Beginner help PP vs PS
15 messages in this thread
Beginer Advice-PS vs PP
I'm a beginner to DTP but want tpo get into it. My uses for it at this
point are mostly undefined, but things like presentation covers, simple
newsletters, school projects, etc.
I've settled on a choice between these two, and would like some opinions.
As a beginner, I'm interested in features, but I'm also interested in
things like user friendkiness, quality of the manual, quality of tutorials,
etc.
I have a 500 with 2 megs fast and 11 meg chip ram, GVP series two HD 52
megs, and Adspeed. I am currently printing on a nine pin Star rainbow dot
matrix, but plan to upgrade to Deskjet soon.
I know the PP has released v 2.1, but PS has not yet released 2.2 so the
comparisons may be apples to oranges, but would still like to know which
one to ask Santa for. Dan Cole
Asking for a comparison between PStream and PPage is like pressing the
button on WWIII 🙂
Both programs have their good and bad points … and, for a "slow-speed"
system, my preference is for ProPage. However, your choice of "free" fonts
is fairly limited with ProPage, whilst there are hundreds of suitable fonts
for PStream available here on CIS (although you'll have to track them down
in various forums). I currently have just over 260 fonts for PStream which
I acquired from CompuServe, many of which _could_ be used with ProPage with
a bit of work and various conversion utilities.
My personal views are as follows (based on a basic A500/1000/2000 system):
PageStream
excellent for one or two page documents
slow at times (although there have been
suggestions of how to improve the speed …
I've not tried them as they take away some
essential functionality)
versatile output (you can have really big printouts by
tiling together several pages)
finer control over fonts sizes etc.
relatively (to PPage) poor user interface, but many people
do seem to like it
Can handle many different types of imported graphics
Sometimes has a mind of its own 🙂
Very large base of fonts available
Uses its own printer drivers
Professional Page
Faster and more efficient (although still a little slow on a
small machine)
Slightly easier to use (IMHO) … you can do lots with double-
clicking on things whereas PStream doesn't seem to accept
double-click selections
Limited font availability
Limited output (limited to what the printer can print)
Otherwise does just about the same as PStream
Uses Amiga's own printer drivers
The choice can be difficult … for serious work on your system, you may
find ProPage somewhat more productive. However, for your applications it
may well be that PStream is a slightly better choice because of the
increased range of fonts
[ MORE ]
Mike: as stated, PgS 2.2 will change a number of things. Double clicking is
of course supported in 2.2. For info, PageStream uses its own printer
drivers because the preferences drivers are not adequate for desktop
publishing. For example, prefs drivers won't let Deskjet printers print a
full page. Our driver drives the DeskJet better. As well, we support every
printer. If you have a printer which we don't support, we'll write a driver
for it. Prefs cannot offer this. We also like to think our interface offers
a lower learning curve. Of course it depends on which program one firsts
starts on, but our no-frames interface is great for beginners and
professionals.
SL
SL,
Do you know if Deron and company have written a driver for the DeskJet C
(the color one) yet? That would be a good bonus to slip into 2.2 before it
ships, as I have a feeling that printer's going to be VERY popular with
Amigans…
…Denny Atkin
No, the driver hasn't been written. What is different about this printer.
I've sort of ign permed all the topics with it in it. (Can't read
everything 🙂
Mike
Mike,
It's a 300DPI color version of the Deskjet. VERY nice.
…Denny Atkin
Yes, I am looking forward to seeing 2.2 (when is it likely to appear?)
The fact that you use your own drivers can indeed be an advantage, I
thought I'd said that … maybe I didn't.
As for the no-frames interface, I personally don't like it, after all,
we;re using boxes so it's nice to be able to see and manipulate the boxes
.. and, in any case, you can turn them on or off in both PPage and PStream.
What I _do_ like in ProPage is that I can double-click on a box and get the
parameters for that box and then alter them as I need. For serious qork,
there's nothing to beat the added option of being able to quote actual
numbers for hings (it makes aligning things so much easier, and makes TABs
so much better!).
Will 2.2 allow TABs to be set "numerically"? I do hope so as the
point&click method has never been satisfactory for accurate work.
I have watched beginners on both ProPage and PStream … I think in the
very early days they are evenly matched … beyond that ProPage tends to
prove easier. Interestingly, while I have used PP and PS for a long time
now, I actually started my DTP experiences with PS.
Mike (Whapping from the UK)
We have not set a date for 2.2 beyond Winter 91. It's being worked on, and
the quickie little upgrade has turned into a major upgrade. Lots of
changes.
No-frames interface: you don't like it? Wow, that's a first. Most people
love it. I was teaching some people XPress this week (have to do something
in my spare time) and trying to use frames for every little thing is a
pain. You can edit the coordinates for a text frame (column) in PgS too,
with the Edit Coords command. (Amiga E). Same as double clicking in
Propage. I know you can't do decimal tabs in PgS tho. No, 2.2 will not have
decimal tabs. But it IS the #1 item for the next major upgrade. It will be
done. But not for 2.2 (which was supposed to be a quick bug fix and
HotLinks patch.) So much for that idea. You're going to love it.
SL
SL
Decimal Tabs and Dot Leader Tabs. Please, Please, Please.
You go your way . . . I'll go Maui
Rich 😉
[ continuation ]
available.
There is not a lot to choose between the manuals, although I keep finding
that ProPage's index is a little more useful. PStream's seems to assume
rather less background knowledge.
Mike (Whapping from the UK)
Do you have our 2.1 manual? (The two volume set)
SL
I have the PageStrean 2 user manual (first edition … Dec 90) as supplied
with the 2.1 upgrade .. plus the "QuickStart" manual. Apart from some
_minor_ limitations with the index, the PStream manuals are very good …
especially as they assume rather less background knowledge than ProPage's.
Mike (Whapping from the UK)
Glad you like the PageStream 2 manuals. There will not be a manual update
for 2.2, just an addendum flyer. That will have to wait for the next
version. But we'll take any comments you have for the next edition. I have
a file folder full of things to change (and have already made hundreds of
changes.) The next edition will also feature brand new tutorials.
SL Tech
Your configuration of memory is interesting. Would you consider selling the
extra 3 Megs of memory that is useless to you? Your Amiga 500 can only
access a total of 9 Megs of memory (both chip and fast) so you have extra
memory somewhere.
Is your GVP fully expanded to 8 megs? If so what do you have the
additional 2 megs beyond your Amiga internal of 1 Meg?
I have a GVP Series II with 2 megs of 1 Meg SIMMS. I also have a
BaseBoard with 4.5 Megs onboard. I use PP2.1 and am quite pleased with it.
I've watched it grow from 1.3 to 2.0 and now to 2.1 and believe me, the
differences are noticeable. To get it to work correctly with my
configuration, I had to buy a B-PAL from Expansion Systems (BaseBoard). My
Ami500 has a Version 5 motherboard and needed the B-PAL to give me larger
contiguous blocks of memory. PP and DPIII would not run to max. potential
until I added it. Once I did, I was able to load all anim's into DPIII and
all DOC's (color) into PP.
Rodger – via Whap! From S. Western Oklahoma