The Euro: What Will It Mean to the Desktop Publisher?

How will the character be inserted into typeset copy? Every time typesetters set a piece containing a monetary amount in Euros, they will have to type a character that doesn't exist in most typeface character sets. A partial remedy is the inclusion of a Euro character in the character set of Macintosh and Windows. For instance, starting in Mac OS 8.5, pressing Option-Shift-2 will insert the Euro character — but only in the fonts that come with the Mac. Older fonts will insert a different character.

Adams, Peter C.S. Makingpages.org (2002). Design>Document Design>Typography>Europe

Learning PageMaker

One way to learn PageMaker is just to use it. If you have experience in publishing, PageMaker is designed to be familiar to you, like using a light table. There are a few 'gotchas,' of course, but if you're an experienced publisher, learning PageMaker should be a snap. It's a complex program. But the good news is that PageMaker is a lot easier to learn than competing products like QuarkXPress. In addition to the obvious — the PAGEMAKR mailing list — you may want to take advantage of the many training materials available. In 1985, desktop publishing was brand new and unexplored territory. Today, millions of people use desktop publishing software worldwide. Of course, there's a lot more to learning desktop publishing than learning PageMaker: there's typesetting and graphic design, for starters.

Adams, Peter C.S. Makingpages.org (2002). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe PageMaker

PageMaker Past, Present, and Future

For millennia, humans have struggled to communicate, first with grunts and sign language, then with speech. But it was when humans learned to write that civilization became possible. First we painted on cave walls, then chiseled in stone, then wrote on more practical and portable things, like wood, papyrus, and finally paper. Hand printing ink on paper was the state of the art for hundreds of years until mechanical inventing was invented, first with engraving and then with movable type. But setting type with metal was still slow, dangerous, and difficult work. This was not dramatically changed until the twentieth century with machines like the Mergenthaler and Linotype. In 1984, the state of the art was phototypesetting on large, complex machines that were expensive and where what you was was nothing like what you would get. Then three companies -- Apple Computer, Adobe Systems, and the Aldus Corporation -- changed everything.

Adams, Peter C.S. Makingpages.org (2002). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe PageMaker

Viruses and the Desktop Publisher

Viruses are of particular interest to the desktop publisher because we frequently exchange disks with clients, open other people's Word files to edit them, and receive unsolicited files via email — all examples of 'at risk' behavior. Everyone should practice 'safe computing' and Windows users especially should make certain their anti-virus software is kept up to date. A list of vendors and informational sites can be found in the sidebar on the right.

Adams, Peter C.S. Makingpages.org (2002). Design>Document Design>Security>Viruses