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08/08/2004 |
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Microsoft Publisher 2002 Don Bradbury takes a look at the latest all-singing version of the DTP program
Microsoft Publisher has been around for years, and many have regarded it as possibly the easiest-to-use DTP (Desk Top Publishing) program around for general application, mainly because of its smart Wizards. Install and Activate Software installation under Windows ME was easy enough, and starting up with the boot wizard was pretty intuitive. But product activation - without which you have 50 outings and no more without loss of some functionality - is a pain. I chose to do it via telephone rather than the Internet, but the UK 00800 number given by the CD was “unavailable” and I had to get the Microsoft Press Office to give me the alternative number (0870 241 1963, should you need it). Then, after you’ve entered the 50 characters of Product Key, you have to read to the mechanical voice another 50 characters off the input screen, wait for confirmation that that has been accepted, and then finally you have no less than 42 numbers to enter into the activation screen. This all takes about five minutes, but come on, Microsoft; less of these mind games please. Preventing software piracy is one thing, but this is ridiculous! You are invited to tell the start Wizard, once and for all, your personal details so you don’t have to keep typing them in when you need to include them. Here, though, although it’s fairly obvious when you are replacing prompt lines, some guidance would have been useful where the prompt line should be left intact to be included in the output. Lines like phone and fax numbers, and email address, for example. You are left uncertain as to their ultimate fate as it is. Auto-injection You can insert any or all of this personal info directly into your DTP output, but left alignment of text in frames is the default. Perhaps centered would have been better for most applications? However, it’s likely you’ll need to adjust the font size at least, so centering or whatever is quickly achieved at the same time. Dozens of basic colour scheme options are available on the same page as the personal information.
When you change an option, all fonts and box sizes are automatically adjusted to fit. It’s magic! Menu options Microsoft’s somewhat annoying truncated menus are again the default setting, but thankfully you can switch on full menu displays under Customization. Toolbars and Commands can also be customized in the usual way. A one hundred and forty page manual takes the new user through the basics of DTP (and some points not so basic). From creating professional flyers, brochures, and newsletters, through design strategy, elements of design, designing for print or the Internet, and ending up with accessibility for people with disabilities, the manual is quite comprehensive. Under ‘what’s new’, you’ll find that Publisher now offers enhanced commercial printing functionality, including support for up to twelve ‘spot’ colours in a single publication, and the ability to combine these ‘spot’ colours with process colours. Other offerings include an improved EPS filter with better handling of text previews as well as ‘named’ colours to properly separate EPS graphics within spot-colour publications. Esoterics Such abstruse options (to the DTP layman) are something that should be discussed with the printing house before making changes. Publisher’s help system adds comment on some of these and should be referenced before using. Other enhancements include twenty five coordinated font schemes for the important element of consistent application within publications. In the past, inappropriate application of fonts may have led users to produce grotesque monsters that have made the DTP cognoscenti wince. Now that’s taken care of automatically. You can, of course, over-ride the suggestions, but that’s on the users head.
The Word Document Wizard is designed to produce great looking
business applications quickly and easily, but there’s a Style
Inspector wizard that can be summoned to cast its informed eye over
your product when it’s finished. If it finds a fault – text falling
outside a frame, for example – it is flagged. Help There’s a certain amount of ‘granny knows best’ about this help system and one or two other facets of Publisher that some will find annoying. You’re prevented from entering into the help dialogue something that isn’t there, for instance. Instead you are offered what Publisher thinks you want, and only in the format the program has to offer it. If you try to type in a two word phrase, you’ll get a semicolon injected after the first, followed by your second word or the closest equivalent. That might make nonsense, but it’s what you get. If you try to enter ‘Style Checker’, for instance, you’ll be offered ‘style;cell;’. Well, frustrating it may be, but it could be better than total rejection! Save As Web Page, direct input from scanner or digicam, HTML code injection at your chosen point, Form Control, text autofit, Send To mail recipient, import Word document, spell checker and auto-correct, they’re all there and much more. Power DTP was never easier. In conclusion Microsoft Publisher 2002 is the best DTP program the company has yet produced in terms of style coordination and sheer volume of Wizard assistance. Accept its idiosyncrasies and get on with it; that would be our advice. For most of us - DTP amateurs that we are - granny probably does know best! But is product activation getting out of hand? You may well ask! |
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Layout,
design, colour scheme, and font options fall easily to hand, and
although you’ll usually find some are more applicable than others to
your chosen text and graphics, they are quickly changed by simple
selection in the Wizard. This makes optimization very easy, and the
sheer range of options on offer means you are more than likely to
finish up with something that suits you.
