On 05/26/2007 01:59 PM, Pueblo Native wrote: > NoOp wrote: >> On 05/25/2007 06:42 PM, Donald H Locker wrote: >> >>> Check out Scribus <http://www.scribus.net> No need for OOo to >>> reinvent this wheel. >>> >>> >> >> Check out OOo & RTM... >> What is there in MS Publisher (aside from templates) that you can't do >> in OOo? >> >> > > There are those two, and I don't know if this is considered that off > topic or not, but can we really define DTP software as a category > separate from word processors? What would be the distinction? Color > separations? Dealing with text as a design element?
I really don't consider MS Publisher much of a DTP. It's simply a quasi DTP that MS created to compensate for the lack of handling frames, color separation, and poor graphic positioning and insertion in MS Word/Office. Most MS Office users use it for creating brochures, flyers, notices, etc. Professional DTP printing houses tend to cringe at MS Publisher file submissions - and I suspect at Art Explosion Publisher Pro (though I doubt that there are many submitted from the latter). That said, MS Publisher has its advantages for templates and "somewhat" ease of use at the amature level. I've used MS Publisher, Adobe PageMaker, and Scribus to create professional marketing brochures, non-profit tri-fold brochures, and the like, and in the end I've not found any of them all that easy in the end. I can't simply send off the files for someone else to edit unless they have those programs, the first two being very costly, and the third being quite buggy on occasion, memory and CPU intensive and closed format. On the other hand I can create the same in OOo and send it off and it can be edited, updated, saved to PDF, saved to other formats (even if the formating doesn't always work), and realize that in the future other ODF programs can open and work on the file(s) even if they are not OOo. So, I guess it gets down to why folks keep suggesting Scribus (a fine mid-level DTP) when most folks asking about MS Publisher here are most likely looking for a MS Office equivalent to creating simple brochures, flyers, etc., all of which can be found in the OOo (and other 3rd party) templates. Don't misunderstand; OOo can be difficult as well as you will have to learn to use frames, styles, etc., properly. But you need to do this with PageMaker as well. Do you really need MS Publisher? I don't know, I haven't used it in quite awhile. But from recollection I think that you can do just about anything (and more) in OOo that you can in MS Publisher. - Frames - inherent in OOo. - Styles - try to find them in MSP - Color separation - CMYK etc., in Draw [http://www.webskills4u.com/index.php/site/article/color_models/] - Graphics - in OOo can be positioned, anchored etc. If you want to create brochures, postcards, etc., many templates are available... for example here is a sample link for postcards: http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2007/04/making_postcard.html If the OP is actually looking for an actual DTP (which OOo is not) then I most definitely recommend Scribus. If, on the other hand the OP is looking to do the same in OOo as he/she has been doing in MS Publisher, then I recommend learning OOo. BTW: ever spend hours, days, weeks working on a simple tri-fold brochure in MS Publisher only to find out that it turns out to be a 10MB file and then find out later that you can't send it to anybody because they don't have a legal copy of MS Publisher? How about trying to export it to a Word file for editing the text? (Try that with PageMaker as well). Ever do the same with Scribus?; it's format *is* open XML... however ever try to edit a Scribus project outside of Scribus? How about creating that tri-fold brochure in Scribus & then doing a "File Save As" or "File Export"? You'll find that you can "Save As": *.sla, *.sla.gz, *.scd, *scd.gz - you can export as: EPS, PDF, Image, SVG. How many MS Publisher types do you think would even recognize those file formats (other than perhaps EPS and certainly PDF)? I for one would like to see folks on this list: 1) first find out why the OP is asking about MS Publisher with regard to OOo - are they looking to do simple/semi-complex brochures, flyers, newsletters etc., and 2) actually find out if perhaps OOo will suit their requirements first before sending them down the Scribus or other outside path. I think it simply irresponsible to blatantly send a "I would to see a publishing program similar to MS Publisher or Art Exolosion (sic) Publisher Pro" query off to Scribus DTP land without even knowing what the OP currently does with MS Publisher and wishes to do with OOo. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
