PageMaker lays out new version

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Oct 1, 1996 by Jennifer Sucov

Product rivalry is as much a part of the magazine publishing business as blow-in cards and paper price hikes. Although most battles are fought on the newsstand, art departments have been pitting page layout applications against each other since the dawn of desktop publishing. When Adobe Systems releases its comprehensive upgrade to PageMaker in November (the Windows version is set to ship this month) the underdog in desktop magazine design may give the predominantly QuarkXPress-based magazine market reason to take another look at the program that started it all.

PageMaker revolutionized conventional page layout in 1985. But by the time desktop publishing permeated the professional sphere in the early nineties, QuarkXPress was well on its way to becoming the de facto standard for magazine layout it is today. According to FOLIO:'s annual desktop publishing trends survey (the results of which will be published in the next issue), XPress is used in more than 90 percent @f art departments surveyed.

Many attribute XPress, industry dominance to its more intuitive box-based design metaphor and superior color controls. Adobe addresses these concerns with Pagemaker 6.5 in its attempt to position Pagemaker in a new light and attract new users.

Mixed metaphors

A significant feature of Pagemaker 6.5 ($895 retail; $99 upgrade) is the XPress-like design metaphor. Users can decide between PageMaker's freeform, "paste-up" metaphor - which has made the product less than conducive to magazine design - and the new "frame" paradigm - which "will allow better magazine design," according to Peter Card, Adobe public relations specialist.

It's no surprise that the Mountain View, California-based company has been accused of merely mimicking the XPress feature set.

"We've had these features for half a decade," says Don Lohse, product manager, QuarkXPress, when asked what he has heard of the imminent upgrade. "Now they're being hailed as `new'? Sounds like a catch-up operation."

"We think it's a breakthrough product, not a catch-up product," says Card, who resists comparisons. We're entering a new age where it's not just Pagemaker versus XPress."

Card believes other 6.5 features will set the two products apart and demonstrate Adobe's commitment to print. Additional page layout improvements include document-wide layers, a feature he claims no other page layout application currently offers, and automatic layout adjustment. With layers, designers can create multiple versions of a document; the automatic layout adjustment feature allows users to repurpose documents for print or online dimensions with minimal reformatting.

Card also points out other features of particular interest to magazine publishers in the areas of Internet publishing and high-end color consistency, such as two-way HTML conversion; enhanced PDF export capabilities; Hexachrome and ICC color support; and drag-and-drop integration with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

"You'll be able to do some interesting things with the PDF conversion feature," says David Cole, editor, "The Cole Papers," a publishing-technology newsletter. He cites soft-proofing and alternative distribution methods with both Internet and intranet applications.

Although comparisons are inevitable, neither Quark nor Adobe seems interested in playing page layout politics.

"Is [pagemaker 6.51 the Quark killer'? That's a limited view," says Card. "That assumes the only way to get new users is to take them from XPress." Though Card hopes XPress users will look at version 6.5, Adobe is not relying on "converting" them.

"Publishers should evaluate software tools regularly," advises Cole. "If you don't know what PageMaker can do, how can you unequivocally say you shouldn't switch?"

Whether Xpress users have the inclination to examine Pagemaker remains to be seen. But with the XPress version 4.0 nowhere near shipping, they win definitely have the time to look. Quark denies being "late" with version 4.0, although some industry sources disagree. Lohse says the Denver-based company is "committed to excellent software, which takes time to develop."

Object lessons

Upgrades and delayed upgrades may make good press, but experts say the real story is object-oriented technology that will revolutionize page layout yet again, with new functionality - such as full interactivity between application - and by making feature wars obsolete.

"Instead of paying $900 for features you won't use, you'll pay $500 to get features a la carte," says Cole. "Everyone will be able to build his own feature set."