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Program to use for a large publication



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 23rd, 2004, 10:37 PM
Georgia
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Default Program to use for a large publication

Hello, I hope someone can provide me with some advice, which Program is best to use for a large publication of approximately 300 pages. It is for a Departmental review which includes 18 divisions and I originally thought it should be done in Publisher and not Word. There will be quite a number of photographs, tables and importing of Excel worksheets. The format will be columnar.

Does anyone have any suggestions on which is the better program to use for this project?

Thanks,
Georgia
  #2  
Old July 24th, 2004, 12:07 AM
°°MS-Publisher°°
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Default Program to use for a large publication

Firstly what do you call 'quite a number of photographs'???
Publisher 2003 would be superior to Word in every way.
However, you need to remember, Publisher is NOT a word processor.
You need to have all your text typed up and corrected WITHOUT any
formatting, and kept in separate files for each section. Before I import
the text into Publisher, I convert the text by doing a SAVE AS to TEXT
format. That prevents any formatting corruption getting into the Publisher
file. Once you get formatting corruption into a Publisher file you don't
get it out, well not never, but seldom.
I always arrange documents like you are doing with all the
information/content, pictures and anything else for each section/chapter in
their own folder. I have done heaps of manuals/books and trust me, you need
to be well organised to have a smooth hassle free time doing the
publication.


  #3  
Old July 24th, 2004, 12:20 AM
Georgia
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Default Program to use for a large publication

Thanks so much for your help. This is very instructive. We probably have approximately 100 photos. So, I would need to format everything in Word, make sure the formatting is final and then import into Publisher. What about if I want to send the publication to the printers. Will they have problems with the program?

Thanks,
Georgia

"Georgia" wrote:

Hello, I hope someone can provide me with some advice, which Program is best to use for a large publication of approximately 300 pages. It is for a Departmental review which includes 18 divisions and I originally thought it should be done in Publisher and not Word. There will be quite a number of photographs, tables and importing of Excel worksheets. The format will be columnar.

Does anyone have any suggestions on which is the better program to use for this project?

Thanks,
Georgia

  #4  
Old July 24th, 2004, 12:46 AM
°°MS-Publisher°°
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Default Program to use for a large publication

Georgia NO NO NO formatting in Word whatsoever, you save in TEXT and do the formatting in Publisher.
Make sure your photographs are 300dpi NO more, NO less for offset printing and they are 5% larger than the finished size you require in Publisher. DO NOT reduce files in Publisher by the handles more than the 5% of the larger size. I would also suggest you run your photographs through Adobe Photoshop and Auto Level (Shift+Ctrl+L) them for best results.

To send the publication to the printers will require you make a PDF file. Trouble is Publisher is not going to allow you to make a PDF file that size and it will go corrupt and belly up. MS fail to fix the problem and are just not interested because they don't have to be with their massive abuse of power in the software market. Every other software company would have fixed this major issue a long time ago. There is NO quality control or quality management at MS.

You know, perhaps it is all just easier for you to use a program with proper photograph linking and CMYK and PDF all built in. Serif PagePlus 9.0 is a substantially better program than Publisher for longer documents. Thing is PagePlus will not import Word tables in a satisfactory manner and you would have to re-create the Tables in PagePlus which has an excellent Table feature with built in basic spreadsheet functions. PagePlus is quite happy with Excel imports.

Georgia you probably do not realise the enormity of a job like a 300 page mixed content book, and really, for the cost of Serif PagePlus and the small learning curve, it is a pittance compared to the overall task. I have done more books in Publisher and PagePlus probably than anybody else in the world, so have all the experience to know which is the better program and which will achieve the best result.
  #5  
Old July 24th, 2004, 01:00 AM
Georgia
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Default Program to use for a large publication

Thanks so much for your advice. As I do not have extensive experience with Publisher, I wonder whether I might be better off purchasing and installing Serif Page Plus to help me do the job. Yes, I do realize what a daunting task this will be. Does Serif Page Plus allow you to do wordprocessing as well?

I might be asking you more questions down the road as I embark on this project.

Thanks,
Georgia


"°°MS-Publisher°°" wrote:

Georgia NO NO NO formatting in Word whatsoever, you save in TEXT and do the formatting in Publisher.
Make sure your photographs are 300dpi NO more, NO less for offset printing and they are 5% larger than the finished size you require in Publisher. DO NOT reduce files in Publisher by the handles more than the 5% of the larger size. I would also suggest you run your photographs through Adobe Photoshop and Auto Level (Shift+Ctrl+L) them for best results.

To send the publication to the printers will require you make a PDF file. Trouble is Publisher is not going to allow you to make a PDF file that size and it will go corrupt and belly up. MS fail to fix the problem and are just not interested because they don't have to be with their massive abuse of power in the software market. Every other software company would have fixed this major issue a long time ago. There is NO quality control or quality management at MS.

You know, perhaps it is all just easier for you to use a program with proper photograph linking and CMYK and PDF all built in. Serif PagePlus 9.0 is a substantially better program than Publisher for longer documents. Thing is PagePlus will not import Word tables in a satisfactory manner and you would have to re-create the Tables in PagePlus which has an excellent Table feature with built in basic spreadsheet functions. PagePlus is quite happy with Excel imports.

Georgia you probably do not realise the enormity of a job like a 300 page mixed content book, and really, for the cost of Serif PagePlus and the small learning curve, it is a pittance compared to the overall task. I have done more books in Publisher and PagePlus probably than anybody else in the world, so have all the experience to know which is the better program and which will achieve the best result

  #6  
Old July 24th, 2004, 01:29 AM
°°MS-Publisher°°
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Default Program to use for a large publication

Georgia, yes it does, it has WritePlus built into the program.
Personally I just write up all the text in and old version of Microsoft Works 4.5a and then import that.
It is not a daunting task if you approach the job in a properly organised and structured fashion.
You must not be afraid to ask questions along the way however silly you may think they are, because if you don't know the answer they are not silly questions. It is also important to get things done correctly for offset printing, so you don't want to make silly little blunders along the way which can cause problems.

The Serif assistance forums are here http://www.serif.com/forum/default.asp

I would also suggest you look at purchasing the Serif Professional Printing Pack as this will give you the knowledge which is virtually essential to enable you to get this right for offset printing. It is important to have that information so you set up everything correctly. PagePlus also comes with a good set of tutorials and a real printed manual of 150 pages.

You can always contact me direct at granyorg at the hotmail company if you need assistance.
  #7  
Old July 24th, 2004, 06:12 PM
Georgia
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Default Program to use for a large publication

Thanks very much. I most appreciate your help. I will
contact you again,
Georgia

-----Original Message-----
Georgia, yes it does, it has WritePlus built into the program.
Personally I just write up all the text in and old version

of Microsoft Works 4.5a and then import that.
It is not a daunting task if you approach the job in a

properly organised and structured fashion.
You must not be afraid to ask questions along the way

however silly you may think they are, because if you don't
know the answer they are not silly questions. It is also
important to get things done correctly for offset printing,
so you don't want to make silly little blunders along the
way which can cause problems.

The Serif assistance forums are here

http://www.serif.com/forum/default.asp

I would also suggest you look at purchasing the Serif

Professional Printing Pack as this will give you the
knowledge which is virtually essential to enable you to get
this right for offset printing. It is important to have
that information so you set up everything correctly.
PagePlus also comes with a good set of tutorials and a real
printed manual of 150 pages.

You can always contact me direct at granyorg at the

hotmail company if you need assistance.
  #8  
Old July 25th, 2004, 11:33 PM
Brian Kvalheim - [MSFT MVP]
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Posts: n/a
Default Program to use for a large publication

Hi Georgia,

Based on the details you have supplied:

1. 300 Pages
2. 100 Photos
3. Tables
4. Excel Worksheets
5. Columnar
6. Output for Commercial Printer use

Microsoft Publisher is ideal for your job. Microsoft Word is capable of such
a project as well, but the layout would be much more difficult. Microsoft
Office Publisher 2003 includes some of the writing tools you need, such as a
spell checker, auto correct, thesaurus and a full set of formatting tools
for text, paragraphs baseline shifts, kerning, etc.. If you require
extended tools, Publisher can be used along side Word for creating table of
contents, index, word counter, etc. There is an "Edit Story in Word" feature
in Publisher.

As far as layout goes, Publisher is object based. This means you can place
your text and objects in any location you desire, set wrapping objects, and
have objects locked or move inline with text.

I recommend using Publisher 2002/2003 as these versions will store your
photos compressed, keeping the file size original, where as previous
versions stored the images uncompressed and blew their sizes way out of
control.

Another nice feature is that you can use Publisher 2003's catalog merge
feature, which allows you to use a database of file locations for photos and
merge them into Publications, allowing you to easily update/change and
remove photos in your database and having them reflect in your Publication.

You will have no issues adding Excel Worksheets or Word Tables if need be.

I would recommend finding out how your printer prefers you to layout and
prepare your publication. While Microsoft Publisher is one of the most
widely known DTP programs out there, you will find that not all printers
carry Publisher. All printers qualify for a free copy of Microsoft Publisher
(if they don't have one already) so they can just take your Publisher file
in its native format. Publisher has some excellent built in printing tools.
If your printer requires a *.pdf output, Publisher is capable of doing so by
using one of many free pdf printer drivers available for download (unless
you are already using Adobe Acrobat, which in that case you can use that for
exporting your Publisher file as a *.pdf). Publisher can easily handle the
size of Publication you are producing as well as easily export it to *.pdf.
Fantastic results are to be had!

Post back if you have any further questions.
--
Brian Kvalheim
Microsoft Publisher MVP
http://www.publishermvps.com
~pay it forward~

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
confers no rights.

"Georgia" wrote in message
...
Hello, I hope someone can provide me with some advice, which Program

is best to use for a large publication of approximately 300 pages. It is for
a Departmental review which includes 18 divisions and I originally thought
it should be done in Publisher and not Word. There will be quite a number of
photographs, tables and importing of Excel worksheets. The format will be
columnar.

Does anyone have any suggestions on which is the better program to use for

this project?

Thanks,
Georgia



  #9  
Old July 25th, 2004, 11:39 PM
Brian Kvalheim - [MSFT MVP]
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Posts: n/a
Default Program to use for a large publication

Georgia, here is a link to some details about preparing your Microsoft
Publisher publication to take to a commercial printer:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistan...roduct=pub2003

--
Brian Kvalheim
Microsoft Publisher MVP
http://www.publishermvps.com
~pay it forward~

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
confers no rights.

"Georgia" wrote in message
...
Hello, I hope someone can provide me with some advice, which Program

is best to use for a large publication of approximately 300 pages. It is for
a Departmental review which includes 18 divisions and I originally thought
it should be done in Publisher and not Word. There will be quite a number of
photographs, tables and importing of Excel worksheets. The format will be
columnar.

Does anyone have any suggestions on which is the better program to use for

this project?

Thanks,
Georgia



  #10  
Old July 26th, 2004, 03:37 AM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Program to use for a large publication

Thanks very much!
Georgia

-----Original Message-----
Georgia, here is a link to some details about preparing

your Microsoft
Publisher publication to take to a commercial printer:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistan...=3DHP03074622=

1033&CTT=3D8&Origin=3DEC011081751033&Product=3Dpub 2003

--=20
Brian Kvalheim
Microsoft Publisher MVP
http://www.publishermvps.com
~pay it forward~

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
confers no rights.

"Georgia" wrote in message
...
Hello, I hope someone can provide me with some advice,

which Program
is best to use for a large publication of approximately

300 pages. It is for
a Departmental review which includes 18 divisions and I

originally thought
it should be done in Publisher and not Word. There will be

quite a number of
photographs, tables and importing of Excel worksheets. The

format will be
columnar.

Does anyone have any suggestions on which is the better

program to use for
this project?

Thanks,
Georgia



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