Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with pagelayout

Help with synchronizing two text blocks in PageMaker

rolypolyman — Sun, 20 May 2007 15:23:23 -0800

I have been writing books in PageMaker 7. With some projects I like to put "factoid" type material (quotes, facts, minor tables, etc) in the margins. Unfortunately I've never found a way of binding these with the main body of text so that factoid text blocks will be forced to appear on the same page. So I've been doing it manually, and it's a big PITA. How should I be handling this? Will Quark or newer versions of PageMaker help?

What new and revolutionary DTP/pagelayout features would you like to see?

Brandon Blatcher — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 06:25:54 -0800

Graphicdesignerfilter: With the rise of Indesign and to a smaller extent, Scribus as major page layout applications, is anyone else underwhelmed by new, revolutionary features? What features would you like to see in page layout apps that currently don't exist? I'm not talking about improvements to current applications, but something totally new that will make the practical and/or creative end of page layout better. Me, I'd like to see the ability to individually control the sides of boxes ala CSS, ala making the right side 5pt solid and blue while the left side would be 1 point dotted and grey. It would be nice to be able to apply this to circles and rounded boxes also.

Having an easy way to make tapered ends (i.e. being able to draw a single line that was thick at one end and think at another) would be nice.

No indentation of initial paragraphs?

CaptApollo — Wed, 18 May 2005 14:28:47 -0800

Page layout: not indenting first paragraph nor paragraphs after subheadings... who made this rule? I just got a new job in a university's publications department, and I somehow "know" that when you do layout for a publication, you don't indent the first paragraph, nor paragraphs subsequent to headings and subheadings. I'm sure this is a Chicago or Turabian rule, but my Google-fu fails me, and this office doesn't have a copy of the Chicago Manual anywhere (is this a bad sign?)

Can someone please provide an authoritative source for this rule?

Page layout software?

wezelboy — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 08:02:37 -0800

Any recommendations for inexpensive, effective page layout software? I'm looking for something that will work better than Word for brochures/catalogs, and isn't as expensive as Quark or InDesign. It can be XP or OS X- preferably XP. Hopefully, it would cost under $100.

Any nice programs out there that I should know about?

Isn't it possible to print a story uninterrupted in newspapers and magazines?

pinkkitty — Mon, 24 Jan 2005 11:02:43 -0800

Why are stories "continued on page #" in newspapers and magazines? I've always felt that it disrupts reading because I have to go back and forth between the pages. Isn't it possible to print a story uninterrupted?

Page layout software for the Mac?

floanna — Tue, 26 Oct 2004 00:25:35 -0800

I have to make a recommendation for my work to purchase some software for page layout on a Mac. I've only used Quark, but due to the ridiculous price, I would like to know how InDesign compares and what your preference would be out of the two. [MI] I'm an ex graphic designer and I now work for a large company that is non design related. It has come to their attention of my previous life and want me to produce a brochure. They currently have a G5 sitting in a back office that they are happy for me to use but doesn't have the relevant software (I can't use any of the existing basic PC apps we have to design with 'cos they are diabolical).

As I have already recommended that they purchase Illustrator and Photoshop, I was wondering if it would be worthwhile getting the Adobe Creative Suite that includes InDesign. Because I have only ever used Quark 4.0 for page layout etc, how easy is it to use InDesign (similar functionality etc), is the integration between other Adobe products as good as it seems and what do you prefer?

How Does Kottke Put His Sidebar Links Inline With His Longer Entries?

srboisvert — Sat, 31 Jan 2004 06:57:56 -0800

How do sites like Kottke put their sidebar links inline with their weblog entries?