The Garret
The Last Word On 8-Bit DTP
Ed
Hall, AC Staff Columnist
DTP Caveats
The first thing you should know about desktop publishing is that it's not a walk in the park. Don't expect the ease and simplicity of Print Shop. No matter which platform you're using, DTP is a lot of work: patience isn't just a virtue, it's a necessity.
The next thing to understand is that you need a sense of design. Remember, before DTP came along, preparation of camera-ready copy was done by graphic artists. Each page is a blank canvas on which illustrations, headlines, and blocks of text are positioned to create an overall pleasing effect. As well, the design must be functional: the reader's eye should move effortlessly from column to column.
For DTP, there's one clear advantage the more powerful machines have: greater screen resolution. This allows text and graphics to be compressed to a relatively small size on the screen and still be legible. DTP programs for the Classic Atari all use GRAPHICS 8 screens for the highest possible resolution, but even then it's not good enough to accurately represent more than about a quarter of a page. To get around this obstacle, most programs use four to eight screens to make up a single page. The variety of approaches has a marked effect on program design and performance.
Last time I discussed Newsroom and News Station. This time I want to look at some newer, and perhaps better, DTP programs.
What A Dump!
Page Layout and Hi-Resolution Dump are printing programs designed specifically for DTP. Written in TurboBasic, they combine eight picture files (62-sector, GRAPHICS-8 screens) to produce a single page. How you create those screens is up to you. You can use a GRAPHICS-8 art program (such as Graphic Master, Design Master, or R-Draw), or you can use the text and graphics editors of another DTP program.
Hi-Resolution Dump requires a 130XE or 800XL with expanded memory. It loads up to eight screens into memory, and allows them to be placed in any of eight positions (two columns of four each). Then it dumps everything to the printer in a single pass.
Though very similar, Page Layout has a few interesting differences. It prints faster than Hi-Res Dump (though the disk is constantly accessed during printing). It lacks a fancy user interface (all you see are a few prompts), but doesn't require the extra memory of a 130XE. Best of all, any screen can be used as a banner by expanding it across the full width of the page. To do this, you need to make a few simple changes to the code. A demo program shows you how.
Page Layout by John McGowan comes with full docs, including an interesting technical discussion on DTP. It can be found on the AIM disk for May 1993. [Editor's note. these programs are all mostly PD or shareware. Vendors such as LAPD, C& T, MWPD, or ZTM typically feature them in their catalog listings. Check the Vendor's List in the October '93 AC for contact info. - BP]
Digital Editor
Digital Editor is another TurboBasic program which (like Hi-Res Dump) originated in Germany. However, the current version (3.6) has been vastly improved by Tom D'Ambrosio. Unlike Hi-Res Dump and Page Layout, Digital Editor is a complete DTP package with separate text, graphics, and printer modules. A detailed tutorial is included.
The text editor allows the use of any standard Atari font in two sizes. It also has an 80-column capability, and can accept graphics in the form of clipart. Text can be typed in, or loaded from a file created with a wordprocessor. The latter is an important feature, and one which not all programs have. However, only 22 lines of text will be accepted; there isn't enough room on the screen for any more. This means a separate file is needed for every 22 lines of text.
Screens are saved in a non-standard format and must be converted to 62-sector files before they can be printed. The converter program also allows you to create your own clipart by defining and then saving portions of any 62-sector, GRAPHICS-8 screen.
The graphics editor is a good GRAPHICS-8 art program with features such as text, fill, mirror, and zoom. Curiously, it doesn't accept clipart. It does have a cut-and-paste function, and can use any standard Atari font.
Up to this point, Digital Editor performs well. But when we get to the crucial stage of printing, problems develop. The printer module is a modified version of Billboard, which requires several settings (print density, height, and width) for each printout. Unfortunately I was never able to find the right combination for the output I desired. Although this may well have been due to my own ineptitude, an even larger problem is that Billboard will print only one file at a time. Since at least four are needed for a page, you must roll back and reposition the paper for each pass. Too much hassle for my taste.
Fortunately, Digital Editor's modular approach makes for an easy solution. Just use Hi-Res Dump or Page Layout for your printing tasks. Tom D'Ambrosio recommends using four screens per page (with Billboard); my preference is for eight screens (when using Hi-Res Dump or Page Layout).
Alas, there remains one more problem, and it's a rather serious one. Digital Editor's text editor leaves a blank line at the top of every file- a big problem if you have a chunk of text that must be continued on the following screen. This is the same problem I experienced with Newsroom (discussed in the last issue). For this reason, I can't recommend Digital Editor for newsletters, which contain a lot of text. However, for shorter applications (like flyers), it should work just fine.
Page Editor
Page Editor is a complete DTP package with many interesting features. Like Digital Editor, it is a complete package utilizing the TurboBasic environment. However, its approach to DTP is somewhat different from other programs we've seen so far. It divides each page into four horizontal sections, or panels. This means the width of each screen corresponds to the full width of the printed page, and requires using an 80-column text editor. If you have a RAMdisk, Page Editor can hold all four panels in memory at once, and each one can instantly be called up with the press of a key. This is a great feature.
Page Editor has some powerful text handling capabilities. The editor itself is serviceable enough; it supports inverse and graphics characters, has a block move function, and adjustable margins (useful for multi-column text entry). Any 9-sector font can be used, and its height and width adjusted.
But its best text-handling features reside in another module, the ASCII text converter. This allows you to create your text on a wordprocessor, then load it into Page Editor. You're given a choice of one, two , or three columns. The program will then automatically load your text into the designated panels in the correct order! I know of only one other program which attempts this feat: News Station Companion. It's a very useful, powerful feature. (Unfortunately, the program seems to have trouble with 3-column format. When I tried it, not all columns were the same width, even after adjusting the margin settings).
Page Editor's text and graphics editors are encompassed within the same module. A command switches you between modes, which is a lot handier than having to load in a completely new module, as with Newsroom or Digital Editor. The best feature of the graphics editor is its cut-and-paste function. You can specify a portion of a GRAPHICS-8 screen and save it for use as clipart, or move it, duplicate it, double its height, make a mirror image, or reverse it. Using another module, you can convert Print Shop icons into clipart for use with Page Editor.
The proof of a DTP program is in the printing, and with Page Editor there's a slight downside: the printed output is somewhat flattened. This is most noticeable when using Print Shop icons: they look rather squashed. Another problem is that you may not be able to get a proper-sized printout. I couldn't. If this happens to you, look for an explanation and fix by John McGowan (the same chap responsible for Page Layout) in AIM's disk for May 1993.
There are a couple other minor problems: the Break key isn't disabled, and the program crashed more than once while I was using it. Nevertheless, it's a welcome addition to the ranks of Atari DTP. Written by Alan Kirk and in the public domain, it comes with full docs, a selection of clipart, and can be found on AIM's disk for April 1993.
Daisy-Dot
Now you must forget all I've told you about DTP (except the parts about design and hard work), for here is a family of programs which take a completely different approach. Paradoxically, they produce printed text of unsurpassed quality.
Daisy-Dot 2 and Daisy-Dot 3 come from Roy Goldman, a talented programmer who last year won a $10,000 scholarship from Microsoft. While both programs produce gorgeous output, Daisy-Dot 2 is limited to relatively small font sizes (a good reason in itself for owning Daisy-Dot 3). The two programs also handle graphics differently; version 2 can incorporate 62-sector pictures into a print-out using the Verbatim command, while version 3 requires you to convert a picture into a font before it can be used.
A third program, Dot-Magic, is a clone of Daisy-Dot 2 with some useful additions: it has both a label and a typewriter function, and it is capable of using both MicroPainter and MicroIllustrator picture files.
So, what's the secret of these programs? Like Hi-Res Dump and Page Layout, they are specialized printer dumps with no text or graphic editors. A word processor. is used to create a text file, in which are embedded special commands for Daisy-Dot to execute. It's a lot of work and, until you get good at it, you'll find yourself doing a fair amount of test-printing. Two-column printing is possible, but requires two passes through the printer-- make a goof on the second pass and you have to do the whole page over again.
Despite the amount of work involved, Daisy-Dot is the choice of many people doing 8-bit DTP. For example, there's Dark Star, the movie fanzine I reported on in my very first column. There's the bimonthly newsletter produced by the Tyne & Wear Atari User Group in England. And then there's Dave Richardson's 47-page user manual for Daisy-Dot 3. Not only is Dave's manual a very useful reference, it's also an example in itself of DTP on the Classic Atari. If you have Daisy-Dot 3, you need this manual! For further info, refer to Dave's column in the June '93 issue of AC. [Editor's note: In the present issue Dave has pushed Daisy-Dot 3 to the limits of today's technology. it even works with laser printers! - BP]
Xlent Printware
The very first Atari DTP programs were Typesetter and Page Designer, two titles in Xlent's Printware series. Both are complete DTP packages, but since they've been around for so long, I'll touch on them only briefly. Their approach is completely different from any other program. Like a spreadsheet, they both create a virtual page which is much larger than the screen itself. To see the entire surface of the page, you must scroll the window in the desired direction.
While Typesetter is capable of high-quality output, working with such a limited view of the page can be rather excruciating; for this reason, Xlent suggests using Page Designer (a much simpler program) to create a rough layout which can then be loaded into Typesetter and used as a sort of roadmap. Supporting material from Xlent includes two utilities, Rubber Stamp and P.S. Interface; and graphics, fonts, and layout grids from third parties.
A review of Typesetter, Page Designer and Rubber Stamp appeared in the February 1986 issue of Antic. In ANALOG, Typesetter was reviewed in issue 40, and Page Designer in issue 46. Particularly interesting is an article which appeared in the April 1992 newsletter of ACE of Syracuse, NY, and reprinted in the August 1993 issue of (FR)ANTIC, which is the newsletter of the Alamo Area Atari User Association (an 8-bit only group). Written by Vernon Smith, the article provides some useful information on using Typesetter for producing 3-column newsletters.
The Others
Antic Publisher is the most limited of the DTP programs for the classic Atari. It appeared as Antic's disk bonus for the December 1987 issue. It has a crude editor which allows you to enter text, points and lines. Sixty-two sector, GRAPHICS-8 screens can be loaded, but not text files. Antic Publisher comes with a few well-designed fonts (including Hebrew), but these are in a non-standard format; if you want more, you'll have to design your own. All in all, it's slow and laborious work, and suited for little more than providing captions to pictures. Antic Publisher is written in Atari Basic, but seems to work okay with TurboBasic.
Page Marshall is a commercial program which is especially suited for mixing text with schematics, musical scores, charts, etc. It's a British program and may not be available in North America. If you're interested, see the review in New Atari User issue 39.
The Works (according to a description in a PD catalog) is a DTP program which requires XL/XE machines with RAM upgrades. Since I don't have the necessary hardware, I've never checked it out. Could be interesting.
DTP Tips
Every Christmas I do a family newsletter on my Atari, and in the past I've put together a number of government publications using a Mac/PageMaker/LaserWriter combo. Emboldened by this vast experience, I thought I'd offer a few tips. Remember, though, my needs and preferences may be very different from yours.
1. Don't expect one program to do it all for you. Become acquainted with the strengths and limitations of each one, and select what you need for the task at hand. This applies not only to how they handle text and graphics, but also to how many screens are needed to create a page. For example, compare the final size of a 62-sector screen when printed out by the following programs:
| Hi-Res Dump: | one-eighth page |
| Page Editor | one-quarter page |
| Antic Publisher: | one-half page. |
3. I almost never justify the right side of a column of text. This is because justification on our Ataris is usually achieved by opening up ugly gaps between words; this often causes the reader's eye to move vertically rather than horizontally. Better to leave the text ragged-right.
4. When using Print Shop icons, keep them as small as possible. The larger they are, the coarser they look. The same applies to fonts. If you need really large text, don't use an expanded 9sector font; it'll look too crude. Rather, create your headline or banner using Print Shop's Screen Magic (thus using fonts intended to be large), then convert the image to a GRAPHICS-8 screen.
5. I never hesitate to employ old-fashioned paste-up techniques; that is, I often leave blank spots in the text, print it out, then glue in a picture afterwards. Since my final product is a single master copy, it never gets any farther than the nearest xerox machine. If unwanted lines show up along the edges of pasted copy, a bit of liquid white-out on the master solves the problem.
6. Add some color to your productions. Last year my kids used pencil crayons to brighten up our newsletter.
