Publication Production Using Pagemaker: A guide to using Adobe PageMaker 7 for the production of newspapers, newsletters, magazines and other formatted publications [Paperback]

Gordon Woolf (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2002

Publication Production Using Pagemaker melds for the first time expertise in publication production and the specifics of using PageMaker to achieve that task.This is the specialist information you need to supplement the manuals, the kind of information which comes from the author’s four decades of practical experience in producing all kinds of publications.

Here you’ll find out how to:

- Improve the layout and production process.
- Use templates and ‘Styles’ to achieve speed and consistency.
- Unlock the mysteries of ‘scripting’ and ‘tags’.
- Avoid repetitive tasks by learning how to sit back and watch PageMaker do the work.
- Organise your workflow and relieve stress.

Most manuals emphasise the freedom in design and production given by programs such as PageMaker — this book does not; instead it emphasises how such a program fits into the more rigid structure needed by a strictly formatted publication working to a deadline. There are templates, scripts and more on the book website.
- This book reveals the ‘secrets’ discovered by PageMaker users over many years.
- This book’s website provides scripts and templates worth many hundreds of dollars.
- Access to an email advice service — all for the price of a book!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gordon Woolf became editor of his first publication at the age of 20 and has published in the fields of music, farm machinery, unions, photography, and entertainment, as well as working for some of the smallest and largest general publications on two continents. Now he trains others in publication production and writes and publishes books. He is a co-owner of the PageMakr email list hosted by Purdue University, Indiana, and has been described by Adobe’s publishing evangelist Tim Cole as “the god of PageMaker in Australia”.

Other books by Gordon Woolf and published by The Worsley Press include “How to Start and Produce a Magazine or Newsletter” (now in its third edition) and “Publish Your Book”, a guide to the hands-on practical aspects of short-run book production.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Worsley Press (February 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1875750177
• ISBN-13: 978-1875750177
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,781,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE book of its type for novices and experts, August 6, 2002

By 

Geoffrey Heard (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Publication Production Using Pagemaker: A guide to using Adobe PageMaker 7 for the production of newspapers, newsletters, magazines and other formatted publications (Paperback)

Back in early 1985, I was working in a university which was PC heaven. I knew nothing about computers until a salesman came to demonstrate a funny beige box with a tiny screen which, he said, would *soon* have a program called PageMaker running on it that we could use to produce publications, including my particular bete noir -- the university handbook (catalog).
To the horror of the PC jocks, I bought a suite of 4 "Fat Macs" and a LaserWriter for my office, and when PageMaker v.1 turned up I began setting up to produce the handbook. It was a steep learning curve. In the end, though, we made it.
I wish 'Publication Production using PageMaker ...' had been available then. Sure, the PageMaker manual was there, and it was good, but it focused on the program. Gordon Woolf's book is different -- it is a book about producing publications first ... and using PageMaker v.7, the current version and the one I now use, to do the job. The book you want to publish is the focus -- PageMaker is merely the tool.
And that's the point -- this is a book written by an old publishing pro about how to get the publishing job done. Gordon tells us he started desktop publishing when typewriters, monospaced type, physical paste-up and spirit duplicators were still the go. As computers developed and publishing programs appeared, so Gordon moved up the scale. His book follows the same path -- it assumes nothing except that you know how to click a mouse and tap on a keyboard, it focuses on the job, and it tells you how to do the job -- step by step.
The magic of this book, though, is that while it opens up a whole new world for publishing novices, it is also teaching lots of PageMaker (and general DTP) techniques.
I have been using PageMaker on a daily basis for longer than Gordon, I believe, but browsing through the book, I found lots of tips and tricks I have been able to incorporate into my workflow. I feel no shame at using Gordon's book to repair my deficiencies -- Gordon Woolf is a widely acknowledged PageMaker and DTP guru!
'Publication Production using PageMaker' is on my bookshelf and is in the "well thumbed" category!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great help to people converting objects into layout formats., May 7, 2003

By 

Travis C. Ward "C. William Anderson" (Silverton, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Publication Production Using Pagemaker: A guide to using Adobe PageMaker 7 for the production of newspapers, newsletters, magazines and other formatted publications (Paperback)

If you are a writer at a community newspaper and suddenly find your publication has adopted Pagemaker to save time and labor costs in putting text files and graphics or advertising into layout, this is a great book for you.

If you have decided to publish your own magazine or newsletter and are a writer instead of an artist, this is a MUST book for you.

If, however, you are an experienced Pagemaker user, depending on your expertise, this book may or may not help you.

I am well experienced in Pagemaker (since beta version 1.0), yet I still found lots of helpful information, particularly in Chapter 9, Scripts and Tagged Text.

Gordon Woolf also has a website for book purchasers to download templates. A nice bonus.

This is an excellent book for anybody wanting to learn how to make the most efficient use of the great product from Adobe.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars If you need step by step instruction - Keep Looking!, October 23, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Publication Production Using Pagemaker: A guide to using Adobe PageMaker 7 for the production of newspapers, newsletters, magazines and other formatted publications (Paperback)

This book is not what I anticipated. If you are somewhat familiar with Pagemaker it is a breeze. I waited for the mail daily just to receive a book that can't even help me. I ended up at the library checking out a 10 year old book that is still more effective in teaching me step by step instructions. It is called "Pagemaker 5.0 for Windows" it is 2 editions earlier but helps way better than this thing!