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BOOT CAMP 122 –
BOOKLET PRINTING Part 2
Last week we showed how with a little cajoling, Microsoft
Word could be persuaded to print an A5 booklet. As we suggested there are
easier ways of doing it, including using other word processing and desktop
publishing (DTP) software, which we’ll come to shortly, but we’ll begin this
week with quick look at a couple of utilities that can make Word --and most other
word processors and Windows applications -- a lot more booklet friendly.
The programs in question are FinePrint 2000 and ClickBook
2000; trial versions can be downloaded from various sites on the Internet, so
you can try them out for yourself (see Contacts for details of the publisher’s
home pages). Both programs are independent of Word, in other words you prepare
your text and documents in the usual way, the utilities only come in to play
when you get to the printing stage. In both cases the procedure is the same, select
Print on Word’s File menu and choose the utility program from the list of printer
names installed on your PC, or the program can be set as the default. This
opens a dialogue box, you set your preferences and the program takes control of
page setup, layout and collating sheets for double-sided printing or single-sided
photocopying. (See last week’s Boot Camp for a more detailed explanation of the
mechanics of booklet printing).
FinePrint is the simpler of the two programs, it has 6
pre-set layouts and it comes with an interesting assortment of ‘stationery’
options, these include clipart designs, watermarks or stamps like Urgent or Top
Secret plus a range of header and footer options. Booklet printing is set to
automatic ‘duplex’ or double-sided printing by default – a trick few SoHo
printers can manage -- but it can be easily changed to manual duplex printing,
which entails the user waiting for the printer to print on the first sides of
the document, then manually re-load the sheets so the other sides can be
printed The demo version of FinePrint is limited to layouts with a maximum of 8
pages and it tags every page with ‘Printed with FinePrint…’ the full program
can be paid for registered and unlocked on-line for $39.95.
ClickBook is very versatile and includes 8 design categories
(books, brochures, cards, organisers, CD-ROM jewel case inserts etc.) covering
more than 40 different types of layout. It’s almost a mini desktop publishing
application in its own right, booklet printing is only one of its talents and
there are many style and design options, including the facility to generate a
table of contents, add page numbers, lines, borders and rules. Operation is
perfectly straightforward, and the job of double-sided printing is made a
little easier as ClickBook generates a guide sheet, that tells you when and how
to re-load printed sheets for a second pass through the printer. A time limited
(5-days) trial version, that also labels each page with the ClickBook name, is
available from the Blue Squirrel web site, full functionality can be unlocked
on-line for $49.95.
The majority of word processors are like Word and make
fairly heavy weather of booklet printing; one of the few exceptions is Lotus
WordPro, which has a ready prepared template or ‘SmartMaster’, designed to help
the user through the design and layout stage. The SmartMaster wizard starts whenever
WordPro is opened, or it can be called up from the File menu, however on some
versions booklet printing option is not listed on the main menu and we suspect
some users may not even know they have it. To find it click on ‘Browse for more
Files’. Whilst it is reasonably easy to use it is well worth perusing the Help
files on the subject and it may be necessary to configure some printers
manually. A time-limited trial version of WordPro is available from the Lotus
web site.
Booklet printing seems like an obvious application for
desktop publishing software, though surprisingly not all DTP programs have it,
and that includes some of the top-name pro packages. It’s worth checking
through any freebie or ‘lite’ versions of DTP or design and print programs you
may have, which are routinely bundled with a lot of printers, scanners and PCs
these days. Serif PagePlus is pone of the most popular DTP applications on the market;
shareware versions also appear regularly on PC magazine cover discs. PagePlus can
certainly do the job, but like so many programs the option is well hidden. It
can be found by pressing the Options button on the Print dialogue box on the File
menu. It’s not as intuitive as some of the other programs and it may require a
few trial runs to get the page layout right but with a little practice it’s
capable of good results. However, the advantage of using a DTP program, as
opposed to a word processor or printing utility is the greater flexibility when
dealing with illustrations, images and text.
Next week – Windows start up and shutdown problems
JARGON FILTER
DUPLEX PRINTING
Printing on both sides of a sheet of paper. A few printers
can do this automatically, however in most cases it is necessary for the user
to manually re-load the paper or papers, facing the other way and in the right
order
SOHO
Small Office, Home Office, a
category of PC peripherals and office equipment designed for light to medium workloads
TRIAL/DEMO PROGRAMS
Programs distributed by software manufacturers that allow
potential users to try before they buy. Some key functions may be disabled or
the program is ‘time-limited’ and will stop working after the trial period.
Trial programs can usually be unlocked with a ‘key’ issued by the manufacturer,
who will also provide support and updates, when the program has been purchased.
CONTACTS
www.lotus.com
www.serif.com
www.bluesquirrel.com.
www.fineprint.com
TOP TIP
If you keep a lot of images on your Windows 95/98 PC it can
very useful to see what is stored in folders, without opening a paint program
and sifting through the files manually. Windows Explorer has a well-hidden
utility for generating thumbnail views of picture files. It is disabled by default,
probably because it slows Explorer down, but you can enable it selectively, so
it only works on folders containing image files. Here’s what you do, open
Windows Explorer and right-click on the folder you wish to view, from the
drop-down menu that appears select Properties and the General tab. Check the
item ‘Enable thumbnail view’ and click Apply, then OK. Go to the View menu and
click Refresh, and a new item ‘Thumbnails’ should appear above Large Icons on
both the View menu and the drop down menu next to the Views icon on the
Toolbar. Select it and the display will change to a screen full of mini preview
pictures.
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