Maybe the basic page layout tools in your word processor do
everything you need. But if you regularly create more complex page
layouts for brochures, menus, advertisements, fliers, and the like,
then you're probably using page design, a.k.a. desktop publishing
software. And for a decade or so, the market leader has been Quark
XPress, which took the market from Adobe PageMaker.
Adobe gave up trying to redesign PageMaker as a Quark-killer,
instead trying to reposition it as a midlevel business tool. Instead,
they built a new application, InDesign aimed at professional users.
First released in 1999, InDesign offered designers the same interface
as the other Adobe products (such as Photoshop) that they already owned
and a number of innovative features. But version 1.0 was buggy, a
resource hog, and lacked some basic tools. While version 1.5 was
better, the product garnered a lot of interest - but relatively few
sales.
Now, with a new InDesign 2.0 (about $800, $160 to upgrade, with
special deals for XPress and PageMaker owners), Adobe is trying again.
While still needing a powerful computer, the new version's performance
has been tweaked, while features have been added to make it match or
surpass XPress. InDesign is available in PC and Mac versions; the Mac
version runs natively in both the classic Mac interface and the new
OS X, running faster and with better stability in OS X.
Designers will be pleased with the program's support for layers and
transparency. Both of these features improve the ability to use
graphics created in Photoshop or Illustrator in creative page designs.
As well, almost any object can now get a drop shadow.
Less sexy, but much needed, is new support for tables. While this
has long been a standard feature in word processors, until now neither
InDesign nor XPress has made it easy to create and customize layout of
data. Now tables can be created or imported from Word or Excel.
Type tools make it easy to create attractive blocks of text, with
rivers of white-space automatically eliminated. Support for Unicode
fonts makes it possible to add text in non-Western languages like
Chinese or Japanese. Dictionaries for 12 languages are included.
Knowing that many customers have previously worked with XPress or
PageMaker, InDesign can import files from both programs. (While pretty
good, users may need to tweak imported page layouts.) Designs can be
exported as HTML or XML as Web pages - or in the popular Adobe Acrobat
PDF file, without requiring the additional Acrobat product. These
features make it possible to use a single design for print and online
versions, though it's not a replacement for a dedicated Web page design
program like Macromedia's DreamWeaver or Adobe's own GoLive.
Unlike earlier versions of InDesign, the new one allows users to
print to non-PostScript printers and preview pages before printing.
While aiming primarily at designers creating stylish short
documents, Adobe has added tools for book production, such as the
ability to group multiple files as chapters, synchronize their colours
and layout, and create a table of contents. These tools are not as
powerful as their equivalents in Adobe's FrameMaker, however.
InDesign's features can be expanded with plug-ins, extra-cost add-ons
from Adobe or third-parties. Adobe hopes that many of these will emerge
in the coming months.
Designers working with short and medium-length documents will find
that InDesign 2.0 offers features to better unleash their creativity
than the industry-standard Quark XPress 4. It will have added appeal to
users who already work with Adobe's Photoshop and Illustrator.
Quark has an extremely loyal customer base, however, and the company
has not been standing still; a few week's after InDesign, Quark finally
released its long-awaited XPress 5. More on that next week.
You can order InDesign 2.0
from
Amazon.com for US$780.
The
upgrade sells for US$160.
This article originally appeared in Business in Vancouver.
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