Page Maker Tutorial

Adobe PageMaker 7.0

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Chapter 1 - Basic Information - PageMaker

Basic Information:
Adobe PageMaker is powerful and versatile page layout software. Professionals use PageMaker for its exceptional typographic controls, exacting page design capabilities, including layers, frames, and multiple master pages, and numerous customizing options.

PageMaker’s extensive importing and linking capabilities let you incorporate text, graphics, spreadsheets, charts, and movie frames from most popular programs. It also incorporates menu plug-ins that extend the program’s features and capabilities. It also supports advanced color printing technologies, including high-fidelity inks, color management support, automatic trapping, built-in imposition tools, and complete separation capabilities for text and graphics.

Let us first understand the PageMaker Window with its various components. Fig 1 shows the important areas of the PageMaker window:

To check figures download PDF

Fig1.1
Fig 1.2

You use the menu bar to give PageMaker instructions on how to set up your publication and lay out your pages. As shown in fig. 1.2, the Menu Bar contains nine different options:

• File – Use this menu to manipulate your files. You can create, open, close, save, export and import files with this option. The menu also contains command for printing.
• Edit – This menu contains options for cutting and pasting text and graphics.
• Layout – Using this menu, you can choose to insert and delete pages. This also has the option for inserting Column Guides.
• Type – The options on this menu allow you to specify the size and alignment of your text. Almost everything related to text is on the Type menu, including fonts, sizes, alignment, type styles, spacing and indentations.
• Element – This menu contains options that affect graphic elements, such as lines, rectangles, and ellipses/circle, as well as imported graphics images.
• Utilities – This menu is the gateway to the PageMaker plug-ins. It also contains Story Editor commands (to perform searches, replacements and spell checks) and options for creating tables of contents and indices.
• View – Use this menu to view the page at different levels of magnification. For example, you can see the entire page at once with one option, or you can zoom a section of a page to twice its actual size with another. This menu also contains items that can be turned on and off, such as rulers and grids.
• Window – Use this menu to control what you see in your window. For example, you can turn on and off display of the toolbox, Colors palette, control palette, and a Style palette.
• Help – Use this menu to display an index of different topics on which online information is available.

In many of these menus, there are options that are unavailable at the time of selection and are dimmed. If these menu items are selected, the program just ignores them. For example, the items like Find, Find Next, etc. in fig 1.3.

Fig 1.3

Some of the menu options have a right-pointing triangle next to them. For example, on the Utilities menu, the Plug-ins have this symbol, which indicates that a cascading menu will appear when you select the option. A cascading menu shows a list of additional choices.

The Toolbox, as in fig. 1.1, appears in the upper-left corner of the window, but can be moved to anywhere in the publication window. The PageMaker tools allow you to create or modify text and graphics on the page. To select a tool, just click on it. Of course, there are also keyboard shortcuts for each and every tool in the Toolbox. The table 1.1 gives the list of tools available along with the function and the icons representing each of them.

Apart from these, there is also the Control Palette as was shown in fig 1.1. In fact, there are many Palettes like Color Palette, Control Palette, Hyperlinks Palette, Master Pages Palette, Style Palette and Tools Palette. The Control Palette changes according to the tool selected in the toolbox.

📦 PageMaker Toolbox

The Pointer Tool:
Enables you to pick, drag and drop text boxes, images and other objects, which can then be resized, moved or can have their attributes changed.

Text Tool:
Enables you to select and edit text, as well as insert text boxes. Click the text tool and then click on the document and start typing in text.

Rotate Tool:
Enables you to rotate a text box or image to a desired angle. Select the rotate tool, and click on the object's reference point. Drag the object to the angle you want it to be.

Crop Tool:
Enables you to crop imported images down to size. You can only use this PageMaker tool on .tiff images.

Oblique Line Tool:
Enables you to draw straight lines at an angle. Click on the oblique line tool, then click on the document. Drag in the desired direction to draw a line.

Constrained Line Tool:
Enables you to draw horizontal, vertical and 45-degree angle lines. Click on the constrained line tool, then click on the document. Drag in the desired direction to draw a line.

Box Tool:
Enables you to create rectangular shapes. Select the box tool and click on the document. Drag to create a rectangular shape.

Rectangle Frame Tool:
Enables you to create a rectangular text box that you can type your text into. Select the rectangle frame tool, then click on the document. Drag to draw a rectangular frame. Select the Text tool from the toolbox and click inside the frame. Type in your text. The text will be confined within the text box.

Circle Tool:
Enables you to create a circular or oval shape. Select the circle tool, click on the document. Drag to draw a circle or ellipse.

Circular Frame Tool:
Enables you to create a circular or oval-shaped text box that you can type your text into. Select the circular frame tool, then click on the document. Drag to draw the circular frame. Select the text tool from the toolbox and click inside the frame. Type in your text. The text will be confined within the text box.

Polygon Tool:
Enables you to create a shape that has more than four sides. Select the circular frame tool, then click on the document. Drag to draw the polygonal shape.
To modify the polygonal shape, click on Element and then select Polygon Settings from the drop down menu.

Polygon Frame Tool:
Enables you to create a polygonal text box. Select the polygon frame tool, then click on the document. Drag to draw the polygon frame. Select the text tool from the toolbox and click inside the frame. Type in your text. The text will be confined within the text box.

Hand Tool:
Enables you to reposition a page on your screen for optimal view. It is especially useful when you are working with a large document and need to navigate a large page. Select the hand tool and click on the page. Drag to navigate from one part of the page to another.

Zoom Tool:
Enables you to magnify or shrink the area of the page on your screen.

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts of Using Tools

📘 Basic Information

Viewing the Page:

The Fit to Window option under the View menu lets you see the entire page or page spread inside your publication window. This is the default view. The Actual Size option displays the elements on your page at their actual printed size. Use this option to read small type. To toggle between Fit in Window and Actual Size, press Shift and press the right mouse button. When precision is imperative, you can select Zoom To select a larger value. To find or view objects on the pasteboard, use Entire Pasteboard. To move to the next greater or lesser preset view of a page, choose View > Zoom In or View > Zoom Out.

To magnify a part of the page, you can drag the magnifying glass after selecting the Zoom tool. Drag to draw a marquee around the area you want to magnify. You can also zoom to magnify or reduce, even when you are using a different tool. To magnify, press Ctrl + Spacebar as you click the mouse, and to reduce, press Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar as you click.

Creating and Opening Publications:

Once you start PageMaker, you can either create a new publication from scratch, or open an existing PageMaker Publication, or you can begin a new publication based on an existing design by opening a template.

When you are creating a publication from scratch, you make basic design decisions in the Document Setup dialog box, which opens automatically when you choose File > New.

You specify page layout details – number of text columns, paper size, orientation, page numbering scheme, and the basic design of the publication. When under Option, Double sided is selected, side margins are labeled Inside and Outside. Otherwise, side margins become Left and Right. If you know how many pages the publication will have, you can create them at this point by filling up the appropriate number in Number of Pages. If you do not know, you can easily add or remove pages later. Select the option Adjust Layout when you change the page settings of an existing layout and want PageMaker to automatically move and scale text and graphic objects. If the current publication is a part of a larger book (a linked set of publications), and not numbered sequentially, then select the option Restart Page Numbering. You also have to specify the printer that you will use to print the final version of your publication under Compose to Printer, and select the dots per inch (dpi) of your final output device under Target Printer Resolution.

To open an existing PageMaker publication, use the File > Open command to open the original version or a copy of a PageMaker publication or template. PageMaker also keeps track of the eight last publications you opened and saved and lists these when you choose File > Recent Publications.

You should give careful thought to your page setup when you are creating a publication. Before you add any text or graphics to the page, make the following important decisions:

• 1. Paper size of the final document.
• 2. Margin settings.
• 3. Whether you want the page orientation to be tall or wide (PageMaker does not use the terms like Landscape and Portrait).
• 4. Whether the final document will be double-or single-sided.

PageMaker provides you a choice of 14 industry-standard page sizes: Letter, Legal, Tabloid, A3, A4, A5, B5, Magazine Narrow, Magazine Wide, Magazine Broad, Compact Disk, Letterhalf, and Legalhalf. Furthermore, by choosing Custom, you can create a page of any size. By using PageMaker’s Printer Marks (a fancy name for crop marks), you can tell your print shop exactly where to cut the paper to achieve the desired size.

📝 Working with Text and Graphics

In PageMaker, graphics that you draw or import and text (which can be contained either in text blocks or in text frames), are called objects. An object can be on a page or on the pasteboard. You can use the pointer tool to select objects. You can select a single object or you can select multiple objects and modify them all at once.

You insert text in PageMaker like you would in a word processor program; click the insertion point where you want to begin, and then type. When you type text, it may appear as greeked text (which displays as gray bars rather than individual characters), depending on the size of the text and the view magnification of the page. To get the insertion point, select the text tool from the toolbar. The text tool turns into an I-Beam when you move into the page. Click the I-beam where you want to insert text on the page, and then begin typing. If you click outside of an existing text object, you create a new text block automatically.

Text you create becomes part of a PageMaker story. A story is a collection of text that PageMaker recognizes as a single unit for editing purposes. A story can comprise numerous threaded text objects, or it can be just one text object. To view the boundaries of the text block you just created, select the pointer tool and click anywhere in the text.

📄 Manipulating Pages

Select Insert Pages from the Layout menu. The Insert Pages dialog box prompts for the number of pages you want to insert and the positioning of the new page. If the publication is double-sided, the default choice is to insert two pages, and in single-sided, the default is one page. You can insert the new page(s) before or after the current page or page spread, or between the pages in a spread.

The Remove Pages command on the Layout menu is straightforward with an easy-to-use dialog box. You can select any range of pages to remove, but they must be contiguous. When you remove a page, all elements on the page vanish too.

🧩 Sorting Pages

The Layout > Sort Pages command is a very handy tool that provides you with instant thumbnails of all the pages in your publication. It also accurately depicts double-sided documents, and even provides an adequate account of a document.

🔤 Character Formatting

Using the Text tool, you can insert new text, delete unwanted characters and cut and paste. You can also change fonts, adjust type sizes and add type styles such as boldface and italics.

Moving the Cursor:

To position the I-beam, move it to where you want to begin entering text and click the left mouse button.

Selecting Text:

• Click and drag across the text.
• Click at the beginning of the text, place the I-beam at the end, and press Shift as you click.
• Double-click a word to select it.
• Triple-click a paragraph to select the entire paragraph.
• Hold down the Shift key and press arrow keys to extend selection.

Once you have selected a text, do not type anything. If you do, you will replace the selected text with whatever you type.

Using the Character Specifications Dialog Box:

If you need to make more than one change to the type (e.g., change font and size or specify bold and italic), choose Character from the Type menu, or press Ctrl + T. This displays the Character Specifications dialog box, which offers drop-down lists for font and size, and checkboxes for type styles.

Additional Formatting Options:

Case: Normal (default), All Caps, Small Caps. You can set Small Caps size via the Options button.

Leading: Sets the vertical space for text. Methods:

• Auto: Default (120% of type size).
• Standard: Choose from presets.
• Custom: Enter value via Type > Leading > Other.

Tracking: Controls space between letters and words. Type > Expert Tracking has 6 options:

• No Track (default)
• Normal Tracking
• Very Loose
• Loose
• Tight
• Very Tight

Horizontal Scale: Adjust character width (5% to 250%). Prefer built-in condensed/expanded fonts over scaling. Type > Horizontal Scale.

Position: Used for superscript or subscript formatting. Other options in the dialog are self-explanatory.

Chapter 2 - Character Formatting - IV (PageMaker)

Aligning Text Blocks with a Ruler Guide

When you are positioning text blocks and graphics, you may want to use PageMaker’s ruler guides to align elements in the same way you would use a T-Square or a ruler.

These guides can be horizontal or vertical, you are allowed up to 120 ruler guides in any combination of horizontal and vertical. Like the margin guides, the ruler guides do not print.

To insert a vertical ruler guide, click in the vertical ruler and drag the guide to the right. To insert a horizontal ruler guide, click in the horizontal ruler and drag the guide down onto the page. If your rulers are not displayed on the screen, choose Show Guides from the View menu or press Ctrl + ;.

Positioning text blocks is even easier if the Snap to Guides option is turned on. This option creates a magnetic effect between the object you are moving and the various guides on the page (ruler, margin, and column). To see if the Snap to Guides option is turned on, choose View menu and check the tick against the said option.

Aligning Text Blocks Automatically

PageMaker allows another way to align text blocks; with the Element > Align Objects command. Using the Align Object dialog box, you can align objects vertically at the top, center, or button, and / or horizontally at the left, centre, or right. You can also choose to space or distribute the objects by a fixed amount (such as 1 inch apart) or within the boundary of the selected objects. When one of the text blocks is already in position, you may find Align Object command to be faster than using the ruler guides.

Before you issue the Arrange > Align Object command, you should select the text blocks (two or more) that you want to align.

Paragraph Formatting

Paragraph formatting is about the options that affect the paragraph or group of paragraphs, like centering, justifying, indentation, vertical spacing, hyphenation, paragraph breaks, etc. Most of these options are in the Paragraph Specification dialog box, accessed by choosing Paragraph from the Type menu, the keyboard shortcut being Ctrl + M. You can also make paragraph formatting changes in the Control Palette. To access the Control palette’s paragraph formatting options, click the paragraph symbol (fig 1).

This results in the palette’s paragraph view. To return in the Character View of the control palette, you have to click the capital T.

Aligning Paragraphs

PageMaker offers four ways to align text: left, right, centered, or justified. The default paragraph alignment is left; that is, the text is lined up at the left edge of the text block.

The last line of the paragraph is not justified unless you choose the Force Justify alignment option.

Indenting Paragraphs

An Indent is extra space on the left or right side of the paragraph. Frequently, the first line of each paragraph of body text is indented. This can be done by specifying a first-line indent. After you set up a first-line indent, you do not have to press the Tab key at the beginning of each paragraph.

Adding Paragraph Spacing

You should not press Enter key to insert an extra space between paragraphs. There are several reasons for avoiding blank lines created with a carriage return.

In the Paragraph Specification dialog box, you can set the amount of space before and after your paragraphs. Another way to specify the paragraph spacing is in the Control Palette, these fields are marked in figure below.

Using the Story Editor in PageMaker

The Story Editor is yet another way to type and edit text in PageMaker. Just click the text you want to edit, press Ctrl + E (or use Edit > Edit Story from the menu), and your story appears in its own word processing window. All the text tool’s editing commands (insert, delete cut and paste) are available in the Story Editor. The Story Editor is also equipped with two powerful features that are not there when you use the text tool: a spelling checker and a search-and-replace feature.

Creating Style in PageMaker

To create a style, you use the Define Style dialog box to assign a style name to a formatted paragraph... [remaining content unchanged]

Editing and Removing Style in PageMaker

Editing a Style

To make a formatting change to a style, you do not edit the actual text; you revise the style...

Removing Style

If you do not intend to use the default styles in your publication, you should delete them so as not to confuse with the ones being used...

Setting Up Column Guides

You create columns to control the flow of text in text blocks that you place automatically...

Format the Header / Footer Text Block

1. Use the pointer to select a text block in the story for which you want a header or footer.
2. Choose Utilities > Plug-ins > Running Headers / Footers.
3. At the top of the sample page, select the master or publication pages that have the guides you want to use for positioning purposes.
4. Click or drag the Place icon to create a text block placeholder, and position it where you want the header or footer to appear...
5. Use the nudge buttons or the Position and Width boxes to finalize the placement and width...
6. From the Content Style menu, select a paragraph style with which to format the text...
7. For Apply to, select a page range for the selected text block or select Each Page in Story...
8. Repeat steps 4-7 for each running header or footer text block you want to appear.

Creating Master Pages

In addition to using the default Document Master in your publication, you can create a master page from scratch...

Strokes and Fills

You can modify objects a number of ways in PageMaker (resize, rotate and add color to objects)...

Creating Frames in PageMaker

Frames: PageMaker 7.0 includes a special kind of object called a frame...

Using Wrapping Text in PageMaker

One of the best ways to create visual impact in a publication is to wrap text around graphics.

To Wrap Text around a Graphics:

1. Select a graphic or image.
2. Choose Element > Text Wrap.
3. Click the Wrap Option according to your graphic or image you are working with.
4. Specify a Text Flow option.
5. 4a. The leftmost Text Flow icon jumps text over a graphic and continues the text on the next page or column.
6. 4b. The middle icon allows text to jump over a graphic and continue on the same page.
7. 4c. The rightmost icon creates a rectangular text wrap around all sides of a graphic.
8. Enter standoff values for the boundary. These determine the distance of the text from each side of the graphic.
9. Select Wrap Text on Same Layer Only if you want text on other layers to ignore the wrap boundary.
10. Click OK.

Example of Text Wrap:
Fig 1    |    Fig 2

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