annie@cs.swarthmore.edu (Annie Fetter) (02/13/90)
I am looking for information, good and bad, about Letraset's "DesignStudio," their new DTP software. We are presently using Ready, Set, Go! 4.5 with satisfactory results, but wonder if an upgrade would be worth it. If you have any information or experience, please email. Thanks, -Annie -- OOO L MM MM OOO * Annie Fetter, Resident Jock O O L M M M M O O It's the only * Visual Geometry Project O O L M M M O O way to fly! * annie@cs.swarthmore.edu OOO LLLL M M OOO * ...rutgers!bpa!swatsun!annie
gwangung@milton.acs.washington.edu (Roger Tang) (02/14/90)
In article <BA1DTLS@xavier.swarthmore.edu> annie@cs.swarthmore.edu (Annie Fetter) writes: >I am looking for information, good and bad, about Letraset's "DesignStudio," >their new DTP software. We are presently using Ready, Set, Go! 4.5 with >satisfactory results, but wonder if an upgrade would be worth it. > I'd also appreciate information or experiences on DesignStudio. Post or e-mail as appropriate.
baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten) (02/14/90)
In article <BA1DTLS@xavier.swarthmore.edu>, annie@cs (Annie Fetter) writes: >I am looking for information, good and bad, about Letraset's "DesignStudio," >their new DTP software. We are presently using Ready, Set, Go! 4.5 with >satisfactory results, but wonder if an upgrade would be worth it. > >If you have any information or experience, please email. I'm interested in hearing about DesignStudio as well, especially from former Ready,Set,Go users. LetraSet is allowing RSG users to upgrade to DS for $100, and I'm not sure it's worth it, especially given their rather low level of commitment to their RSG user population. LetraSet's "Bug fixes? What bug fixes?" policy has been a real problem; Microsoft products may have earned a reputation for being troublesome, but at least Excel doesn't bomb if you use the RAM cache. DS seems little more than an upgrade to RSG (although LetraSet plans an RSG 5.0 release at some point), so $100 seems like a lot, at least to someone's who's been $75 and $100'ed-to-death for the past couple of years. On the other hand, prices of PageMaker and Quark are sky-high, and in many ways DS (and even RSG) seem more capable. So if anyone has any experiences with or opinions about the product, please post. -- Steve Baumgarten | "New York... when civilization falls apart, Davis Polk & Wardwell | remember, we were way ahead of you." baumgart@esquire.dpw.com | cmcl2!esquire!baumgart | - David Letterman
chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (02/15/90)
baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten) writes: >I'm interested in hearing about DesignStudio as well, especially from >former Ready,Set,Go users. I'm a former RSG user. The best upgrade I ever did was upgrade to PageMaker. I can lay out an issue of OtherRealms in about 40% of the time that it took under RSG 4.5. Pagemaker also doesn't crash and burn or corrupt data files, and if I have a problem, Aldus will at least talk to me about it rather than change the subject. >LetraSet's "Bug fixes? What bug fixes?" policy has been a real >problem; Microsoft products may have earned a reputation for being >troublesome, but at least Excel doesn't bomb if you use the RAM cache. My favorite RSG 4.5 bug is that if you use RSG 4.5 and Superclock (actually, anything that goes in and puts stuff on the menubar like superclock does) RSG will corrupt memory. This one caused me no end of problems. Letraset's response was that the problems I was seeing weren't possible (I'm not kidding, that was their official position). Later, after I gave up and switched, someone else tracked it down to an interaction between RSG and SuperClock (which I use). Letraset's official response was "don't use menubar clocks". When told we wanted to use menubar clocks, Letraset's response was "spend $50 on a real clock." I switched to PageMaker instead. It works just fine in the enviroment I want to use, rather than the environment some corporate support person feels is appropriate and professional enough for their program. I was a very happy RSG 3.0 user. I was a happy RSG 4.0 user. I'm now an exceptionally happy ex-RSG user who loves PageMaker. I plan on keeping it that way. Their 'support' is ludicrous and they keep coming up with these wonderful ideas -- things like copy protection of their fonts, building a program that requires their proprietary fonts -- that really make me want to deal with the company. -- Chuq Von Rospach <+> chuq@apple.com <+> [This is myself speaking] Rumour has it that Larry Wall, author of RN, is a finalist in the race for the Nobel Peace Prize for his invention of the kill file.
baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten) (02/16/90)
In article <38641@apple.Apple.COM>, chuq@Apple (Chuq Von Rospach) writes: >>LetraSet's "Bug fixes? What bug fixes?" policy has been a real >>problem; Microsoft products may have earned a reputation for being >>troublesome, but at least Excel doesn't bomb if you use the RAM cache. > >My favorite RSG 4.5 bug is that if you use RSG 4.5 and Superclock (actually, >anything that goes in and puts stuff on the menubar like superclock does) >RSG will corrupt memory. This one caused me no end of problems. Letraset's >response was that the problems I was seeing weren't possible (I'm not >kidding, that was their official position). Later, after I gave up and >switched, someone else tracked it down to an interaction between RSG and >SuperClock (which I use). Letraset's official response was "don't use >menubar clocks". When told we wanted to use menubar clocks, Letraset's >response was "spend $50 on a real clock." Yeah, they're real helpful at LetraSet. My personal favorite was their response to the RAM cache problem. It consisted of a README file that suggested that you turn off the RAM cache before using the program, since RSG was incompatible with it. Nice fix, guys. >I was a very happy RSG 3.0 user. I was a happy RSG 4.0 user. I'm now an >exceptionally happy ex-RSG user who loves PageMaker. I plan on keeping it >that way. Their 'support' is ludicrous and they keep coming up with these >wonderful ideas -- things like copy protection of their fonts, building a >program that requires their proprietary fonts -- that really make me want to >deal with the company. To be fair, the copy-protection and stuff applies to LetraStudio, their typeface program. I think they dropped it (or are dropping it?) and I've heard they're going to support Bitstream fonts as well. And one other thing in RSG's defense: I used PageMaker recently as was greatly inconvienced by its slowness and its inability to work with more than one document at a time. Also, I simply couldn't believe the size of its files! At least the size of RSG files bear some relation to their contents, but PageMaker files are just hundreds and hundreds of K, seemingly no matter what's in them. But Chuq's absolutely right about LetraSet's support. It's either nonexistent or it sucks. Depending on when you call them and what it's about, you get one or the other. -- Steve Baumgarten | "New York... when civilization falls apart, Davis Polk & Wardwell | remember, we were way ahead of you." baumgart@esquire.dpw.com | cmcl2!esquire!baumgart | - David Letterman
chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (02/16/90)
baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten) writes: >To be fair, the copy-protection and stuff applies to LetraStudio, >their typeface program. I think they dropped it (or are dropping >it?) and I've heard they're going to support Bitstream fonts as well. Big deal. They dropped CP after their entire customer base screamed bloody murder and after they realized nobody was buying the package. So now they're going to support Bitstream fonts -- but what about Adobe fonts? And type 3 fonts? and anything other than they're overpriced fonts and a set of fonts nobody in the Mac world really seems to be using? And why buy Letrastudio when, for less money you can buy Typestyler and hack on Type 1 and type 3 fonts? Or buy the new add-on to ATM that does most of it even less? And there's a new utility announced that'll convert postscript fonts to outlines, so you can put the outlines into Freehand or Illustrator without restriction? Letraset tried to build a product that locked people into buying only their software, using it only their way, with their fonts -- charged an arm and a legg for it and copy protected it as well. This I should support? (and, back to Ready, Set Go for a sec, they took a good, inexpensive layout program and enhanced it in the wrong ways with the wrong features and raise the price where it was no longer really cheaper to choose it -- if gave away all their advantagesa over PageMaker while they did it, while ruining performance to the point where the program by 4.5 was significantly slower than Pagemaker. Smart folks...) >And one other thing in RSG's defense: I used PageMaker recently as was >greatly inconvienced by its slowness and its inability to work with >more than one document at a time. Also, I simply couldn't believe the >size of its files! Interesting. I find that I can lay out in Pagemaker about 20-25% faster than I could in RSG 4.5. PM's files are larger, but I can do stuff that I couldn't with RSG, too. (and try 'save as' once in a while to clear out the deleted material). -- Chuq Von Rospach <+> chuq@apple.com <+> [This is myself speaking] Rumour has it that Larry Wall, author of RN, is a finalist in the race for the Nobel Peace Prize for his invention of the kill file.
isle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Ken Hancock) (02/17/90)
In article <38688@apple.Apple.COM> chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) writes: >Interesting. I find that I can lay out in Pagemaker about 20-25% faster than >I could in RSG 4.5. PM's files are larger, but I can do stuff that I >couldn't with RSG, too. (and try 'save as' once in a while to clear out the >deleted material). Fortunately, PageMaker documents compress really well -- 50% with StuffIt. In addition, I find that a lot of documents won't print from RSG. I'll take the document, print it to a postscript file, place it in PageMaker, and watch the LaserWriter crank it out in less than five minutes whereas RSG sent it, the LW chewed on it for 20 minutes, then digested it for lunch. >-- > >Chuq Von Rospach <+> chuq@apple.com <+> [This is myself speaking] > >Rumour has it that Larry Wall, author of RN, is a finalist in the race for >the Nobel Peace Prize for his invention of the kill file. -- Ken Hancock '90 | DISCLAIMER: I'm graduating and looking for Consultant | a job, so I'll stand by my words. Computer Resource Center |============================================== Dartmouth College | EMAIL: isle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu
jsb@panix.UUCP (J. S. B'ach) (02/24/90)
In article <38688@apple.Apple.COM> chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) writes: )baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten) writes: ) )>To be fair, the copy-protection and stuff applies to LetraStudio, )>their typeface program. I think they dropped it (or are dropping )>it?) and I've heard they're going to support Bitstream fonts as well. ) )Big deal. They dropped CP after their entire customer base screamed bloody )murder and after they realized nobody was buying the package. So now they're )going to support Bitstream fonts -- but what about Adobe fonts? And type 3 )fonts? and anything other than they're overpriced fonts and a set of fonts )nobody in the Mac world really seems to be using? ) )And why buy Letrastudio when, for less money you can buy Typestyler and hack )on Type 1 and type 3 fonts? Or buy the new add-on to ATM that does most of )it even less? ) I (also speaking for myself) offer the following remarks on LetraStudio: Perhaps it might help if I offer a little LetraStudio history (get comfy). It all begins with the Letraset library, a unique icon in the world of fonts. It's purpose was made simple: offer the designer a cheap solution for using high quality display type. Buy a sheet of specific types for a specific purpose. Great idea and profitable for all concerned. In the process Letraset became one of the first users of the Ikarus system (at one time they even owned the rights to it). Letraset developed a penchant for fine-tuning their fonts by increasing the number of data points to handle all the unique outline shapes their fonts possessed. Then along came desktop. Letraset's dilemma: What to do with a font structure that no one in the digital world knew what to do with (not even Apple)? I am referring to the display type designer's practice of creating alternative characters (not to be confused with alternate character sets, like small caps...) that will often extend a font set well beyond 256 characters. Do they slice up the font (like Adobe's version of Freestyle), or do they maintain its integrity for the sake of their users? Letraset goes with the users and develops the LetraFont format and philosophy: maintain the extended layout, the high resolution data format, and develop LetraStudio as an application for applying their fonts. 1.5 modifies that philosophy to also allow users access to PostScript fonts as well. Regarding copy-protection, as an international company Letraset originally respected Europe's tradition of font protection. But when the U.S. users wanted copy-protection lifted, they lifted it. LetraStudio 1.5 imports fonts in the following format: PostScript Type 1, PostScript Type 3, LetraFonts (162 as of this writing and not copy-protected). LetraStudio exports PICT, EPSF, and Illustrator 1.1 formats. Letraset has also enhanced their envelope effects in this upgrade. Regarding feature sets, pricing, DA solutions, and two words of support: 1) TypeStyler's "frame" philosophy has already received reviews questioning its typographic sensibility, 2) everyone can be undersold at any time, 3) DA programs have a dim future in System 7.0., 4) stay loose. --Mr. Talk Radio -- rutgers!cmcl2!panix!jsb or more reliably, try apple!panix!jsb "A lawn savant, who'll lop a tree-ee-uh,"--Marquis de Sod