layout

This is an update of a post from a couple years back. Yes, years.

Whatever happened to desktop publishing software? A decade ago you had your pick of a dozen or more programs, but now the field is practically empty.

Granted, you can still buy Adobe PageMaker or QuarkXPress for a small fortune (they still run $499 and $799, respectively), but what if you just want a simple program for creating newsletters, brochures, flyers, and the like?

Enter Serif PagePlus X4, a terrific desktop-publishing application that's ideal for designing print and Web-based documents alike.

Today only, PricePlunge.com has … Read more

Why bother with Facebook if your "face" looks like everyone else's? There's no reason your Facebook page can't be as stylish (or as junky; why not?) as you want it to be. We looked at Naevius Facebook Layouts, a free tool that works with Internet Explorer. It makes customizing your Facebook look as easy as picking a theme.

A strange error message prevented Naevius Facebook Layouts from opening immediately after installation, but the program ran normally when we clicked the desktop icon, and subsequently, so we pretended we hadn't seen it. It opened with … Read more

Swift Publisher is a low-cost desktop publishing program that's perfect for graphic-design neophytes who need to produce simple documents such as posters, letterhead, cards, and fliers.

Fitting for a beginner-friendly app, Swift Publisher launches with an assistant that gives you access to more than 100 different templates, in categories that include brochures, catalogs, and newsletters, with handy thumbnail previews that let you browse through your options. Once you're into a new document, Swift Publisher gives you plenty of easy editing options, from altering text to changing backgrounds and inserting photos (either your own, or using a built-in library … Read more

The Web, ever more sophisticated, is feeble as a publication medium when it's compared to what can be done with layout software such as Adobe Systems' InDesign. But that's beginning to change.

The change is significant: digital publishing is moving to the Web, but the array of new devices such as iPads and Kindles pose a challenge. Should those overseeing the designs create native applications for those devices or Web pages that will work on just about any device? For the latter to be a competitive option, the Web has to match up better.

A foundation for change was built with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), a standard for Web page formatting that's now growing in significance and power. One big element here is support for the @font-face technology and the related Web Open Font Format, which together are letting Web developers specify downloadable fonts and use online font repositories such as TypeKit for a more polished, customized look.

A new phase is under way now, though. Firefox browser developer Mozilla has begun work on CSS features to permit higher-end font controls, Mozilla developer John Daggett said yesterday in a blog post.

Among the controls are the following:

• Ligatures, which can replace combinations of letters with fancier or more readable replacements, a classic example being a specific glyph for "fi" to keep the top of the f from bumping into the dot of the i. … Read more

The WinPenPack project focuses on making popular open-source software portable, and X-Scribus is part of their X-Software Collection of portable open-source freeware. It's a fully portable version of Scribus, the page layout software. Like the installed version, X-Scribus supports professional standards and top-quality features, including CMYK, ICC, and spot color and commercial-grade PDFs.

X-Scribus opens with its main interface as well as its tabbed New Document dialog, which also lets you open existing and recent documents as well as quickly configure new documents with up to four folds. We created a basic, letter-size, single-page document, which opened in a … Read more

CAD tools tend to be large, big-ticket packages that often pack stiff license fees. Open-source software increasingly rivals expensive applications. Imagine a cross between a full-featured graphics tool and top-drawer CAD package, optimized for designing electronic circuits and nanodevices, and that undergoes constant improvement and enhancement: that's LayoutEditor. It's a powerful suite of tools for designing and editing layouts for fabricating microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and integrated circuits (ICs), including multichip module (MCM), chip-on-board (COB), printed-circuit board (PCB), and thin-film technologies, among many others.

As open-source software goes, this program is no lightweight; it's a 30MB download that … Read more

As nostalgic as the image of the classic green Solitaire may be, 123 Free Solitaire 2009 7.1 offers the same fun plus more games and sleeker looks.

Following the quick installation, the program will ask you to choose which Solitaire game you would like to play. The list is comprised of 12 games: Diplomat, Eighteens, Flower Garden, Free Cell, Grandfather's Clock, Klondike, Pyramid, Royal Rendezvous, Spider, Spider One Suit, Spider Two Suit, and Yukon. Clicking on each will create a preview of the respective game. This preview includes an image, number of decks, game time, difficulty level, skill … Read more

It's odd that the need to create newsletters, fliers, brochures, and the like hasn't gone away, but desktop publishing software has. A decade ago,  you had your pick of at least a dozen programs, but now the field is nearly empty.

Sure, you can still buy heavyweight applications such as Adobe PageMaker and QuarkXPress, but they cost a small fortune--$499 and $799, respectively--and they're overkill for most people.

That's why I'm a longtime fan of Serif PagePlus, a terrific desktop-publishing application that's ideal for designing both print and Web-based documents.

The applications … Read more

While most people use the standard QWERTY keyboard layout, one of the most used alternative layouts is Dvorak. Some people believe Dvorak is more efficient for various western languages since it places vowels and the most commonly used letters right under your fingertips. iPad owners who are used to this layout may find it disappointing that the iPad does not yet have support for Dvorak.

While it is not in the current version of the operating system used on the iPad, Dvorak keyboard layouts are popular enough for Apple to implement them sooner rather than later. As noted in this … Read more