clouds@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Kathy Strong) (10/04/90)
Since I went on the record in an earlier post as preferring PageMaker to Xpress, let me redeem myself in the eyes of all you control freaks :-) by talking about Ventura Publisher. I can't speak knowledgeably about the LGU (you know, Latest Greatest Upgrade), but I would like to know--what book would you recommend on Ventura? I spent several months last summer preparing technical manuals with VP. The outfit I was working for had three books on VP, of which only one was worth a damn, but that one was a GEM <thud>. *Ventura Tips and Tricks*, Ted Nace, Peachpit Press I had the 2nd edition; I understand a third has come out since then. This book was a dream come true for me--a useful reference manual, but it also explains the "why"s behind the "what to do"s--for example, .a lucid discussion of different strategies for directory organization. Lots of good (damn, I hate vi) examples; no sign of the recent tendency to pretend that a book about an application program can also teach you design; a good introductory- level discussion of downloadable fonts for HP LJx (I don't know why DL fonts are so scary to so many people, but I know they are; Nace strives, successfully, to dispel the mumbo-jumbo). After a week, I stuck the other two books in a bottom drawer and propped the Nace book next to my copy stand. Anyone else have kudos or spitwads for Ventura books? Books on other DTP applications? DTP references in general? By the way, do any of y'all get the Graphic Artists Book Club solicitations? I noticed they were still peddling the FIRST edition of this book as of a few months ago. --Kathy ========================================================================== | Kathy Strong | "Welcome to FUBAR Corp., where there's | | (Clouds moving slowly) | never enough time to do a job right, | | clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu | but always enough time to do it over." | ==========================================================================
jwi@cbnewsj.att.com (Jim Winer @ AT&T, Middletown, NJ) (10/04/90)
> Kathy Strong writes: > I spent several months last summer preparing technical manuals with > VP. The outfit I was working for had three books on VP, of which only > one was worth a damn, but that one was a GEM <thud>. > *Ventura Tips and Tricks*, Ted Nace, Peachpit Press This is generally considered to be the best book on VP available, and I agree. On the other hand, don't assume that some of the other books from Peachpit Press are good. Beware of anything written by Will Harris -- he thinks he is a stand up comedian and fills space with lousy jokes that only get more wearing when you have to reread them. He also writes (poorly, IMHO) for one of the desktop magazines. On the other hand, their book about HPLJ printers is also supposed to be excellent. Jim Winer -- jwi@mtfme.att.com -- Opinions not represent employer. ------------------------------------------------------------------ "No, no: the purpose of language is to cast spells on other people ..." Lisa S Chabot