nelson@kodak.UUCP (bruce nelson) (10/28/88)
My copy of PageStream (renamed from Publishing Partner Professional due to a trademark conflict) arrived yesterday. It's a 1000% better than the "beta" they sent out a few months ago. It still has a few problems - like doesn't print PostScript output correctly (it cuts off the beginning and ends of lines) but its dot matrix output was ok. SoftLogik says there will be a free update in a month to fix those initial bugs. I think they should have held back one more month and sent it out with those bugs fixed, but I think they bowed to the pressure of having to send the "real" version out. A few more weeks and I think they'll have a winner.
pa1132@sdcc15.UUCP (pa1132) (10/29/88)
By the way, does or will PageStream/PPP accept EPS files? I remember this is one of the features Softlogik put in their ads. I hope they doesn't cancel this feature. Anyway, if Softlogik can get PageStream to work stably, with its font outline technique and flexible printer support (being able to load printer drivers in at any time), ability to rotate objects, the ST can have a DTP program WIth more powers in many Aspects than PageMAker and Ventura Publisher! Even if Calamus (sp?) comes out, Softlogik still have one of the best DTP program ever created for any computer. What's funny is that if Atari had a working version of GDOS back in 1985, Softlogik will not use their custom fonts and driver, and today's PageStream may just be another Timeworks Desktop Publisher which is an excellent program but suffers from the use of GDOS. All the above is just my own opinion.
pa1132@sdcc15.ucsd.edu (pa1132) (11/29/88)
I just have the chance to play around with a friend's copy of the current version of PageStream. It prints text fine, with different kinds of fonts in different angles no problem. However, it cannot accept Degas pictures (it crashes), and other graphics such as Easy-Draw files cannot be printed out correctly. The most amazing part of this program is that is takes 40 minutes to print out a page on a regular 9-pin dot matrix printer at the resolution of 120x144 (dots per inch?). I don't know if that's the way PageStream supposes to work?
keithj@ux1.lbl.gov (Keith J Groves) (11/30/88)
I just received my copy of Pagestream the other day but I haven't
had the chance to really use it yet. The importing of graphics
sounds disappointing since this feature was one of the main reasons
I bought Pagestream. I sure hope that you just had a bad copy. I'm
going to try and print some Degas pictures this evening. Hope it won't
take too long. I suspect though that this is not the final version.
Keith Grovescovertr@gtephx.UUCP (Richard E. Covert) (11/30/88)
Page Stream (PS) is produced by a company called Softlogik (SL). SL has a Roundtable on GEnie devoted to PS. SL has uploaded various software modules to allow you to import additional word processor files and graphic files. If you are going to use PS then you should really get an account on GEnie. There are many hints, and bug reports on GEnie about PS. Also, Deron (the coder of PS) responds to bug reports on GEnie. So, all in all, PS seems to be as well supported as any ST program. I still get my copy to crash to often though!!
lean@sbcs.sunysb.edu (Lean L. Loh) (12/01/88)
In article <759@sdcc15.ucsd.edu>, pa1132@sdcc15.ucsd.edu (pa1132) writes: > I just have the chance to play around with a friend's copy of the > current version of PageStream. It prints text fine, with different > kinds of fonts in different angles no problem. > However, it cannot accept Degas pictures (it crashes), and > other graphics such as > Easy-Draw files cannot be printed out correctly. The most amazing > part of this program is that is takes 40 minutes to print out a page > on a regular 9-pin dot matrix printer at the resolution of 120x144 > (dots per inch?). I don't know if that's the way PageStream supposes > to work? If you read the manual, you'll realize that you need the import modules to do any importing of graphics. Degas.imp, Degasc.imp, etc. are some of the graphics-importing modules that you need. Check page 1.1-3 of the manual. I've imported DEGAS uncompressed and compressed (and also a GEM metafile i think) picture files without any problem. I've printed stuff on my Panasonic 1091i 9-pin, and it took about 5-8 minutes per page. If you're using some BRAIN-DAMAGED print spooler, it may actually SLOW DOWN the printing process. Has anyone noticed that the TALL and WIDE style attributes have been removed? That means the old trick of printing 6 point size with TALL and WIDE on (hence getting an output of 12 point) and getting really fine character output is no longer possible. Printing 12 point in NORMAL style attribute on a 9-pin produces rather think/bold characters. ..Lean -- if you can dream it, you can do it. CSNET:lean@sbcs.csnet ... go sleep ARPA:lean@sbcs.sunysb.edu UUCP:{allegra, hocsd, philabs, ogcvax}!sbcs!lean
alexd@milton.u.washington.edu (Alex Danilchik) (04/07/91)
Sorry, i should have included this question in my first posting. Question: will Pagestream allow me to place text on a .IMG raster without obscurring elements of the raster definded by the "box" that it creates to house the text? In other words, can one place individual characters of text on top of a .IMG file without the "text in-a-box" approach? Sorry for the bad wording of the question. Thanks gunnar alexd@milton.u.washington.edu
boyd@nu.cs.fsu.edu (Mickey Boyd) (04/07/91)
In article <1991Apr6.234520.27520@milton.u.washington.edu>, alexd@milton.u.washington.edu (Alex Danilchik) writes: >Sorry, i should have included this question in my first posting. > >Question: will Pagestream allow me to place text on a .IMG >raster without obscurring elements of the raster definded by >the "box" that it creates to house the text? In other words, >can one place individual characters of text on top of a .IMG >file without the "text in-a-box" approach? > If you place text on an image, the only thing obscured is that which the characters cover. No box-like hole is created. You can define this precisely, using other backgrounds as well. -- ---------------------------------+------------------------------------- Mickey R. Boyd | "Kirk to Enterprise. All clear FSU Computer Science | down here. Beam down Technical Support Group | yeoman Rand and a six-pack . ." email: boyd@fsucs.cs.fsu.edu | ---------------------------------+-------------------------------------