Swift Publisher: a Pages.app killer?

[Lukum]

As a 1.0 app, the brand new Swift Publisher (http://www.belightsoft.com/products/...r/overview.php) certainly lacks a few editing features, like the ones we use in long complex documents. However it seems to be a strong competitor for Pages.app. I tested it, and I confirm the following description:
- About 60 professionally designed templates for different types of documents (flyers, newsletters, brochures, letterheads, cards, menus, etc).
- 23,000+ impressive images and 100+ masks.
- Flow text from column to column or wrapping text around the object in realtime.
- Adjustable layout guides are used for precise object placement.
- Support for multipage documents with the ability to rotate each page on a fly.
- Background and foreground layers help to create and edit advanced designs.
- Control transparency, tint images with colors, mask, crop, tile and rotate them.
- iPhoto integration.
- Export your documents to PDF, TIFF and JPEG.
- Import JPEG, PDF, EPS, GIF, PNG, TIFF images.

Hopefully, Swift Publisher will push Apple to develop Pages.app FASTER, or maybe kill it?

Oh yes: it's shareware, less than $40...

[fryke]

I'm not sure there's actually a _market_ for such software right now. Microsoft has covered the main market, and anything that tries to be different has to still cover the basics without alienating people who "just want to write". "Less than 40" probably means 39 USD, and I think that's a good price - but if you can live with what you have now, Pages 2 will probably be the thing to buy next (January 2006, I guess...).

[RacerX]

You know, usually a big selling point for applications like this one is that the company that makes the app actually uses the app.



Which begs the question: Why did they use MS Word to make their documentation?

Isn't that exactly the type of task the app is supposed to do?

It basically shows that they don't have any confidence in their own app.


... Sad.

[MisterMe]

It doesn't seem to be so much a matter of confidence as functionality. Swift Publisher seems to be an alternative to The Print Shop. Designing a poster is not the same thing as developing a user manual.

[RacerX]

Originally Posted by Lukum

- About 60 professionally designed templates for different types of documents (flyers, newsletters, brochures, letterheads, cards, menus, etc).
- 23,000+ impressive images and 100+ masks.
- Flow text from column to column or wrapping text around the object in realtime.
- Adjustable layout guides are used for precise object placement.
- Support for multipage documents with the ability to rotate each page on a fly.
- Background and foreground layers help to create and edit advanced designs.
- Control transparency, tint images with colors, mask, crop, tile and rotate them.
- iPhoto integration.
- Export your documents to PDF, TIFF and JPEG.
- Import JPEG, PDF, EPS, GIF, PNG, TIFF images.

Well, I emphasized the features that would have been needed to put together the two page Quick Start Guide.

The thing is, I put together How Tos and the like all the time in Create (which is a combination page layout, illustration and web design app) using the same features (just more developed).

To give you an example of this philosophy, everything on my Rhapsody Resource Page (almost 120 pages) was created using only Rhapsody computers*. Why? Because I could... and to show that Rhapsody can be used productively.

The Quick Start Guide for this software may not seem like much, but using the software to make it would have shown faith in their application.

I know I wouldn't push a product that I didn't actually use.






* It should be noted that I didn't hold myself to the same standard with the NeXT section of my site. This is because my OPENSTEP system has far more limited space and it is supposed to be used as a school resource. I did some pages in OPENSTEP, but most were done in either Rhapsody or Mac OS X.

Just wanted to add that for full disclosure.

[BeLight]

Hi guys,
You brought up very good point that we should have used Swift Publisher when creating Quick Start Guide. But the problem at that time was not our lack of confidence in the program. Thing is when the document was created the program was not completely developed. I'm pretty sure that the app will easily handle task like that. Without a doubt next Quick Start Guide will be done with the program

[fjdouse]

I smell a bit of marketing going on..

[whitesaint]

There's nothing wrong wit that, rhapsody has most of the core technologies that made Mac OS X good in the first place, and is probably a better alternative to Windows IMO. It's missing a few things tho like up to date drivers for the thousands of devices out there. also doesnt rhapsody look like the classic OS 9 GUI? btw nice web site racerX