PagePlus 5 review

Without any advanced features such as site management, scrollable frames or direct HTML editing, PagePlus isn't going to threaten the likes of FrontPage as a Web page creator. However, for users wanting to explore the benefits of going on-line with a no-frills presence, the simplicity of the PagePlus approach has a lot going for it. In particular, the fact that all pages have to be contained within a single publication creates a natural limit to complexity, which ensures the site remains manageable.

PagePlus's Web output has caught up with and, if anything, overtaken Publisher's. What really sets the program apart though is its high-end power. This has been expanded in this version with long document features such as automatic table of contents generation and the ability to index publications. Another impressive innovation is the Photo Optimizer Wizard. This Wizard prints out the same image 24 times on a test sheet with slightly different settings for contrast, gamma and colour values. If you then select the most accurate reproduction, you can effectively calibrate PagePlus to your desktop printer.

It's in commercial printing that PagePlus leaves Publisher standing. Features such as Pantone support and imposition controls are useful for in-house work, but essential for external output. More importantly, PagePlus is the only budget program that offers full colour separation for both spot and process work. Screen angles and frequencies, and trapping parameters, can be set. It's even possible to import and separate CMYK TIFs. This is serious publishing power.

However, the fact that commercial print can be produced with PagePlus doesn't mean it's necessarily the right program for the job. There are still areas in which it fails; fonts and line weights in separated tables, for example, appear incorrectly. Colour separation and prepress work is a very complex business and you really need all the help you can get from a dedicated commercial publishing program. It's significant in this regard in that although PagePlus has the ability to colour-separate images, its manual still recommends that you leave it to your commercial printer to strip in photographs.

Of course, it's always good to be given as much power as possible, but it should be kept in proportion. Advanced features such as the ability to produce colour separations or an index might save your life on the occasional project, but if you're likely to need such facilities regularly, you're soon going to discover their limitations. Despite its professional aspirations, PagePlus remains a budget program. For the entry-level user, it offers impressive power and value, but the serious 'growing business' might be better advised to think ahead.

Author: Tom Arah