Index » PageStream Support » Amiga » Merry (belated) Christmas
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2005-12-27 14:05:42 CT #1
Deron Kazmaier
From: United States
Registered: 2006-01-29
Posts: 4639

Merry Christmas!

We here at Grasshopper would like to wish you the very best this Christmas
season, if not a little late. This holiday season has flown by and we hope
to enjoy the last remaining days of 2005 with our families and pray for the
same for you. We have been working hard this month on many projects that we
are now starting to upload.

First and foremost we have been pushing ahead on new product releases for
the Amiga 68k and Macintosh OSX. Add to that a new update of 5.0 for the
current platforms that includes not only a few bug fixes and memory leaks,
but huge improvements to TrueType printing to postscript including support
for very large Unicode fonts and the first release to support the gradient
shape fill to screen and non-postscript. Gradient shape fill has always
been a PostScript only feature since it was added in PageStream3.0! Top it
off with the first public test code for the creating of typeset formulas!
Pretty busy, even for the holidays, if I do say so myself.

New updates for Windows, Linux, MorphOS, Amiga OS4, and finally first
releases for Amiga 68k and Mac OSX has begun. As each is completed, notes
will be posted on our web site and on the PageStream mailing lists. Unwrap
and enjoy!

As always, thanks!

Your friend in PageStream,

Dan Kilroy
Grasshopper LLC
N5750 Langlade Price Road
Bryant WI 54418
sales@grasshopperllc.com
http://www.grasshopperllc.com

PageStream DTP for Amiga, Linux, Macintosh, and Windows


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The release of PageStream5.0 for Windows and Linux has been very well
received by both the press and our users. We can only hope that the Amiga
community will be just as eager. Take a look at what a few of our users
have said about PageStream5 recently...

"If PageStream were not a superior product I would have had to abandon it
long ago for better software. Deron's commitment shows in a program that is
continually being updated and is simply the best!" -- MD

"... people like Deron must do it for the love of it, because they work so
hard to make sure it runs correctly and is flexible. That is the major
reason I love PageStream!" -- DB

"I hardly need add that I didn't just get PageStream for my PC for
sentimental reasons (i.e the Amiga connections), or because of concern for
the welfare of Deron: above all,
it is a first-class program and I use it all the time (figuratively
speaking, that is!)." -- MK

"I've been using PageStream5.0.2.2 Pro 5/14/05 exclusively" -- DS

"Pagestream is a great program!" -- RH

New PageStream 5.0 features
A brief overview of the top features that we find ourselves using almost
everyday.
+ Transparency for Text and Objects - Object and text can now appear to
blend with the page underneath.
+ Picture Alpha Channel Transparency - Pictures created in paint programs
which support alpha channels can now be imported into PageStream and the
picture will be masked according to the alpha channel and blend into the
page as directed.
+ Text Widow and Orphan Control - No longer will a single line of a
paragraph appear at the bottom of one column or top of the next column if
directed.
+ Definable Printer Marks - Set the printer marks to appear as you need
them and provide the right bleed needed for any print job.
+ More Keyboard Shortcuts
+ Path Reverse, Flatten and Smooth - Unlike other publishing applications,
most drawings and illustrations can be created right inside PageStream. Now
additional tools are available to reverse the drawn direction of the path,
flatten any curves into line segments, and smooth short line segments into
curves.
+ Hanging Bullets, Drop Caps and Numbered Paragraph - Second and subsequent
lines of a special paragraph can now be set to start at the same horizontal
location as the start of the first line.
+ New Duplicate Objects Method - The Object Transform feature now supports
new offset methods, incrementing pages, and blending between start and
ending object transparencies.
+ Print to a Bitmap Picture - Generate a TIFF, JPG, GIF or other picture
format representations of the page.
+ and more! - Speed ups, bug fixes, features and numerous new scripting
commands.

New PageStream 5.0 Pro features
The previous release of PageStream Professional was a bundle of PageStream
and a number of add ons. With this release, PageStream Professional now
includes numerous features unique to it plus TextFX, Borders 1 & 2, Gary's
Effects, Paper Direct templates, and Home & Office forms.
+ Place PDF Objects - A specific page of a PDF can now be placed onto a
PageStream page just like an EPS graphic.
+ Export Objects as Bitmap - In the past, selected objects could only be
exported to a object oriented drawing format, but now the objects can also
be rendered into a bitmap at any resolution and saved in any supported
picture format.
+ Automatically Adjust Text Width for Justified Text - By adjusting the
text width by slight amounts, the white space in justified text can be more
even between lines of text in a justified paragraph.
+ Gradient/Radial Blend Masks for Pictures/EPS/PDF/Drawings ­ These objects
can be made to appear to fade into the page beneath it. Samples can be seen
in a previous issue of eDTP World.
+ Path Math: Union/Add/Unique/Subtract ­ Draw two intersecting objects, and
create a single new path that is the outside trace of those objects (Add),
or a new object that represents the common region in both objects (Union),
a new object that removes any common region (Unique), or a new object that
has the second objects area removed from the first object (Subtract).
+ PageStream5.0 features and more!

Further more, if you have not seen the newest versions of 4.1 Windows you
may have missed all the new features that were given to 4.1 Windows users
as well. That includes a numerous gems like a new interface with resizeable
dialog boxes, Python scripting support, improved and simplified
localization support, PNG filter, PDF document import filter for 4.1 and
5.0 Pro, MS Word text filter, improved small caps, font selector with
sample display, improved hanging punctuation, and more. In fact, the
unadvertised features added to 4.1 for free are more substantial than many
upgrades from other publishing applications!

PageStream5.0 Pricing
At any price PageStream5.0 is a bargain, but PageStream's low price is a
steal. Retail price of PageStream5.0 is a fraction of the other DTP
applications at only $99, and the PageStream5.0 Professional package is
only $149. But don't let our low prices fool you into thinking PageStream
is low-end!

PageStream4.1 customers can upgrade to 5.0 for only $40 and to
PageStream5.0 Professional for just $90, while PageStream4.1 Professional
customers can upgrade to 5.0 Professional for only $40, and upgrade
multiple copies for even less. Customers of prior versions of PageStream
(4.0, 3.x, 2.x and 1.x) can upgrade to PageStream5.0 for just $75 and
PageStream5.0 Professional for only $125. Other upgrades exist. Check out
our order page athttp://www.grasshopperllc.com for more details on pricing.

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PageStream Development by Deron Kazmaier

A few days later than I had hoped, but still within fashionably late terms
for a Christmas gift.

Lately I've put a little fun (really, a lot of fun for me) and the
beginnings of a large new PageStream project in the next 5.0 Pro. In the
Insert submenu of the Type menu, I have added a menu item called Insert
Formula. At this time it is a test bed for not only the formula processing
and formatting, but also other on going projects and improvements to the
general PageStream layout engine. I've been working on bits for
right-to-left and vertical language support and advanced glyph composition
for eastern languages that will be tested here before integrating into the
PageStream layout engine. Other features I hope to integrate in the future
include html-like inline text tables, conditional text, and true footnotes.

None of this is ready for prime time, but this is your chance to provide
feedback on the kinds of advanced text functionality you would like to see
in coming updates to the layout code and more specifically to the formula
processing and layout. To play along, just install the latest 5.0.2.10 Pro
version as they become available this week for your platform. Choose Insert
Formula from the menu, and try typing a few simple formulas. For example, A
= B+C/D or A = (B+C)/D. Then click the "Update" button and see your
results! Unicode values for math symbols can be entered like in any other
string using the \00000 format.

Feedback is welcome on any of the PageStream Beta mailing lists, or
privately to me at support@grasshopperllc.com. I hope it is half as much
fun for you as it is for me!

Merry Christmas!

Deron Kazmaier

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