★ APPLICATIONS ★ PAO/PRESSE ★ TINY DESK TOP PUBLISHER ★ |
Tiny Desk Top Publisher (Amstrad Action) | Applications Pao/presse |
Desk top publishing is becoming ever more popular. So it's pleasing to see a program that doesn't have cither the price tag of Stop Press or the bugs of Fleet Street Editor. The subject shouldn't need much of an introduction by now: DTP is the solution to the age-old problem of getting the printed page laid out according to what the writer wants, rather than trusting the discretion of a printer. Broadly speaking, it involves laying a page out on your trusty computer (CPC in this case), putting in illustrations and headlines to taste, and having the final result printed out before your very eyes. Tiny Desk Top Publisher is a simple program that can nevertheless be useful for the occasional page or advert. Setting up a page is simple - the programs runs in mode 2 (80 columns of text), and the physical page is split up into three distinct areas. Any one area can be viewed at a time. (It should be borne in mind that these three sections make an area slightly in excess of a length of A4. So it makes sense to leave the bottom of a document blank, unless you are using particularly long paper.) Pictures too Putting text onto the screen is pretty simple, using just the cursor keys to select the target area. The size of characters can be altered, although there are only five different sizes to choose from. The good news is, different font styles can be loaded into the TDTP, and they are in the standard format for such programs. So creating your own styles shouldn't prove difficult. Using DTP always involves some form of illustration. The TDTP supports this fairly well, with a few built in tools to help draw lines, boxes etc. A few items of clip art are included, but they are saved in standard Amstrad format. The practical upshot is that the program can use any standard graphics for mats, and cut sections of them out: imagine the fun you could have mixing and matching loading screeens from games. Mind you, you'd have to process them through some sort of convenor for the different graphic modes. Can't have everything, I suppose. The most important part of any DTP package - the printout - is no hassle to use. A standard print for page checking takes 15 minutes, but for real quality the time lengthens to about 1.5 hours per page. So, getting it right before final printing is even more important. As you would expect at the price, Tiny Desk Top Publisher cannot match a full-price DTP program. What it can be useful for is for someone who doesn't know much about DTP. but would like to see it in action without going to the heavy expense of buying a new program. At the price you can hardly go wrong!
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