Hi, I'm a newbie in page layout, and I was just wondering if there is a way to use Pages without templates (I'm just looking for more creativity and less "there are a thousand documents out there that look just like mine). If not, which applications would you recommend? Any screenshots/examples? Preferably freeware, but could be anything. would rather have something easy to use/ convientient and have to pay for it, than something free and hard to use.
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page layout?
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Adobe InDesign is my favorite. It's expensive though. Quark I've heard is the best, but depends on who you ask. Pages is fine for layout. You don't need to use their templates, and even if you do use them, you can manipulate them quite a bit.
It sure does. I like InDesign, it has wonderful, impressive and powerful features but the interface is a little cluttered and it runs like a pig on older machines. I use Quark day-in and day-out and hate it, but it's our main workhorse in the studio, I know its strengths and weaknesses fairly well and can almost operate it with my eyes closed...
But both of these programs are fairly expensive, are mainly aimed at those producing artwork for press and might be overkill for what you want to do.
I suggest you download the 30 day fully-functional tryout for InDesign and then see if you really feel like spending $700 on some page layout software. Ragtime Solo used to be free but isn't anymore but may still be an option.
http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/
Even many years ago it was a dog of an app. Quark used to (bless its heart) be god, but InDesign with the creative suite is the choice of most workflows as it offers the most ease between vector/pixel import which is all Adobe these days.
They are all expensive though, but I would recommend Indesign. Quark is a hell of an outlay for one app, when you can go Creative Suite route and expand your creativity past page layout.
Depends how serious you are.
They are all expensive though, but I would recommend Indesign. Quark is a hell of an outlay for one app, when you can go Creative Suite route and expand your creativity past page layout.
Depends how serious you are.
then thats your kiddie. Illustrator & Photoshop are & have always been the best apps ever written.
I know I'm gonna start something here!....!
I know I'm gonna start something here!....!
It would be a lot better than an iBook... but I've got a dual 1.42 at home with 2gbs of RAM in it. InDesign CS1 runs poorly on it especially when I'm working on larger projects, but is acceptable on the work 2.5 G5s. CS2 is a bit better... CS3 is only a few months away though.
depends on a few things, what are you going to be doing (high end graphics/editing), & whats the spec on your iBook? You may be better off spending on the cheaper (but much more economic) option off additional Ram.
I'm not sure how to explain it very well. You kind of just have to play around with it. Start with a blank page and create placeholder boxes. When you are done with your template, under file, you can save as a template...
My big complaint with Pages is (especially on my 1.2 G4 iBook) is that when working with large photos, it slows way down almost to the point of being unusable.
first my ibook is one of the last ibook models produced basically: a 1.33 GHZ. It has 1 GB of ram, probably 512 built in and an extra 512 chip (it has a max of 1.5 i believe, if not 1.25), so this would not be a good option. I can't afford a dual 1.42 or 1.25 going for around $800 , but am seeing dual 800s for around 300, more something i could aim for (still in hs) I think it would be dumb to save for a long time buy an 800+ system that is outdated by about 2 years as of now and then get a job in a couple of years, and get an intel workstation such as a mac pro, highend imac, or macbook pro. I'm guessing a dual 800 with 1 GB - 2 GB of ram would outpower my ibook (plus it has more screen space to work with), and spanning with the ibook is inconvenient, due to it's use of the only 32 meg of video ram, leaving little for other needed graphics.
I think it would be money better spent than on a new cell phone.
P.S. would a dual 450 work well or would it be a waste of time/money?
I think it would be money better spent than on a new cell phone.
P.S. would a dual 450 work well or would it be a waste of time/money?
Wow, you are really are taking this "secondary interest" seriously huh? Buying a whole new computer just to do page layout. Your iBook is faster than mine and has more RAM so it might run Pages fairly well. I personally would save up for a better machine.
There are a number of applications which fill the void between Pages (which assumes you know nothing about design) and InDesign/QuarkXPress (which assumes you have years of professional experience... and a pocket book to match).
Designers use what designers use... tools of the trade. So they are going to recommend what they know, and not what they've never needed.
Great mid range design apps for creative nonprofessionals and semi-professionals include the following...
MacPublisher Pro is sort of a PageMaker clone... actually looks a lot like PageMaker. Canvas is like Create in that it is a multipurpose app, and Ready, Set, Go! is one of the oldest page layout apps around (dating back to the mid 80s when it and PageMaker were pretty much the only apps around for this type of thing). Swift Publisher is a newer app which provides a lot of templates, so if you are just graduating from Pages, this may be a good next app for you.
Usually when deciding on what apps to recommend for clients I take the time to get to know them and their comfort level first. What I've found is that there are generally two types of people... those who see a blank page with horror not knowing where to start, and those who see a blank page as being filled with possibilities. The first type of person is usually the type I point at Pages or Swift Publisher (because of the templates, everyone else I take into account what they want to make and how far they want to go with it.
Designers use what designers use... tools of the trade. So they are going to recommend what they know, and not what they've never needed.
Great mid range design apps for creative nonprofessionals and semi-professionals include the following...
Canvas X ($349.99)
Ready, Set, Go! ($175.00)
Stone Design Create ($149.00)
Swift Publisher ($35.00)
MacPublisher Pro ($19.95)
Personally, I use Create for most of my page layout needs (along with most of my illustration needs also). It is the oldest Mac OS X layout/illustration app, and doesn't do too bad a job at building web pages either (I wouldn't use it for building a site for any of my clients, though I do use it extensively on my own sites).Ready, Set, Go! ($175.00)
Stone Design Create ($149.00)
Swift Publisher ($35.00)
MacPublisher Pro ($19.95)
MacPublisher Pro is sort of a PageMaker clone... actually looks a lot like PageMaker. Canvas is like Create in that it is a multipurpose app, and Ready, Set, Go! is one of the oldest page layout apps around (dating back to the mid 80s when it and PageMaker were pretty much the only apps around for this type of thing). Swift Publisher is a newer app which provides a lot of templates, so if you are just graduating from Pages, this may be a good next app for you.
Usually when deciding on what apps to recommend for clients I take the time to get to know them and their comfort level first. What I've found is that there are generally two types of people... those who see a blank page with horror not knowing where to start, and those who see a blank page as being filled with possibilities. The first type of person is usually the type I point at Pages or Swift Publisher (because of the templates, everyone else I take into account what they want to make and how far they want to go with it.
@gregjp48
Just for the record, I'm using the CS suite on a 1.42Ghz emac, 1.5 GB of RAM and I have no complaints at all with it running huge files in Photoshop plus running InDesign at the same time. Not only that but the 17" crt is really, really good as far as colour matching goes, my seps and laser stuff comes out exactly as it appears on screen taking into account the limitation of crt>cmyk.
You could pick a late model emac up for $300 and stick 2 Gigs of RAM in it. The 1.42Ghz has a 64Mb graphic card and support for core image.
Just for the record, I'm using the CS suite on a 1.42Ghz emac, 1.5 GB of RAM and I have no complaints at all with it running huge files in Photoshop plus running InDesign at the same time. Not only that but the 17" crt is really, really good as far as colour matching goes, my seps and laser stuff comes out exactly as it appears on screen taking into account the limitation of crt>cmyk.
You could pick a late model emac up for $300 and stick 2 Gigs of RAM in it. The 1.42Ghz has a 64Mb graphic card and support for core image.
I'll definitely keep that in mind.
Can't take the course for another year or so, and by then the computer circumstances will be different.