The Seybold Report on Desktop Publishing articles from July 1992

The Seybold Report on Desktop Publishing archives from July 1992

Building a system: document management. (summary of feature article) (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... Even though they may be the tools of choice for page layout, ad design, color manipulation and so forth, microcomputers and desktop publishing programs generally fall short of comprising a complete system solution for publishing missions. The...

PostScript errors: some causes and cures. (summary of feature article) (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... Much as the vendors wish it were otherwise, you will sometimes find that what looks like a perfectly reasonable page will not print. (You may have been gotten that oxymoronic notice, "The document is OK but cannot be printed." Small...

Five years ago. (summary of contents of Volume 1, Number 11") (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... Volume 1, Number 11 Our feature articles covered two new products for page layout: Quark Xpress and Ragtime. Both articles were produced using the actual software, which helped to illustrate the system capabilities. On Quark's...

Managing the publishing process: what you need to build a system. (desktop publishing packages could be useful to many organizations)
July 6, 1992... Now and then, as we go looking through back issues of this Report, we are struck by the way many of the product shortcomings we complained about just a couple of years back have been remedied. Desktop publishing programs have grown in...

Documentum's Document Server. (document management software) (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... Documentum is a relatively new firm funded by Xerox Technology Ventures. XTV invests in startups that take Xerox-developed ideas and turn them into commercial products. Documentum's product, Document Server, is designed to address the...

A production manager's assistant. (InfoSolutions Inc.'s JobTracker project management software) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... JobTracker, by InfoSolutions, is a Macintosh database application (using the Fourth Dimension relational database) for managing document production. It lets the production manager define the steps for producing a job, estimate the time and...

Approaches to extracting status information. (Computer Network Integrators' NetWare Loadable Module, Odesta Corp.'s Odesta Document Management System and Quark Inc.'s Xpress Xtensions desktop document management solutions) (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... All of the major pieces of a desktop document management system exist. What's missing is a universal "glue" to join the pieces into a unified system - but such a universal solution may turn out to be a Holy Grail, never to be seen in our...

PostScript troubleshooting: what to do when your file won't print.
July 6, 1992... Apple unveiled the first PostScript laser printer, the Laser Writer, early in 1985. Allied Linotype (now Linotype-Hell) announced versions of its Linotron 101 and Linotronic 300 with the same capabilities in the same month. To say PostScript...

Adobe's most commonly reported PostScript problems. (Adobe Systems Inc.)
July 6, 1992... This paper is about the top ten most often reported PostScript errors. The information was gathered by an informal survey of support personnel at Adobe. All references to "The Red Book" refer to the PostScript Language Reference Manual,...

Helpful utilities and resources. (for additional information on PostScript)
July 6, 1992... Utilities Here are some utility programs that can help you figure out what fonts are used in your document. There are also some that can help you troubleshoot troublesome files. Here is an annotated list. Lasercheck. You download...

Adobe RIPs to support TrueType, Intellifonts. (Adobe Systems Inc.'s raster image processors will support new font formats) (The Latest Word)
July 6, 1992... Autosensing to select format Adobe Systems has announced that future PostScript RIPs will support True-Type and Intellifont font formats as well as offering PCL 5 (LaserJet III) emulation software. The options will be available to...

Xtension Addendum. (corrections) (Correction Notice)
July 6, 1992... Em's address. We inadvertently omitted the address of Em Software in last month's article on Quark Xpress Xtensions. Em, producer of Xdata for importing and formatting text from databases, can be reached at PO Box 402, Westbrook, CT 06498;...

Vendor-independent messaging spec set. (Apple Computer Inc., Borland International Inc., Lotus Development Corp. and Novell Inc. develop non-proprietary interface for inter-computer messaging and electronic mail) (The Latest Word) (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... Apple, Borland, Lotus & Novell are sponsors Four heavies in the microcomputer networking business - Apple Computer, Borland International, Lotus Development and Novell - have jointly hammered out a vendor-independent messaging (VIM)...

New laser imaging technology employs small optical fibers. (Photon Imaging Corp.'s Laserfan) (The Latest Word)
July 6, 1992... Photon Imaging seeks printer firms Photon Imaging Corporation has developed an imaging technology, called Laserfan, that could result in laser printers with both lower prices and higher resolutions. Laserfan, radically simplifies the...

RasterOps to acquire RIPs and TrueVision; also signs technology deal with Adobe. (The Latest Word) (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... Also signs technology deal with Adobe RasterOps Corp. has signed a letter of intent to acquire Raster Imaging Processing Systems Inc. (RIPS), not long after reaching a similar agreement with Truevision. It also signed a deal with Adobe to...

Apple, Symantec to aid multi-platform software developers; deal covers marketing, development. (creating applications for Microsoft Windows-based and Apple Macintosh microcomputers) (The Latest Word) (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... Deal covers marketing, development Apple Computer and Symantec Corp. have announced a development and marketing agreement to aid commercial and corporate software developers in creating new applications for Macintoshes and Windows-based...

Fulcrum to offer intuitive searching: point-and-shoot interface designed to bring full-text retrieval to the masses. (Fulcrum Technologies Inc.'s Ful/Text 6.0 search software) (The Latest Word)
July 6, 1992... Point-and-shoot interface designed to bring full-text retrieval to the masses Call it point-and-shoot retrieval. Fulcrum Technologies hopes to make full-text retrieval accessible to the mass market by introducing intuitive searching, a...

Bitstream forms unit for network printing: partnership with Insight established. (Bitstream Inc. to distribute Insight Development Corp.'s Mosaic print management software) (The Latest Word ) (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... Partnership with Insight established Bitstream has formed a new business unit to focus on network printing products. It named Insight Development as its strategic partner and signed a distribution agreement under which Bitstream will sell...

Aldus revenue shortfall may yield quarter loss: sales hurt in U.S. and abroad. (second quarter results likely to be poor) (The Latest Word) (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... Sales hurt in U.S. and abroad Aldus is expected to announce disappointing results for its second quarter, possibly entailing a loss, it was reported. Revenues, which were $44.3 million for the second quarter of last year, are expected to...

Claris enters Windows market with FileMaker: "aggressive campaign" launched. (FileMaker Pro 2.0 information management software) (The Latest Word) (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... "Aggressive campaign" launched Claris Corp., a subsidiary of Apple Computer, is entering the Windows market with the release of FileMaker Pro. 2.0. The move of represents the launching of an aggressive marketing campaign to promote...

Fiery adds support for Canon CLC 300 copier; other features also added. (Electronics for Imaging Inc.'s Fiery ColorLaser PostScript controller) (The Latest Word) (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... Other features also added Electronics for Imaging (EFI) has added new features to its Fiery ColorLaser PostScript controller, including support for Canon's CLC 300 color copier. When linked to Fiery, the CLC becomes a full-color,...

Inset Systems releases HiJaak for Windows; popular conversion utility includes image viewing and processing. (Brief Article) (The Latest Word) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... Popular conversion utility includes image viewing and processing For avid DOS HiJaak users, HiJaak 1.0 for Windows retains a command line option for batch processing and other familiar commands. By switching to the Windows version users...

New MiniSCSI cable available for PCs. (Trantor Systems Ltd.'s T348 MiniSCSI Plus small computer system interface adapter)(personal computers) (The Latest Word) (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... Trantor's cable gives PCs easy access to SCSI devices through parallel port Although Trantor has been selling its MiniScsi for two years, what makes the new MiniScsi interesting is that the parallel-to-SCSI adapter is build into a...

Echo Logic to help Mac migration to PowerPC. (FlashPort code translator to port Apple Macintosh applications to PowerPC-based Macintoshes) (The Latest Word) (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... AT&T venture converts developer code Porting Macintosh applications to the future PowerPC-based Macintoshes could be made easier as a result of an agreement between Echo Logic and Apple Computer. The two companies agreed to develop a set...

ColorLab Professional for Windows market. (Computer Presentations Inc.'s color correction and separation software for Microsoft Windows)(Brief Article) (The Latest Word) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... Separation/correction from Candela Computer Presentations is planning to release this month a Windows-based color correction and separation package that is a substantial improvement over its current technology. So much so that its...

EMS offers library of public TrueType fonts; 200 shareware Windows fonts for $50. (EMS Professional Shareware, Microsoft Windows)(Brief Article) (The Latest Word) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... 200 shareware Windows fonts for $50 EMS Professional Shareware, a distributor of public domain software, has issued a collection of 200 different public domain and shareware TrueType fonts for use with Windows 3.1. The fonts were created...

Aldus shows latest brainstorm, IntelliDraw. (Aldus Corp. Aldus Consumer Division's Aldus IntelliDraw dynamic illustration package)(Brief Article) (The Latest Word) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... Silicon Beach Software now called Aldus Consumer Division Sometimes it may seem that software development is reaching a plateau and that we are already getting the most out of the personal computer. But, even with today's sophisticated...

Report Styler cleans up the look of your data. (Alpha Software Corp.'s report formatting software)(Brief Article) (The Latest Word) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... Alpha Software is offering a Windows program that formats structured reports, such as might be generated by a database or accounting package. Its main utility seems to be prettifying reports that come from mainframes or other "ugly"...

NewGen ships two new laser printers. (NewGen Systems Corp.'s TurboPS/660 and TurboPS/630En)(Brief Article) (The Latest Word) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... NewGen Systems Corp., has started shipping the two newest additions to its Task Pro Series of laser printers - the TurboPS/660 and the TurboPS/630En. Both RISC-based printers come with NewGen's Image Enhancement Technology Level II,...

Canon shows CJ10 bubble-jet: 400-dpi color copier/scanner/printer. (dots per inch)(Brief Article) (The Latest Word) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... Simultaneously at PC Expo in New York and the Seybold Digital World Conference in Beverly Hills, CA, Canon unveiled a 400-dpi desktop color copier, the CJ10, based on its bubble-jet technology. The unit can produce one 8 1/2x11" color copy...

Production Note. (The Latest Word)
July 6, 1992... For research and cross-referencing, editors used Odessy Development's Isys text retrieval software to access a Seybold Report database. Galleys (for output and approximate page counts) were generated from Word for Windows. Pages were composed...

Still a chance for Unix? (AT&T Unix Systems Laboratories Inc.'s System V Release 4.2)(Brief Article) (This Month in the Computer Industry) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... The age-old bane of Unix, its fragmentation into dozens of incompatible variants, may at last be coming to an end. Last month, Unix System Laboratories (the software company that AT&T spun off) released System V Release 4.2, which includes...

MPEG chip arrives. (C-Cube Microsystems' CL450 compressed video decoder) (moving pictures experts group)(Brief Article) (This Month in the Computer Industry) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... C-Cube Microsystems announced that it has developed a single-chip decoder for MPEG-compressed video. It will shortly also offer a development board for ISA computers (AT compatibles) to simplify the engineering task of integrating the chip...

Kaleida CEO takes office. (Nat Goldhaber to run joint venture of Apple and IBM) (This Month in the Computer Industry) (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... At the Seybold Digital World Conference in Los Angeles, Apple and IBM named the man they had picked to run Kaleida: Nat Goldhaber. Kaleida is a joint venture of Apple and IBM to develop cross-platform standards for multimedia products. ...

PrintCache update. (LaserTools Corp.'s PrintCache 3.0 print buffering utility)(Brief Article) (Briefly...) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... PrintCache update. LaserTools has announced that it has begun shipping PrintCache 3.0, the first revision of the PC print buffering utility in two years. The new version supports Windows. The $149 utility is intended to give users control...

New HP LaserJet font cartridge. (IQ Engineering's Super Cartridge 3/Professional Edition+)(Brief Article) (Briefly...) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... New HP LaserJet fond cartridge. IQ Engineering has announced a new all-in-one font cartridge for HP LaserJet printers. The Super Cartridge 3/Professional Edition+contains 72 scalable typefaces and fonts. This is 32 more than the 40 typefaces...

FreeHand developer kit. (Altsys Corp.'s Facade developer's toolkit for Aldus FreeHand 3.0 or 3.1)(Brief Article) (Briefly...) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... FreeHand developer kit. Altsys announced Facade, a developer's toolkit for Aldus FreeHand 3.0 or 3.1. The toolkit provides software to manipulate FreeHand documents. It is designed to help programmers write standalone applications; among the...

Virtuoso for Sparc. (Altsys Corp.'s graphics software for Solaris operating system)(Brief Article) (Briefly...) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... Virtuoso for Sparc. Altsys announced a Virtuoso package for the Solaris operating system, which runs on Sparc computers. Like Virtuose for the Next, it provides functionality that is roughly similar to FreeHand 3: Bezier line drawing, joining...

New font magazine. (QED Publishing's X-height)(Brief Article) (Briefly...) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... New font magazine. QED Publishing has a new magazine devoted to type. Called X-height, it will explore the artistic and legal issues of fonts, as well as exploring typographic tools and technologies that come along. Judging from early issues,...

Video/sound card. (Media Vision Inc.'s Thunder and Lightning)(Brief Article) (Briefly...) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... Video/sound card. Media Vision has introduced a combo video and sound card for PCs. Named "Thunder and Lightning," the card offers 24-bit color up to 640x480-pixel resolution, 16-bit color at 800/600 and 8-bit color at 1,024x768. The audio is...

PC disk cache. (Future Systems Solutions' Speedcache Plus 4.0 software disk cache)(Brief Article) (Briefly... ) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... PC disk cache. Future Systems Solutions announced Speedcache Plus 4.0, a software disk cache for DOS or Windows that work with DC-ROM drives. The firm claims that the cache can boost CD-ROM performance up to forty-fold under DOS. (Windows...

LetraStudio update. (LetraSet USA's LetraStudio 2.0 type-distortion application)(Brief Article) (Briefly...) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... LetraStudio update. Letraset has shipped LetraStudio 2.0, an update of its type-distortion application. It now supports both Type 1 and TrueType formats; Letraset's earlier proprietary format is forgotten. The list price is $249, but the...

Ventura extends offer. (Ventura Software Inc.'s Ventura Publisher 4.0.1 for Windows; users can upgrade for longer) (Briefly...) (Brief Article)
July 6, 1992... Ventura extends offer. In a reassurance letter to all customers, Ventura Software president David Hanna extended the time limit by an unstated amount for upgrading any earlier version of Ventura Publisher to Ventura Publisher 4.0 for Windows....

Sour on 25-MB floppies. (Quadram Corp.'s QuadFlextra floppy disk drive) (Trials and Tribulations)
July 6, 1992... We recently spent time playing with Quadram's QuadFlextra drive. It uses special 3 1/2" floppy disks that can record up to 21 MB. (The vendor calls it a 25-MB disk, but that's the raw unformatted capacity.) We were attracted by this compact...

Calendar Update.
July 6, 1992... PANPA 1992 Digital World Imaging Workshop. Presentation on filmless photography developments and the latest in digital imaging techniques, picture handling, archiving, digital imaging capture and manipulations; plus hands-on application...

FontMonger for Windows released. (Ares Software Corp.'s font conversion and creation tool)(Brief Article) (The Latest Word) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... Ares Software Corp. has released FontMonger, its font conversion and creation tool, for Windows. The program converts files between Adobe PostScript Type 1 and 3, Nimbus Q and TrueType formats. It also converts font files from Agfa...

Reference Software ships Instant Answers: set includes four titles, more to come. (electronic reference books)(Brief Article) (The Latest Word) (Product Announcement)
July 6, 1992... Reference Software has released a new line of electronic reference books called Instant Answers. The first set includes four titles: The Electronic Business Writer's Handbook, the Electronic Mathematic's Handbook, The Electronic Associated...