PageMaker hints
Many more hints are contained in the files listed on our Format newsletter page. The following PageMaker tips are from early copies of our newsletters and many apply mainly to earlier versions of PageMaker.
...and you may also like to look at the PageMakr List FAQ
We also have some free PageMaker scripts
THE PAGEMAKR LIST
For more information about the PageMakr List see details under the PageMakr List FAQ.
Publication Production using PageMaker
Don't forget to find out more about our book which is aimed at all who produce newspapers or other consistently formatted publications:PUBLICATION PRODUCTION USING PAGEMAKER helps when the aim is a consistent look to a publication produced by a number of people. This is based on practical experience on the training of production staff in small country newspapers and includes many dozens of tips -- some of which have been new even for experienced users.
Strange leading
If the leading in a paragraph looks odd, it's probably because the leading associated with the paragraph mark is different to the rest of the para. Highlight the whole paragraph (triple-click on it) then check in the leading box of the control palette. If that's blank, you've found the problem.
Preserve styles
Hold down the shift key while clicking on the style to preserves special fonts and other formatting within a paragraph while you change the style.
Cut and paste? Or place the graphic?
Cut and paste of graphics is not a good idea, unless it's a "quick and dirty" job which you'll discard after printing once. TIF and EPS are the file formats of choice, but with PM6.5 you can have the best of both worlds. Cut and paste your graphic, then choose File>Export and select Export graphic... You'll be able to export it as a TIF and the graphic in the file will automatically be linked to the new file.
Switching documents
This is a tip for Windows PageMaker users... If you need to switch between open documents within PageMaker, the standard Windows shortcut applies, though it is little known. Just hit control-tab, and cycle through the open documents.
Putting text blocks together
Do you have lots of separate text blocks, all in separate windowshades, that you'd like to connect into one. Cutting each piece and pasting in the one before is a chore. Well, just stack them, with the first at the bottom, and then marquee select. Cut or copy, then change to the text tool and paste.
Converting graphics
Need to convert a GIF file to a TIFF? Do it at the "Place" command by holding down Control and Alt as you press the OK button in the place dialog box. Nothing different seems to happen but if you check Links, you will see that you have created a new compressed TIF.
Don't scroll...
Instead of using the scroll bars to move around, click your right mouse button to view the whole page, then place your cursor at the point you want in the centre of your screen and click the right mouse button again. In PM 6.5 this is shift-click, or double click the magnifying glass or hand in the toolbox.
A group of one...
In PM6 or later, if you select a text block and group it (yes, even if it is only ONE bitof text!), you can then apply text wrap to the "group". No more do we have to put text in a box, apply wrap to that, and then make the box invisible, which was the only way to do it in PM5.
A better view...
When you switch pages by clicking on the icon at the bottom of the PageMaker screen, you will go to that page in the view which was last used. That can often mean you have to click the right mouse button to go back to the page view and then place your cursor and click again to zoom in on the area you actually need. You can cut out one of these screen redraws by holding the shift key as you click on the page icon. No matter what view you had last time, the page will open in page view.
There are lots more PageMaker hints and tips in our Format newsletters which are available on this website. There is a special page of PageMaker tips from this newsletter.
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