Byline by Ashton-Tate offers a style of desktop publishing for people who don't like or don't have a mouse. Not quite a WYSIWYGpackage nor a fully-fledged batch program, Byline uses a page layout system with keyboard-only interaction and instant preview. Byline uses familiar commands and keyboard sequences to lay out a page, complete with multiple columns and graphics. It can be used to integrate text and graphics from many sources including standard word processing and paint programs, dBase users can read data directly from their database and format it with Byline. Grids are used to set up pages and help create an organised document. One side of the screen displays the document while the other side contains a form which allows definition of document characteristics such as titles, borders and font style and sizes. Nearly all formatting is maintained when files are imported. Byline can edit the text with its built-in word processor which includes cut-and-paste and search-and-replace functions. Changes made to word processing documents in
Byline are reflected in the original file. Four fonts are provided. Times, Helvetica, Courier and dBase. Other fonts and typeface sizes which are available in a given printer are inaccessible. Byline's graphic editing capabilities include cropping and scaling of images. All other editing must be done in the graphics package. Especially useful is the screen capture utility which allows any screen image to be saved if it is in a graphic file format Byline can read. A demonstration disk is available. This software is designed for minor publishing requirements giving simple, effective desktop publishing facilities and which are easy to learn but flexible enough to produce good handouts, memos and the occasional newsletters. Byline will produce documents which are more readable and impressive than ordinary typed documents but not to PageMaker or Ventura Publisher standard. Research Byline
Artline by Digital Research, is a program for creating illustrations, mastheads and logos for desktop publishing. With the ability to trace scanned images and seven different zoom levels ranging from 6% to 4000%, its magnifier tool in 100% view shows a screen picture dot for dot as the printed picture would appear on a 300 dots per inch laser printer. The drawing tools include rectangle, ellipse, text and symbol. The symbol selector allows a library of symbols to be loaded and viewed interactively. A sophisticated drawing tool called 'The Quill' can be used to draw straight lines and curves, whether simple, compound or joined. Points on a curve can be selected and moved. Anchor points and direction points can also be shown and curve segments copied. The Quill works with Bezier or spline curves. Text can be edited as graphic elements to produce, for example, trailing shadow effects and can also be arranged around circles and curves. File formats supported include .IMG, .PCX and TIFF. Artline generates GEM or EPS formats
which can be loaded directly into Ventura Publisher or PageMaker. A Bitstream Fontware installation kit is provided and a serif and sans seriftypeface are included with Artline. Research GEM Artline
PageMaker was formerly a very popular, easy to use, WYSIWYG desktop publisher that allowed the design, layout, and production of typeset-quality documents on the Macintosh and PC running Windows. The product, one of the first desktop publishers for the Macintosh, provided a comprehensive set of tools for integrating text and graphics from virtually any Macintosh application into a professional-looking document. Nearly identical to PageMaker for the PC, this program offered user-defined style sheets, automatic text flow through a document, and 20 design templates. Rather than using a grid approach, PageMaker worked like a paste-up board on which to define the placement of elements on-screen after defining the number of columns the document will have.
PageMaker had a wide range of uses, from the occasional quickmemo and graphics based publication, to a complex, content-oriented document with graphics (it was used to typeset the magazine Here's Health during the early 1990s). It was ideal for an environment using both PCs and Macs because a version was available for each machine and files could be transferred between the two environments.
When PageMaker was run a blank page was seen on-screen. Text and graphics could be imported using a place command to position the material as it was to appear on the printed output. The product retained formatting from word processing files such as tabs, type styles, justification, and proportional spacing. PageMaker had a built-in text editor which could also act as a basic word processor. Changes made in PageMaker were automatically reflected in the word processing document. The program automatically flowed text throughout the document and wrapped text around graphics. Its editing features controlled text size, style, typeface, multiple columns, and automatic hyphenation. Imported graphics could be sized, scaled, and cropped on-screen. Rules and line styles helped to position graphic images and text, and allow easy creation of boxed text, headlines, and framed images. Ruler guides controlled layout and column guides assisted in the actual placement and margins of graphics and text. PageMaker allowed the creation of style sheets. Users could see and work with multiple views of a page layout or two pages at once so that a double-page spread could be designed. Research PageMaker
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Byline
