The whole process is crude: you can't skip a record on the fly but must instead specify records to include in a dialog just before you run the merge. And since PageMaker's HTML export is so imprecise, you'd use Data Merge only for print catalogs. If you change the original worksheet or database, you must reexport it as a comma-separated file. The Data Merge feature is also far from automatic. Since PageMaker can't import native Excel or Access files-a surprising omission-any formatting applied to the source worksheet or database is lost. You can, with some sweat (since PageMaker doesn't include templates for catalogs), insert fields into a product listing that will pull in item numbers, prices, descriptions, and even images from your database or spreadsheet. Unlike Publisher, which can perform only simple mail merges for mass mailings, PageMaker can drop data into fields you've defined anywhere in the target publication. The most obvious and useful application is for catalogs. PageMaker 7.0's new Data Merge feature lets you import data and images from spreadsheets and databases (but only as comma-delimited or TXT files, which you create using the export function of your spreadsheet or database) and merge them into a publication. And PageMaker has none of the weird limits of Publisher you can insert as many spot color elements in a document as you want. PageMaker supports high-resolution printing and color management, which ensures that color is always consistent, from proofs to final output. There's no doubt that PageMaker has it all over Publisher when it comes to advanced publishing jobs. If you want one program to produce both paper and HTML versions of documents, Publisher 2002 is a better bet. PageMaker's Web pages are only approximations of the originals the formatting is off and columns are misplaced, while PageMaker-created shapes such as ovals and boxes are never translated. Like version 6.5, PageMaker 7.0 can export documents in HTML format for Web publishing, but the results fall short of the much more affordable Microsoft Publisher. (Although PageMaker's newsletter templates are superior.) You need to dedicate training time to get the most out of this program. PageMaker lacks the slick wizards and step-by-step templates of Publisher. But businesses on a budget (and all home users) should still steer toward Microsoft Publisher 2002.Ĭompared to lower-priced SOHO (small office/home office) desktop publishers, particularly Microsoft Publisher 2002, PageMaker is a challenge for novices. PageMaker 7.0, with new tools for turning documents into PDF files and churning out catalogs from data in spreadsheets and databases, is best suited for small to midsized businesses that want to distribute Acrobat Reader-formatted files, produce sophisticated catalogs, and work on the Mac as well as the PC. At $499, version 7.0 is still a tweener: too expensive for budget-conscious, home-based and small-business users and not powerful enough for professional designers. It has also been thumped in the price wars by low-end competitors such as Microsoft Publisher. PageMaker may have started the whole desktop publishing deal 16 years ago, but it has long played second banana to high-end QuarkXPress.
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