The Seybold Report on Desktop Publishing articles from September 1992

The Seybold Report on Desktop Publishing archives from September 1992

The code alternative: TeX is still ticking. (summary of the article inside on Blue Sky Research's Lightning Textures implementation of the TeX typesetting system)
September 4, 1992... TeX has long held a reputation for elegant typesetting of scholarly books, particularly those containing complex mathematics. But it also has a reputation for being difficult to master, for it is entirely code- and macro-driven. However, a...

Group editing via electronic whiteboard. (summary of the article inside on Group Technologies' Aspects software for collaborative writing and editing over networked Macintosh computers)
September 4, 1992... We recently ran across a Macintosh application for collaborative writing and editing through the medium of real-time conferencing across a network. It's called Aspects, by Group Technologies. We were impressed with its communication...

More modules: Additions & Xtensions. (introduction to article inside that reviews for Additions software modules for Pagemaker desktop publishing software and five Xtensions modules for the Xpress desktop publishing software)
September 4, 1992... We continue our ongoing coverage of software modules that extend the power of popular desktop publishing products. This month, we take a look at four Additions for PageMaker: Edco Services' PMproKit (actually five Additions in one package),...

Five years ago. (brief excerpts from the Sep 10, 1987, issue of the newsletter)
September 4, 1992... Vol. 2, No. 1 (Sept. 10, 1987) We began our second year of the Desktop Publishing journal with a look at the Unix operating system and three leading suppliers of Unix workstations--Sun, Apollo and DEC. As the price/performance gap...

TeX and Textures: page composition in a completely different vein. (Software Review) (Blue Sky Research's Textures is a fast, useful and efficient Macintosh implementation of the TeX typesetting system; history of TeX and uses of TeX and Textures are discussed; related articles provide basic product and vendor data and host system requirements and discuss line-breaking in TeX)
September 4, 1992... TeX is a typesetting system that is used for publishing scholarly material, especially works containing heavy mathematics. It is popular at universities and research facilities around the world, but it is hardly known outside academic...

Group editing made easy: a hands-on look at Aspects. (Software Review) (Group Technologies' $299 Aspects is an effective tool for collaborative writing and editing on networked Macintosh computers, but the limits of its word processing and graphics modules do not recommend its use for final copies)
September 4, 1992... For the past couple of years, people have been talking about multiuser tools for collaborative writing and editing, but good examples have been scarce. Recently, though, we came across a Macintosh product that was designed from the ground up...

Additions for Aldus PageMaker and Xtensions for Quark Xpress, part II. (brief descriptions of add-on software products for the two desktop publishing software packages) (Buyers Guide)
September 4, 1992... Last June (see Vol. 6, No. 10), we began a series of articles reviewing some of the interesting software products developed as add-on modules to help customize standard page composition programs. The focus of that article was on Xtensions...

Bargain end-user font pricing from URW. (Hamburg, Germany, digital type foundry URW introduces $895 URW TypeWorks Collection CD-ROM, which contains 500 PostScript Type 1 fonts plus five variations of each) (Product Announcement)
September 4, 1992... Although not an exhibitor at Macworld, URW, the digital type foundary headed by Dr. Peter Karow and based in Hamburg, Germany, capitalized on the Macworld festivities in Boston to make a few product announcements. URW is best known for...

Brainerd shakes Aldus awake, 100 laid off. US, European operations restructured. (CEO Paul Brainerd itemizes causes for layoff and restructuring; an analysis of Aldus' condition attributes situation to slow response to competitive pressures)
September 4, 1992... U.S., European operations restructured Citing the troubled economy and lower than expected sales of its Windows applications, Aldus recently announced that it will restructure its organization and reduce its U.S. workforce by 11...

The Wall cuts multiscreen video cost; RasterOps puts it all into a Mac. (Brief Article)(RasterOps' new $3,995 WallBoard video controller card drives four monitors and enables the Apple Macintosh to address a multi-monitor video wall as a single QuickDraw drawing space) (Product Announcement)
September 4, 1992... RasterOps puts it all into a Mac It wasn't exactly a desktop display, but one of the more noticeable exhibits at Macworld was a big, multiscreen video wall in the RasterOps booth. As it turns out, the display itself was what the...

Aldus shows 'Fetch' for mixed-media database management; based on Multi-Ad Search, but made network-aware. (Fetch will first ship as a browsing/cataloging tool for inclusion in other vendors' products and ship to end-users later in 1992; Provident Software developed it as well as Multi-Ad Services Multi-Ad Search image cataloging and retrieval software)
September 4, 1992... Based on Multi-Ad Search, but made network-aware Last month we reported that Aldus Corporation had acquired the rights to a multiuser, mixed-media database management product for the Macintosh, code-named Fetch (see Vol. 6, No. 12, p....

Fractal Design Sketcher replaces ImageStudio: $149 package for artists, designers. (new software package combines Fractal's 'natural media' graphics tools with monochrome gray-scale image editing) (Product Announcement)
September 4, 1992... $149 package for artEsts, designers Fractal Design, the original developers of the ImageStudio and ColorStudio image editing software formerly marketed by Letraset, demonstrated a new, inexpensive image program for the Macintosh at the...

Kodak ships PhotoCD Access for use with Mac. (Brief Article)(software enables PhotoCD images to be used with Macintosh applications that do not directly support the format) (Product Announcement)
September 4, 1992... Kodak has released a software package, PhotoCD Access, that lets PhotoCD images be used with Mac applications that do not yet support the format directly. Essentially the software allows users to browse and locate an image on the PhotoCD...

Color printers, Canon BX featured at Macworld: but not much of a publishing show. (new printer introductions at Macworld Boston include three continuous-tone color printers using a Sharp dye-sublimation print engine: Tektronix's PhaserIISD, GCC Technologies' ColorTone and Sharp's JX-7000) (Product Announcement)
September 4, 1992... Macworld Boston isn't much of a "publishing" show any more. The frenetic hype and hoopla that once surrounded the wonder of desktop publishing have moved on to new venues-most noticeably multimedia and digital video. Instead of exclaiming...

Monochrome at 600-dpi using Canon BX engine. (new CalComp CCL 600 and NewGen TurboPS/660B laser printers provide 11-by-17-inch output; NewGen's TurboPS/440B uses 400-dpi version of the BX engine) (Product Announcement)
September 4, 1992... The price of high-resolution, 11"x17", plain-paper printing continues to drop as new products based on Canon's LBP-BX engine enter the market. The LBP-BX engine prints at a true 600x600-dpi resolution. The first enduser product to...

Other printer announcements. (CalComp's Computer Graphics Group introduces the 68000 GA series of large-format, color electrostatic plotters; LaserMaster introduces the Unity 1000J Japanese-language laser printers for Macintosh computers running KanjiTalk applications) (Product Announcement)
September 4, 1992... Large-format electrostatic. CalComp's Computer Graphics Group is well known for its large-format CAD/CAE output devices, and the company has adapted several of these to the needs of the graphic arts. For example, CalComp's ProofMaster is a...

Sharp JX-610 replaces JX-600 flatbed scanner. (Brief Article) (new 600-by-1200-dpi flatbed CCD scanner has 12-by-17-inch scanning area) (Product Announcement)
September 4, 1992... Sharp showed a new-generation, 600x1,200-dpi flatbed CCD scanner, the JX-610. Designed to handle both transparent and reflective originals, the new scanner will replace the JX-600 in Sharp's product line. The JX-610 provides a scan area...

Radius RocketShare blasts off. (Brief Article) (RocketShare software extension to Apple System 7 operating system enables multiprocessing on Macintoshes hosting Radius Rocket processors; SCSI-II Booster daughter card for Rocket accelerators also introduced) (Product Announcement)
September 4, 1992... Radius announced that RocketShare, a software extension to Apple's System 7, which provides multiprocessing capabilities for Macs equipped with Radius Rocket accelerators, began being shipped in August. Priced at $499, the software...

Production note. (software and hardware used in producing the newsletter) (Brief Article)
September 4, 1992... For research and cross-referencing, editors used Odessy Development's lsys text retrieval software to access a Seybold Report database. Galleys were generated from Word for Windows. Photos were scanned on a Xerox/PixelCraft 7650 Pro Imager...

Letraset's Fontek line. (Brief Article) (Font Notes)(about 100 unique display and headline fonts in TrueType and Type 1 versions will debut in 1992 for $40 each) (Product Announcement)
September 4, 1992... Letraset's Fontek line. Having apparently gotten over its affair with the desktop publishing software business, Letraset seems ready to settle down to its traditional strength in the graphic arts market: fonts. The software packages it...

Wayzata Fun House. (Brief Article) (Font Notes)(Wayzata Technology's $49 Font Fun House CD-ROM includes hundreds of public domain and shareware Type 1, Type 3 and TrueType fonts and Agfa and Adobe screen fonts) (Product Announcement)
September 4, 1992... Wayzata Technology, a publisher of shareware and public-domain software on CD-ROM, has issued a disc with hundreds of assorted Type1, Type 3 and TrueType fonts. The disc, called Font Fun House, costs $49. About a third of the fonts on the...

My very own font. (Brief Article) (Font Notes)(Signature Software will turn handwriting into both TrueType and PostScript fonts for $105; will also license its Personal Font cursive-script font-creation software) (Product Announcement)
September 4, 1992... Let's get personal now. All these commercial fonts are well and good, but anyone can buy them. Perhaps you'd like something a bit more individual? If so, Signature Software stands ready to help you. For a mere $105, the firm will turn your...

ZSoft unveils file-transfer/fax software; UltraFax can send binary files for those who want more than just the fax. (Software Review) (new Windows-based software includes a useful file transfer facility)
September 4, 1992... UltraFax can send binary files for those who want more than just the fax Although the capability to print directly to a remote fax machine has existed for years, the market is now picking up steam as vendors add more sizzle. The latest...

Acecad ships low-cost mini digitizing tablet; $180 bundle includes Microsoft Pen Extensions for Windows 1.0a. (Brief Article) (new Acecat has a 5-by-5-inch active area and resolution to 1,000 lines per inch) (Product Announcement)
September 4, 1992... $180 bundle includes Microsoft Pen Extensions for Windows 1.0a Acecad of Monterey, CA, has begun shipping a small, lightweight digitizing tablet and stylus pen for both PCs and Macs. Called the Acecat, it measures 8"x9" with a 5"x5"...

Intellidraw: 'a whole new way to draw': second look at innovation from Aldus. (Software Review) (the robustly featured illustration software package is useful for a wide range of applications)
September 4, 1992... Second look at innovation from Aldus If you've become bored with drawing programs because they seem so similiar, you might want to take a look at Aldus's Intellidraw. The Aldus Consumer Division has come up with an interesting product...

PC-Kwik offers drag-and-drop compression. (Software Review) (new WinMaster set of Windows-management utilities features the easy-to-use and useful KwikVault file compression facility)
September 4, 1992... PC-Kwik offers drag-and-drop compression Multisoft Corp., which changed its name to PC-Kwik a few months ago, recently released WinMaster. Billed as a productivity tool for Windows, WinMaster could easily get lost among all the other...

Compaq enters market for network fax/printers: 12- and 20-ppm units support 11" by 17" inch output, 800-by-400 dpi and PostScript. (impacts of the Compaq Pagemarq 15 and Pagemarq 20 on the mainstream office market are discussed) (Product Announcement)
September 4, 1992... Ending months of speculation that originated with its announcement in June that it planned to introduce a new Peripherals Division, Compaq recently announced its first products in what promises to be an exciting line of network laser...