineup, and as the Boston conference drew attendees from Europe as well as all parts of the US, this one can expect visitors from the whole region. See <http://www.theindesignconference.com>. Early bird discount ends September 1.
Pamela Pfiffner, creativepro.com editor in chief wrote in a recent newsletter: "What surprised me the most — and I think the organizers of the event as well — was the audience's level of expertise. I expected most attendees to be intermediate users who know enough to be dangerous but still need grounding in rudimentary techniques. I was wrong, as I painfully experienced during my own presentation. (I won't go into the gory details, but the bottom line is that I got flustered when demo'ing InDesign and lost my place — and seemingly all sense and skill — which led people in the audience to shout out keyboard shortcuts to me. Talk about embarrassing.)
"Many of the attendees I talked to really want to know about advanced stuff like scripting and XML. In fact, attendance at a session in which users could "talk back" to the Adobe development team — normally a big draw — was outmanned by the nearly overflow crowd at Olav Martin Kvern's scripting talk."
Pam added: "What this suggests to me is that InDesign may be taking off faster than I realized and as a result, users have dug into the program more deeply than I anticipated."
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Dov Isaacs' presentation to the Boston InDesign Conference can be downloaded as a PDF from <http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?50@97.DbG8c9OsPG1.1784874@.3bb51896>
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Incidentally, Hearst Magazines, publishers of Cosmopolitan, Popular Mechanics, Marie Claire, House Beautiful have changed to InDesign. The Australian editions of several of those publications (licensed to Australian Consolidated Press, made the change ahead of their US counterparts, a changeover in which Adobe's "man in the Pacific" Nick Hodge played a major role.
3. NEW VERSION OF CREATOR
=========================
Remember MultiAd Creator? The program which many publications used to produce advertisement files which were then assembled in QuarkXPress -- especially those hundreds of trader ads carried by local newspapers -- long ago grew into a fully fledged page layout program in its own right. Now there is a new version, Creator 7.
Enhancements, include the addition of layers, tables that can incorporate text or graphics, and a Media Database Interface that can search for and place images from AdBuilder.com or other web based applications.
Creator 7 supports OpenType on Mac OS 10.2 and in Windows.
4. EFFICIENCY AND LAYOUT PROGRAMS
=================================
"FlashPaper 2 allows anyone to convert printable files into Macromedia Flash documents or PDF files with one click." That's the claim for Macromedia's new US$79 program, which is said to bridge the gap between PDFs and Flash, allowing any printable file to be converted to one or the other at a click. One advantage is that there is no longer the wait for Adobe Reader to load and for a file to download. Details at: <http://www.macromedia.com/software/flashpaper/>
5. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
========================
Lisa asked: "I was just reading your review of Photoshop Elements 2.0 <http://www.melbpc.org.au/pcupdate/2211/2211article5.htm> and read that it does not have the option of clipping paths. However, you said it can make transparent backgrounds. Can these images then be placed in Illustrator (as an eps or something) and retain the transparent background? (I am used to using Photoshop at work but want elements for home). I am very interested to know because the only thing stopping me from buying the product is if it can't."
We replied: You can bring transparent PSD files from Photoshop Elements into Illustrator (at least with CS) and into InDesign, though the transparency doesn't come through in PageMaker 7 so I suspect that white background is what happens with many earlier programs even if they do accept PSDs. There is a workaround using JPEGs but I have to admit that though I'be read it, I don't understand it.
If you have a broadband connection (or access to one) there's a trial version of Elements 2 on the Adobe web site, around 110MB for Windows, 180MB for Mac.
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Jon replied to our description of black blocks in a PDF being related to underlined characters in Format 85 <http://www.worsleypress.com/format/format85.htm>. He wrote: "This is the first time I have seen mention of potential problems in how postscript handles underlines. Can you tell me where I can find out more? Many times in producing pdfs from PageMaker, I have had problems with the thicknesses of lines being different in the pdf. I have always assumed that it was the way I defined the lines in PageMaker (and this may still be the case) and spent a lot of time adjusting and readjusting the lines until I was able to get a pdf to look right--then I didn't want to make any more changes to the publication for fear I might have to start all over again! Might the problem have been in the postscript interpreter?"
We replied: It may well be that the problem is in the Postscript interpreter, but it seems to have happened in David's case, though not identically, with different versions of Distiller and with the same versions of Distiller on different computers.
There are many warnings on the Web, particularly on printer's sites, not to use underline because of RIP problems but many of these are also coupled with statements such as not to use the keyboard strokes to select bold and italic -- and ignoring the face that PC users have no other option (though of course all users have a responsibility to find out whether the bold, italics etc actually exist in the typefaces they are using).
This also brings it down to what seems to be at the core of the problem, that underline has long been created by the operating system, not the layout program. That has changed with InDesign CS ...in which underline and even strikethrough become useful controls at last.
I did come across an acknowledgement of problems with underlines on the Brother site -- where they suggest switching to the option to "print as graphics" if problems occur. I don't think the problem is exclusive to Brother; it is just that they seem to be one of few companies who acknowledge that a problem exists.
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On the same theme David Kunkel of Buffalo wrote: "Your readers may be interested to know that underlines should never appear in a typeset document. When the typewriter was developed, it was unable to produce italics, variable spacing or boldface, and several typewriter style conventions were introduced as substitutes. Those substitutes were so commonly used that with the advent of desktop publishing their origins were forgotten and they are being used inappropriately instead of the typeset style they replaced.
1. Underlines are a substitute for italics, and italics are preferable.
2. Capitalized words are a substitute for boldface, and boldface is preferable.
3. Double spaces after a period were introduced because monospaced text is hard to read. Typeset copy has variable letterspacing and kerning, so double spacing after a period is unnecessary and should not be used.
Other major no-nos include setting copy in all-caps italics or all-caps gothic blackletter (as seen in hair salon signage and on the back of motorcycle jackets, respectively)."
We replied: Your suggestions make much sense -- and my first reaction to David Ralph's problem had been "don't use underlines" in part for the reasons you state and also because of the known problems (though I had not seen anything quite as dramatic as his black boxes).
6. UPDATES AND HINTS
====================
For Mac OSX, there is a barcode generator that makes ISBNs and EANs that can be pasted into a word processor or layout program at <http://mac.tucows.com/preview/367626.html>. Comes with 19 special fonts. Costs $49 if you like the demo. It's a 670kb file.
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Can't get at a mail attachment in Outlook Express? Click on the button to forward the message and the attachment shows up in the message ready to be forwarded, and can then be opened from there.
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Windows Explorer patch Q832894 effectively disabled Version 5.0 of the Adobe Acrobat Reader. The solution: update to Version 6 of Adobe Reader.
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The standard InDesign and InCopy notes feature enables users to create and edit in-line notes for their own reference. SoftCare Notes Manager <http://www.softcare.de> makes all notes available in a single list, offering, for example, what notes your co-worker added to a file.
The plugin also makes it easier to navigate within the document. Clicking on an entry in the SoftCare Notes Manager palette selects the corresponding notes anchor on the page and vice versa. Double clicking an entry in the palette will open the standard notes palette where you can edit or delete the note, or convert it to text.
It costs US$99 and a tryout version is available.
7. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
=========================
A website with Pantone colors of all the world's national flags seems to have disappeared but you may still find help at http://desktoppub.about.com/library/weekly/blcpflagsrwb.htm. Unfortunately sometimes even official sources may disagree. Are the colors for the US flag 185 and 280, or 193 and 281? Most US embassies state the latter. There seems to be some disagreement about the Union Jack of the UK too; is that 185 and 280, or 032 and 286 or 186 and 280? It seems the blue got darker in 1896.
This is nothing compared to problems in Italy where opposition leaders accused Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of a "chromatic coup d'etat" after a new flag was flown outside Mr Berlusconi's Rome office. Claims were that "the green is deeper, the red has taken on ruby hues, and the white has turned to ivory". But it was all a mistake and the colors are probably still 340 and 485.
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The New York Times and 12 other papers are being printed in Athens via PDF files and digital presses during the Olympic Games. For details on the Océ newspaper system see: <http://www.oce.com/en/Products/Printers-copiers-plotters/Black+and+white+production/Continuous+feed/NewspaperSystem7000/default.htm> (that's all one line)
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Thoughts on what might be in the forthcoming QuarkXPress 6.5 and/or 7 at AppleInsider: <http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=581>
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Graphics Exchange is a Canadian graphics magazine which stretches the latest PDF specifications to their limit. See <http://www.gxo.com/download.php> for the choice of three versions, from 6.3 to 96MB.
8. LAST WORD
============
Microsoft's SP2 update to Windows XP triggers a security warning every time a user attempts to open Help from any Adobe program which uses the HTML for its Help files -- which is now most of them. We imagine there are some interesting discussions going on between Microsoft and Adobe.
Gordon Woolf
The Worsley Press
Hastings, Australia.