cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) (12/18/87)
The Microsoft Word 4.0 release includes a blurb for a product called INSET that's supposed to insert graphics into Word documents, including on-screen display of them. It also claims to be allow you to create graphics from scratch for inclusion into a word document. Has anyone used this product? It's priced right ($99), and claims to support "all popular matrix and laser printers", but I'm curious to hear from current users of INSET. (This is sufficiently general interest, you might want to post your comments, rather than emailing). Clayton E. Cramer
wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew) (12/21/87)
We have inset. We got it about 6 months ago. I wasn't all that impressed. Interstingly, the older version worked better than the newer version. It only works with MS Word in the non-graphic mode. I got better results using Word Star. In fact, I think inset comes bundled with WS 2000. Inset works well with 24 pin printers and can be limited clipping of images from other programs. Inset does a very nice job at generating in halftones on monochrome 24 pin printers. The newer releases of inset also include a linited (not too bad) graphics editor. Inset works by taking over the printer DOS interrupt function and monitoring for an embedded string whereupon it inserts the desired grphic. It sounds good in theory, but there are some rough edges in practice. Serial printers only worked sometimes. I never could get printing to a file to work. For general purpose graphics, Pizzaz is a better program, as it is much more robust in being able to pop up throug anything -- even Microsoft Windows!! -- and capture graphics. Pizzaz also has some neat antialiasing features. Pizzaz works very well with color 24 pin printers. In fact Pizzaz's output with Okidata 292 printers actually looks better than HP Laserjet II output. Inset has to be matched beforehand with the program you want it to pop up inside. --Bill