FoolishFrost
Hero
This review will be considering the PagePlus 10 Desktop Publishing software by Serif. This is not an RPG product as such, but one that could be useful to RPG publishers. Game masters might also look into this software for their layout and design needs, since the price is comparable to other gaming software packages, such as mapping software.
I, the reviewer, am John Bowden (TheFool1972). I own Ancient Awakenings Publications, and act there as chief layout artist and writer.
Before we begin, I would like to make a few things clear:
1. This review is for a Desktop Publishing Software Package, and is directed toward other publishers. If you are a publisher, or are interested in becoming one, then this review might be of use to you.
2. This product was reviewed by someone who understands a moderate amount about DTP. I am not an expert, but I would look like one next to a person who has never touched it before.
3. I was given a review copy of the software by Serif. I did not actually pay for the software. I do not think this has really altered my view on its usefulness, but it's considered good manners to let people know.
4. This software will not make you a master layout artist in only a couple of days. It gives you all the tools you need, but graphic creativity and taste are still something you have to provide. The only ways to develop these skills are to practice and learn from other people's designs. Still, even if this software is not a magic bullet, it's still a darn good gun.
And now on to the show!
I first found out about Serif and their products online. They were giving away older versions of their software as samples to entice people to purchase their newer versions. One of these programs was called PagePlus 5.
Why tell you this? Because I want to make something perfectly clear: Do NOT use PP 5 as a guide to how useful 10 will be. They are NOTHING alike. You would be comparing a computer from ten years ago to one from today, and it would not be fair. Sadly, this is what I did at first, and I lost out on a very useful tool for my first year of creating RPG products for Ancient Awakenings Publications. While the tools I gathered together did the job, I missed a lot of useful features.
It was not until this year that I looked into upgrading my tools. Looking across the Internet, I examined reviews of all the major DTP software companies, and was surprised to trip over Serif again. After looking at a couple of reviews, I looked into contacting them for the option to review their software.
They agreed.
About a week later, on my birthday, no less, the package arrived. I opened it and noted the following items: A book entitled PagePlus 10 Companion, A thank-you letter for offering to review the product, and lastly a DVD-style case containing two CDs. The two CDs were the program disk and resource disk.
The book was a nice touch, not being an instruction manual as much as a beginner's guide to desktop publishing with PP 10. It was a reasonable 160 pages, complete with index and cheat-sheets. It covered a wide spectrum, from installing the software to possible color calibration problems you might have. The book even discusses using PP 10 for web site development, a hidden bonus I had missed in the software's favor.
Being the kind of person I am, I immediately dumped the program CD into the drive and began loading the software. The install gave only one warning about a file it could not replace in windows, and finished in minutes. The warning did not prevent the software from working, nor did I ever see any problems with crashes or slowdowns. (I never had a crash in the entire time I used the software, and I was used to MS Publisher 97 crashing regularly).
I went for broke and installed the extra CD, and even took the time to copy the extra fonts from it just to see what they looked like.
The software never asked for a key or registration. I did notice under ‘help’ a spot I could register the software, but nothing obtrusive. It loaded quickly, even on my 1.6 P4 with 256 megs of ram.
After getting into the software, I looked around. All my old friends were there: Textbox, picture, table, shapes... Tons of options... So many options you could get lost in them...
Whew...
I decided to be a chicken and clicked on help. I saw not only the usual help files, but something called ‘Tutorials’. That’s what I wanted! My web browser opened to a page offering to show me a ‘learning lab’ that contained structured how-tos on many basic features: How to use text boxes and import art, how to setup text wrapping, how to create a USABLE index...
It was heaven! After hours of reading and trying the features, I not only learned the basics they were trying to teach, but also became familiar with many of the other features of the software. After only 5 hours since installing the software, I was able to create a mock-up of my Complete Fool's Catalog book and export it to PDF.
Overall, my first impression of the software was positive, and I could find nothing to complain about.
Let's get down to the basics of what this software can do for you and expand from there, shall we?
The software itself is laid out in a logical manner, with the normal windows menu and button bar at the top, a toolbox to the left, and an information screen to the right. The bottom contained info about where you are currently, and allowed you some navigation options. In the middle was the work-space, looking pretty much the same as any other layout or publishing software I've seen.
The left toolbar offered selection tools, item creation, and special effects. It's just the matter of a few clicks to create a text box, give it any kind of border you like, and then put a shadow, glow, or 3D effect to raise it from the page. Nearly every special effect can be used on every kind of object, allowing an overwhelming level of options. A small warning here: It's easy to get lost in the 'special effects', and start using them where they are not needed. Remember, if everything is special, then nothing is special.
The right info column was a wonderful tool. Using tabs running up the rightmost side of the window, it allows you to edit object properties, select pages, and generally monitor the entire project from one place.
The Best:
- Of all of the things I enjoyed about this software, the most pleasing was how easy it was to use. The detailed but simple instructions also made this a major winner.
- It never crashed. Not once. Didn’t even slow my computer. Ran like a cybernetic hyper-hamster in a frictionless wheel.
The Worst:
- The software has so many options, that it becomes easy to get lost in them and forget what you are trying to accomplish.
Final Word:
PagePlus 10 is, hands down, one of the best layout programs I have ever seen. It is simple enough for beginners, and has enough features to keep a veteran happy. I rate this software five stars, based on the quality of the software, the number of features, and the ease of its use.
The price is $129.99 and $89.99 upgrade if you own any other Serif software packages.
PS:
While the review stops at the above, I decided that it would not hurt to talk about some of my favorite features. Below, you will see notes I made about some of the more useful tools when using the software.
Making a Page:
Here's the meat of it. How easy can you put together a page?
Real easy.
After setting us a page in landscape view, it was little trouble to set the border guides. More guides can be added by just clicking on the side rulers where you want them, and can be moved or removed by clicking and dragging.
Adding a text box is as simple as clicking and dragging across the area you want the text to be. A few more clicks into the text frame's properties menu and it can be set to how many columns you would like. More options can be set, such as how much space is between the border and the interior text.
You can now either paste the text in from another source, or type it in directly. Included in PagePlus is an easy-to-use text editor called Write Plus, that allows you to edit the text in a more familiar setting than editing it directly on the layout screen. It feels like an advanced version of MS Wordpad and has nice extras like a spelling checker, proof reader (like MS word Grammar Check), and thesaurus. These tools can also be reached from directly within PagePlus as well. An intelligent hyphenation tool is also included.
Once you add your text, you will want to make it look pretty. Hundreds of fonts that come with PP 10, along with dozens of features to get your text in just the right style to suit your needs.
Next, you would want to add graphics. This is a simple matter. Dragging the image file directly into the window works just as well as using the menu, and sizing it is only the matter of grabbing the handles at the corner and dragging to the desired size and place. Images can then be altered to allow transparency, shaded to a specific color, rotated (in either 2D or 3D), and even optimized for print quality.
Images can either be added in a floating frame, or added like a word into a paragraph. This feature is useful for things like artistic text separators and gothic starting letters.
Setting up the Style:
I am sure some of you are used to editing a document on the fly, adding color and font styles wherever they look good. While this works, PP 10 offers a more structured was to do this.
Using the style system in PP 10, you can take a perfected selection of text and apply it to a named style. Using it is as simple as applying a style to the text, getting the text the way you like it on the screen, and then clicking update text style option. Now your new text style is ready for use throughout the rest of the document.
As a bonus, the Table of Contents wizard can take headings made this way and use them for its creation.
PDF Creation:
After you have put together your new publication, you want to be able to produce a PDF for either download or print. This software shines here as well.
When making a PDF, this software can do many things: Down-sample the artwork, basic security features, add printing features like crop-marks, and even convert complex vector fills to bitmap to improve speed. One really sharp feature is to make the PDF so that web viewing is faster.
Master Pages and Layers:
Let's see, you need to design a page. It will have border art, the main text, page numbers, highlighted text boxes, art, page header titles...
That's a lot of stuff to keep track of, and becomes especially bad when they have to overlap, like with a background image and overlay text.
That is where layers come in.
Layers allow you to separate objects on a page into groups. These groups can be chosen by simply clicking on the layer tab you want. Objects in the current layer can be edited, and the others do not get in the way.
Master pages allow you to take a standard background, and apply it to all your pages. That makes page numbering and border art a snap.
Wait, you want to have a different border for every chapter? And not use any background for some pages? That's all right. You can have as many master pages as you like, and pages can use any or none of them.
Access to these functions are as easy as clicking on the ‘Pages’ tab on the right side of the screen.
Table of Contents and Index wizards:
Of all the features I saw, these were some of the best. Also, they were listed in the Tutorial guide allowing me instant access to understand how they work.
The table of contents takes its info directly from the heading styles. This allows you to just apply a style to a chapter or section header, and when you insert a table of contents into the front of your book, it will automatically create the basic textbox and fill it with the needed information. Just style it a bit to get the look you want and enjoy.
The Index function is much more complex in usage, but allows a feature often missing from most books and PDFs. Taken from the Tutorial:
"What an index is for: Obviously, for looking up a specific thing. The reader will want to know whether something occurs in the book. Equally, for showing at a glance the disparate places where a thing is covered, and the weight the author has given to various topics. A skilled reader knows that scanning a good index provides a unique glimpse into a book's content. So aim for an index that provides that kind of richness."
An index is not just a page reference for every word in the book, but a reference for every important subject in the book and where references to it can be found. If you look at the player's handbook, you can see in the index of where to find every page that refers to ‘saving throw’. This in turn makes the book easier for the reader to use.
While useful indexes are not easy to create, they are something this software makes easier. With hard work and a little training, anyone can make a professional index.
I, the reviewer, am John Bowden (TheFool1972). I own Ancient Awakenings Publications, and act there as chief layout artist and writer.
Before we begin, I would like to make a few things clear:
1. This review is for a Desktop Publishing Software Package, and is directed toward other publishers. If you are a publisher, or are interested in becoming one, then this review might be of use to you.
2. This product was reviewed by someone who understands a moderate amount about DTP. I am not an expert, but I would look like one next to a person who has never touched it before.
3. I was given a review copy of the software by Serif. I did not actually pay for the software. I do not think this has really altered my view on its usefulness, but it's considered good manners to let people know.
4. This software will not make you a master layout artist in only a couple of days. It gives you all the tools you need, but graphic creativity and taste are still something you have to provide. The only ways to develop these skills are to practice and learn from other people's designs. Still, even if this software is not a magic bullet, it's still a darn good gun.
And now on to the show!
I first found out about Serif and their products online. They were giving away older versions of their software as samples to entice people to purchase their newer versions. One of these programs was called PagePlus 5.
Why tell you this? Because I want to make something perfectly clear: Do NOT use PP 5 as a guide to how useful 10 will be. They are NOTHING alike. You would be comparing a computer from ten years ago to one from today, and it would not be fair. Sadly, this is what I did at first, and I lost out on a very useful tool for my first year of creating RPG products for Ancient Awakenings Publications. While the tools I gathered together did the job, I missed a lot of useful features.
It was not until this year that I looked into upgrading my tools. Looking across the Internet, I examined reviews of all the major DTP software companies, and was surprised to trip over Serif again. After looking at a couple of reviews, I looked into contacting them for the option to review their software.
They agreed.
About a week later, on my birthday, no less, the package arrived. I opened it and noted the following items: A book entitled PagePlus 10 Companion, A thank-you letter for offering to review the product, and lastly a DVD-style case containing two CDs. The two CDs were the program disk and resource disk.
The book was a nice touch, not being an instruction manual as much as a beginner's guide to desktop publishing with PP 10. It was a reasonable 160 pages, complete with index and cheat-sheets. It covered a wide spectrum, from installing the software to possible color calibration problems you might have. The book even discusses using PP 10 for web site development, a hidden bonus I had missed in the software's favor.
Being the kind of person I am, I immediately dumped the program CD into the drive and began loading the software. The install gave only one warning about a file it could not replace in windows, and finished in minutes. The warning did not prevent the software from working, nor did I ever see any problems with crashes or slowdowns. (I never had a crash in the entire time I used the software, and I was used to MS Publisher 97 crashing regularly).
I went for broke and installed the extra CD, and even took the time to copy the extra fonts from it just to see what they looked like.
The software never asked for a key or registration. I did notice under ‘help’ a spot I could register the software, but nothing obtrusive. It loaded quickly, even on my 1.6 P4 with 256 megs of ram.
After getting into the software, I looked around. All my old friends were there: Textbox, picture, table, shapes... Tons of options... So many options you could get lost in them...
Whew...
I decided to be a chicken and clicked on help. I saw not only the usual help files, but something called ‘Tutorials’. That’s what I wanted! My web browser opened to a page offering to show me a ‘learning lab’ that contained structured how-tos on many basic features: How to use text boxes and import art, how to setup text wrapping, how to create a USABLE index...
It was heaven! After hours of reading and trying the features, I not only learned the basics they were trying to teach, but also became familiar with many of the other features of the software. After only 5 hours since installing the software, I was able to create a mock-up of my Complete Fool's Catalog book and export it to PDF.
Overall, my first impression of the software was positive, and I could find nothing to complain about.
Let's get down to the basics of what this software can do for you and expand from there, shall we?
The software itself is laid out in a logical manner, with the normal windows menu and button bar at the top, a toolbox to the left, and an information screen to the right. The bottom contained info about where you are currently, and allowed you some navigation options. In the middle was the work-space, looking pretty much the same as any other layout or publishing software I've seen.
The left toolbar offered selection tools, item creation, and special effects. It's just the matter of a few clicks to create a text box, give it any kind of border you like, and then put a shadow, glow, or 3D effect to raise it from the page. Nearly every special effect can be used on every kind of object, allowing an overwhelming level of options. A small warning here: It's easy to get lost in the 'special effects', and start using them where they are not needed. Remember, if everything is special, then nothing is special.
The right info column was a wonderful tool. Using tabs running up the rightmost side of the window, it allows you to edit object properties, select pages, and generally monitor the entire project from one place.
The Best:
- Of all of the things I enjoyed about this software, the most pleasing was how easy it was to use. The detailed but simple instructions also made this a major winner.
- It never crashed. Not once. Didn’t even slow my computer. Ran like a cybernetic hyper-hamster in a frictionless wheel.
The Worst:
- The software has so many options, that it becomes easy to get lost in them and forget what you are trying to accomplish.
Final Word:
PagePlus 10 is, hands down, one of the best layout programs I have ever seen. It is simple enough for beginners, and has enough features to keep a veteran happy. I rate this software five stars, based on the quality of the software, the number of features, and the ease of its use.
The price is $129.99 and $89.99 upgrade if you own any other Serif software packages.
PS:
While the review stops at the above, I decided that it would not hurt to talk about some of my favorite features. Below, you will see notes I made about some of the more useful tools when using the software.
Making a Page:
Here's the meat of it. How easy can you put together a page?
Real easy.
After setting us a page in landscape view, it was little trouble to set the border guides. More guides can be added by just clicking on the side rulers where you want them, and can be moved or removed by clicking and dragging.
Adding a text box is as simple as clicking and dragging across the area you want the text to be. A few more clicks into the text frame's properties menu and it can be set to how many columns you would like. More options can be set, such as how much space is between the border and the interior text.
You can now either paste the text in from another source, or type it in directly. Included in PagePlus is an easy-to-use text editor called Write Plus, that allows you to edit the text in a more familiar setting than editing it directly on the layout screen. It feels like an advanced version of MS Wordpad and has nice extras like a spelling checker, proof reader (like MS word Grammar Check), and thesaurus. These tools can also be reached from directly within PagePlus as well. An intelligent hyphenation tool is also included.
Once you add your text, you will want to make it look pretty. Hundreds of fonts that come with PP 10, along with dozens of features to get your text in just the right style to suit your needs.
Next, you would want to add graphics. This is a simple matter. Dragging the image file directly into the window works just as well as using the menu, and sizing it is only the matter of grabbing the handles at the corner and dragging to the desired size and place. Images can then be altered to allow transparency, shaded to a specific color, rotated (in either 2D or 3D), and even optimized for print quality.
Images can either be added in a floating frame, or added like a word into a paragraph. This feature is useful for things like artistic text separators and gothic starting letters.
Setting up the Style:
I am sure some of you are used to editing a document on the fly, adding color and font styles wherever they look good. While this works, PP 10 offers a more structured was to do this.
Using the style system in PP 10, you can take a perfected selection of text and apply it to a named style. Using it is as simple as applying a style to the text, getting the text the way you like it on the screen, and then clicking update text style option. Now your new text style is ready for use throughout the rest of the document.
As a bonus, the Table of Contents wizard can take headings made this way and use them for its creation.
PDF Creation:
After you have put together your new publication, you want to be able to produce a PDF for either download or print. This software shines here as well.
When making a PDF, this software can do many things: Down-sample the artwork, basic security features, add printing features like crop-marks, and even convert complex vector fills to bitmap to improve speed. One really sharp feature is to make the PDF so that web viewing is faster.
Master Pages and Layers:
Let's see, you need to design a page. It will have border art, the main text, page numbers, highlighted text boxes, art, page header titles...
That's a lot of stuff to keep track of, and becomes especially bad when they have to overlap, like with a background image and overlay text.
That is where layers come in.
Layers allow you to separate objects on a page into groups. These groups can be chosen by simply clicking on the layer tab you want. Objects in the current layer can be edited, and the others do not get in the way.
Master pages allow you to take a standard background, and apply it to all your pages. That makes page numbering and border art a snap.
Wait, you want to have a different border for every chapter? And not use any background for some pages? That's all right. You can have as many master pages as you like, and pages can use any or none of them.
Access to these functions are as easy as clicking on the ‘Pages’ tab on the right side of the screen.
Table of Contents and Index wizards:
Of all the features I saw, these were some of the best. Also, they were listed in the Tutorial guide allowing me instant access to understand how they work.
The table of contents takes its info directly from the heading styles. This allows you to just apply a style to a chapter or section header, and when you insert a table of contents into the front of your book, it will automatically create the basic textbox and fill it with the needed information. Just style it a bit to get the look you want and enjoy.
The Index function is much more complex in usage, but allows a feature often missing from most books and PDFs. Taken from the Tutorial:
"What an index is for: Obviously, for looking up a specific thing. The reader will want to know whether something occurs in the book. Equally, for showing at a glance the disparate places where a thing is covered, and the weight the author has given to various topics. A skilled reader knows that scanning a good index provides a unique glimpse into a book's content. So aim for an index that provides that kind of richness."
An index is not just a page reference for every word in the book, but a reference for every important subject in the book and where references to it can be found. If you look at the player's handbook, you can see in the index of where to find every page that refers to ‘saving throw’. This in turn makes the book easier for the reader to use.
While useful indexes are not easy to create, they are something this software makes easier. With hard work and a little training, anyone can make a professional index.
