PM & OSX

[MKD777]

Hi friends,
When i had my old iMac i used to work with PM7 on formating books. Now I have PoweBook G4 and OSX. What should I do. By indesign. Leard how to work on it. Or there is PM that works on OSX.

Thanks

Sasha

[ora]

I don't think there is an OS X version of Page Maker. I would suggest you get hold of InDesign if you can. If you have used other Adobe programs, it should be easy to pick up, and seem to be rapidly replacing Quark as the Industry standard layout program (or so my friends who work in publishing and the media tell me).

There is a special deal available for PM users to upgrade to InDesign CS2 as well, see http://store.adobe.com/store/product...nDesignUpgrade , its only $350 as opposed to $699 for the full version.

[CaptainQuark]

Originally Posted by ora

… and seem to be rapidly replacing Quark as the Industry standard layout program (or so my friends who work in publishing and the media tell me).

I have to disagree, there! As the name would suggest, I'm a big fan of QuarkXPress AND I'm in the publishing biz – just outputting PDF/X1a files of a 240-page book as I type this. Sure, it's not without bugs, but what application hasn't got bugs? I've been using it for the past 15 years without any problems.

I guess it all depends on what you want to do. Having used both PM & QXP, I have to say that QXP is far better for long-document production, but that for pure design work, PM was better. If you want to get back into doing books, then QXP is the one to go for.

I won't wade into the QXP/InDesign debate. It's all about what you like and what you're used to. And, of course, I'm biased as hell!

You can still get PageMaker, and it will still run under Classic. As a volunteer tech here on MacOSX.com, I helped a guy out with his PageMaker problems not very long ago! As long as you get yourself set up with Adobe Acrobat so that you can output your work – PageMaker is getting a bit thin on the ground around the printers – there's no reason at all why you shouldn't continue with what you know!

[ora]

Hi Cap'n,

Hehe, i knew someone would make that post! I'm not in your field, but my info was from people on big newspapers and similarly large outfits, who paid for custom Quark version then got tired of the lack of support/developement/upgrades (so they said, i don't know if this is true). That and what i see used around and about, but i guess a lot of people with limited design needs go for InDesign as they can already sue Photoshop/Illustator etc.

Also, for this guy, if he's going to buy something new, i figured sticking with an Adobe product would likely let him transfer more of his working knowledge.

Just to reassure you, i still have friends for whom quark keyboard shortcuts are far more hard-written into their brains than, say, walking or talking , and will probably lose their minds if they ever have to switch.

[CaptainQuark]

Yo ora!

SWITCH!?

NEVER!



As well as doin' the Volunteer Tech stuff here, I have also been known to contribute on the QuarkXPress forum. Believe me, Quark have taken a severe battering from disgruntled users!

They now maintain that they have adopted a new corporate attitude, etc, etc. We'll just have to wait and see. If the forthcoming v7 is relatively bug-free AND offered at a suitably low upgrade price, then I really do believe that they will claw back their advantage. If it's as buggy as v6 and/or another £1,000, then even I'll switch!

[CaptainQuark]

…quite apart from which, now that Adobe has acquired Macromedia, they are starting to monopolise the market in an unhealthy way. As a Freehand user, I'm seriously concerned that it will die at the hands of Illustrator!

Once upon a time, QXP used to dominate the market in its field. Why? Because it was the best there! There was PageMaker, FrameMaker, Ventura, etc, none of which could hold a candle to QXP.

Adobe are approaching the position in the graphics market that Bill Gates has already reached in the OS market. I guess designers are going to have problems sitting down too if the course Adobe is steering is anything like that of Microsoft!

The market needs a good, strong QuarkXpress!

[ora]

Originally Posted by CaptainQuark

…quite apart from which, now that Adobe has acquired Macromedia, they are starting to monopolise the market in an unhealthy way. As a Freehand user, I'm seriously concerned that it will die at the hands of Illustrator!

......

The market needs a good, strong QuarkXpress!

Interesting points!! I hadn't really paid attention to the macromedia takeover. As it goes, I'm a long term Adobe user (as i remember i used Photoshop 2.5LE and Illustrator 5.5 to begin with). On the other hand, I agree, you need competition to avoid contracting windozitis.

On the InDesign/QXP issue, I know of a major (UK) newspaper going to InDesign because they moved to OSX and basically felt InDesign was a better bet on the new platform, and thats after paying I suspect a great deal for a custom Quark setup (On the other hand I know of a major UK magazine that subs in Word of all things, so i guess you can't assume the media always take the right course).

I hope Quark fairs better with 7 than they have been recently, its clearly been a great product for a long time. On the other hand, they have a disadvantage. While monopoly sucks, the increasingly seamless transition between Photoshop and Illustrator has been a great thing for users, and saved a bunch of time, and obviously that extends to InDesign for me too, i know where everything is going to be, and import/export is generally a breeze. However compatible Quark is, it has a different look and feel etc.

Anyway, back on topic for the original poster.

As the Cap'n said, you can run PageMaker in Classic (OS9 emulation mode), if you still have the old disks. Personally, I wouldn't buy an OS9 version of PM to run under OS X, but thats partly about me being an X-o-holic.

You can buy Quark, which despite some problems, is a fine program with a long quality pedigree, and is probably better for long documents like books.

You can get InDesign. which may be cheaper due the the possibility of an upgrade price. If you are accustomed to Adobe products, you'll probably find it fairly quick to use.

With InDesign at least, you can download a tryout version (and tryouts of other Adobe products) at http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.jsp . If you aren't going to go for the OS9 PM under classic, I'd get the trial InDesign, and if you don't like it, find someone with Quark and have go with that.

Anyway, enjoy the powerbook, and by the way, I really liked that you started your first post on this board with "Hi friends"

[MKD777]

Good evening,
I was suprised reading all your opinion on my request. Thank you very much fro readyness to help. After reading all your suggestions I will try InDesign. I am living in the middle of Nowhere and i have not much choice. Since i Got InDesign as a gift i will try it out.
If I have questions, would you be willing to help me in case?

Thanks alot,

Have a nice days all of you

Sasha