The world of DTP (Desktop Publishing) can clearly be divided into two distinct sections - professional and budget.  If you are a member of the publishing fraternity then you are probably familiar with the powerful features of products such as Quark Xpress and Adobe InDesign.  However not everybody can afford the high price being asked for these titles.  Fortunately there is an alternative with products such as PagePlus from Serif.

Now up to version 11, PagePlus is one of the original products that brought DTP within the boundaries of many users' financial restraints and really opened up the mass market for the creation of single and multiple page publications.  Supplied on two CDs, containing program files and resource material, PagePlus 11 opens with a Quick Start Wizard.  This uses the same approach as the company's DrawPlus title by giving the user a choice of working from scratch; using a template; opening an existing publication; or viewing tutorials in PDF format.  This similarity in product design also follows through with an interface that has dockable and collapsible tabs and a large work area.

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A major improvement in this version of PagePlus concerns the product's approach to and the handling of PDF documents. Previously PagePlus had been able to create this form of electronic document but its scope in this area has now increased.  PagePlus can open any PDF document, no matter its source as long as the document has not been locked, and edit its content.  Where necessary the software uses PANOSE font matching capability to substitute fonts for any that are not available with the minimal affect on the look and formatting of the original.  Text and graphics can be extracted and various changes made to other elements.  The resulting document can then be saved in the original PDF format.

The PagePlus PDF experience also now takes in electronic forms.  You can create and publish PDF forms for other to fill in and submit their data using a Serif provided collection service.  These forms can contain text fields, check boxes, lists and radio buttons.

As well as its PDF forms capability, Serif has improved the product's handling of tables.  The enhancements include the ability to rotate text within cells and perform direct pasting from Microsoft Excel spreadsheet cells into those of PagePlus.  You can also copy and paste from one set of cells to another and use drag and Shift to replicate the formatting of text and cells to the chosen destination area.

After importing an image, PagePlus allows you to make a range of adjustments following a right mouse click which reveals a context menu.  These adjustments can be previewed in real time and include brightness/contrast, scratch and dust removal, shadow & highlights plus diffuse glow.  There are numerous filter effects that can be applied and an instant 3D feature that gives a solid appearance to what is basically a flat image.  For an even more spectacular effect you can use the warp tool and create some weird and wonderful results with the minimum of effort.

With these new features to add to the multitude of supplied design templates, PagePlus 11 is an excellent DTP product for the home and small office user.  It is easy to use and can product eye-catching and attractively presentation publications.  PagePlus 11 requires a Pentium PC with 64MB of RAM and 240MB of free hard disk space.  It will run on Windows 98SE or later.  Pricing has been set at the £100 level - maybe not budget level but a good deal less expensive that the earlier mentioned professional offerings.

http://www.serif.com/pageplus/pageplus11/index.asp