MS Publisher Companion

The TT newsletter doesn't usually have a book review, but we're stepping out here - because MS Publisher's new manual is one of the best we've seen. Almost worth buying the software for it!

Microsoft have released their Publisher product for the Windows 95 platform. As well as a rewrite of the software they have made a completely new-look manual, called the Microsoft Publisher Companion, which is well worth a read.

It is very unusual for a DTP software manual to include information on good design, selecting the best typefaces for a job and tips on hyphens vs dashes etc - but this one does. If you're a Publisher user, do take the time to read it, as the information is a quick substitute for reading a stack of books on design, desktop publishing and typography.

The manual begins with an introduction to the program's features and then continues with details on how to layout a publication in the technical sense. It then has an excellent section on "designing like a designer" which includes a very concise analysis of what makes a designer's work look professional and how you can emulate this yourself.

The next chapter, called "The Look of Words", is a good introduction to typography and includes information on achieving special effects with Publisher such as big first letters, sidebars, pull quotes and so on. The following chapter covers the different graphic types you will encounter. It even has a couple of tips about old fashioned cutting and pasting being easier and faster than scanning in some situations (Huh, see previous TT newsletters! Ed.). Very unusual to see in a DTP manual. (Or a humble bureau newsletter!) Following this are two chapters on booklets and newsletters which cover all sorts of details that new desktop publishers may overlook, making them an excellent planning guide for somebody embarking on such a project.

A chapter on fine-tuning a publication gives details on good hyphenation, checking for and removing widows and orphans, proper use of special characters and includes a useful checklist to make sure your publication is well put together.

Finally the chapters on Paper and Printing give a good explanation of how to achieve results when reproducing your work. Different sections cover the things you will need to deal with for photocopying, colour laser printing, and spot or single colour offset printing.