InDesign vs. PageMaker

[whatisitgoodfor]

I have the oppertuinty to try and talk my boss into getting some layout/design software (we're trying to stir up some more business with pamphlets, flyers, and adds).

I was wondering if the difference between Adobe PageMaker and InDesign is worth the price difference?

 

[sppeterson]

Pretty much in every possible way. InDesign 2.0 offers an excellent in-layout table module; you can easily apply transparency, drop shadows, feathering and clipping effects to imported grahpics (for example, I imported a tiff image, selected find outline and it flowed text around the outline of the object right away). Now that 2.0 is out it also handles book length products as well as PageMaker and allows you to easily synchoronize paragraph styles between all the chapters.

 

[whatisitgoodfor]

Cool!

Thanks for the input. Yours is, for some strange reason, a little bit more valuable to me than Adobe's "Its all perfect for everyone."

On a related topic, can anyone offer any insight into what the "best" reference books for InDesign are? Keeping in mind that I am going to have to learn how to use the software with proficiency in about 1 week.

 

[Lizard]

Framemaker...

I have been using FrameMaker to do documentation for the program I'm doing at work, and I love it. It's designed for long technical documents, and, let's face it, that's what an RPG is. Anyone else have any experience with it?

 

[NeuroZombie]

I am familiar with Quark (Which is expensive) and a little bit with InDesign. I would go with InDesign myself (which I am). As a side note, however, Thunderhead Games' Interludes, as well as all future products, are being laid out with Framemaker. I would say its a viable choice as well.

 

[ToddSchumacher]

Don't go with Pagemaker!

I did prepress work for a Printing company, and Pagemaker files frustrated me to no end.

Didn't help that the people who used Pagemaker wern't designers, didn't know anything about good design, and only used the program because it was less than half the cost of Quark.

Thus the saying: You get what you pay for.

I've been using InDesign for less than a week myself, and its ten times the program that Pagemaker is. And only little less than Quark...but that's probably because I've been using Quark for so long.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

Pagemaker has a bit of a learning curve, but once you know how to use it, you shouldn't have too many problems regardless of the scope of the project. I've used it for years with excellent results. Admittedly, I have no experience with the other programs mentioned.