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Since Adobe acquired PageMaker in 1994, from Aldus, there have been two major releases and a third is promised early next year. Each of these has served to
establish PageMaker as the leading layout package on today's market. Its other rivals, especially QuarkXPress, have considerable work to do if they wish to regain the market they once dominated.This release has
various excellent utilities that will be appreciated by both novices and high-end design professionals, the most advanced of which are the new layer and frame features. The Layers tool allows one to construct multiple
layers within a document and define each one individually. Layers can be rendered invisible (i.e. its content will not be printed or exported) and are also given an associated color codes.  Text and graphics can be assigned to separate layers; layers can also be hidden, merged or locked. By locking specific
layers can be protected from being edited. Using drag and drop allows one to select objects and then easily move then between layers. User's who are familiar with the layer's technique in
Adobe's Photoshop will appreciate the complex arrangements that such a tool allows. The interface has been overhauled to bring it in line with the other range
of Adobe products. By standardizing the shortcuts and key controls across their product line Adobe will allow users to easily change from Photoshop to Illustrator and PageMaker with relative ease. Those who are long time users may grind their teeth a little as the familiar shortcuts will now work in a different manner. Yet the long-term
benefits of this interface consistency will surely outweigh the interim frustrations. A useful cheat sheet is supplied that, if used, makes the transition much simpler. Web utilities are integrated into this release with mixed success. There is a feeling that the web features were rushed to be included in the release as they are rather uneven.
The Export as HTML option proves to be reliable, though not simple to use. Pages can be exported either individually or as a group though the HTML Export dialog box tends to merge the entire document into one
single web page. It is possible to successfully export multiple pages yet the steps to do so are cumbersome and, unfortunately, not documented. The HTML-style tags can be easily defined and graphics can be
converted to GIF or JPEG formats (downsampling is possible to 72 dpi).
The Adobe family of products integrate very well together and Version 6.5 allows documents to be saved in increasingly popular PDF format. The PageMaker CD includes the Acrobat Reader which allows one to read PDF
files as they will appear online. The Hyperlink options allow one to attach a URL, e-mail address or FTP link to either text or graphics. In addition, hyperlinks can also link pages to other areas within the
publication, such as the Table of Contents. These hyperlinks are preserved when you use either the Adobe Acrobat or HTML export options. QuickTime movie can be easily placed within a file and then
successfully exported inside the PDF file. PageMaker 6.5 is not intended to rival HTML editors on today's market. Those who need more HTML control can produce their DTP work in
PageMaker and then refine it in a standard HTML package, such as Pagemill. Due to HTML restrictions PageMaker's advanced features, such as irregular text wraps, cannot be successfully exported.
Table-based layouts will also not be resized correctly and are interpreted in a different way by each browser |
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