August 16, 2006

Serif PagePlus 11 (Serif, $129) is the latest version of an excellent desktop publishing program that’s professional enough for businesses but friendly enough for home, school or organization uses.

Desktop publishing combines word processing, graphic layout and photo editing in a program that makes it easy to create just about any type of printed material.

PagePlus11 includes templates for creating pre-designed brochures, newsletters, business cards, stationery, posters, booklets and more, and you can easily change, enhance or revise any template item(s). Or, you can use the many included features to create your own materials from scratch. PagePlus 11 even includes BookPlus, which lets you produce an entire book, complete with table of contents, chapters and an index.

New to this version are options allowing you to import and edit as well as create PDF files, a multi-language spell checker, photo scrapbook pages and many other new or updated features.

Once you’ve created a document, you can print it on your own printer, save it as a PDF file to send to others, set it up for photocopying or quick printing or send it to a professional printer. Options for preparing materials for professional printing are extensive and include the ability to create PostScript or PDF files, color separations, auto-imposition, and many more, and they’re all described in detail in the included manual. Or use SerifPrintShop online printing services to have your items printed and mailed directly to you.

We started learning the program by using a template to create an award certificate, and it couldn’t have been easier. All templates come with multiple fill-in-the-blank spaces, making it easy to customize or personalize any of them. After filling in the blanks, we decided to see how the certificate would look with different colors. PagePlus has an option called "color schemes," which allows you to view the document with different combinations of colors for the text, background, graphics, borders and the like. A click on the Attributes tab brought up the list of pre-set color schemes, and scrolling down the list let us preview the certificate as it would look with each of the different color schemes; another click let us select the one we wanted. The included schemes have many terrific combinations, but you can also change any or all colors separately or create and save a custom scheme.

We went on to use several other templates to explore other features of the program, such as options for changing fill, transparency, fonts, line and color. A selection of objects such as logos, mastheads and many other types of graphic elements are available for you to drag and drop anywhere on a page, move freely and then change in any way you want. And the multiple "Undo/Redo" feature is great for going back or forward if you make a mistook.

The Templates option could fill the needs for the most common print projects, but PagePlus really shines in letting you create items your own way. Text can be placed at an angle, written on any type of curve (very cool), and used in any place or shape on the page; graphics and photos can be sized, shaped and/or altered, and there’s a wide choice of colors, fills, shades, backgrounds and other effects to apply to text or graphics--the possibilities are endless.

We started an "original" project by creating an invitation by importing a graphic from another program (easy to do), re-sized it, and added text and a border. Here again you can click on any of the text, border or fill options to view your design with the selected changes, making it easy to see the changes before deciding which one to use. It’s equally easy to try 2D, 3D and other effects on the text and graphics.

We also created a memento page that could be framed or used in an album or book. We started by importing a few photos and then added text. Once the photos were on screen, we could drag and drop them any place on the page or rotate, flip or place them at an angle and add a border. Other drag and drop options let us change the shape of the photo, crop it, place it in an oval (or any one of several other shapes), and then add curved text around the top. Very cool. We placed another photo in a rectangular frame and then added decorative text to describe the event. Pale background shading and graphic elements included with the program completed the page. It’s great fun to experiment with all the choices, and we’ve saved the basic design to use as a template for other events.

You can use PagePlus to create Web pages, publish them to a Web site, make any revisions and changes and then publish the changes to the Web site again. No need to learn HTML and complete instructions are available in the manual.

On screen Help, a 230-page printed manual, detailed tutorials and a PDF user guide are all excellent, but you will still need to spend time learning to master this program if you want to use any features beyond the most basic ones. This time spent, however, will pay big dividends.

Norma and Tony Leone welcome your comments, ideas, and questions about computers. You may reach Norma and Tony by phone at (585) 385-1974, X315, or e-mail to leones@netacc.net, or by writing to The Shopping Bag, 201 Main St., East Rochester, N.Y. 14445. Visit our Web site at http://www.norma-tony.com.

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