Re: PageMaker v. Word

[Valerie Archambeau <varchamb -at- MIDWAY -dot- UCHICAGO -dot- EDU>]

>Has anyone out there worked with PageMaker AND Word, so I can get a good
>comparison of the features (AND problems) encountered with each?   One of
>my key concerns is working with graphics in Word.

Unless there are some really compelling reasons for you to switch, I would
advise against it.

I use both Adobe PageMaker 5.0a and Microsoft Word 5.1a on a regular basis.
I also use Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Freehand for graphics. I am not
only comfortable with them, I believe they are the best tools for the work
I do.  Most of my text for PM is created in Word and then placed into my PM
files.

I occasionally use Word for shorter documents (less than 30 pages), but for
anything longer than 30 pgs I must use PageMaker for my own sanity (I too,
use templates that would by difficult, if not impossible to port to Word).
I also prefer PM for creating invitations, course calendars, or anything
that presents layout challenges.

I prefer PageMaker because it gives me a greater level of control than Word
provides. (I adore the control palette!).  I am seriously considering
porting *all* documents to PM, when we redesign our documentation (our
department just went through another name change). Most of our docs that
were created in Word are one column, w/o text wrap on graphics, no indices
or TOC's. Word can not touch PM's graphic control in terms of text wrap,
cropping, and rotation.  And I have always chosen PM for jobs that were
more than one color. Since PM is a dtp program, it provides you with a
Master Pages (great for ensuring consistency of design and a great time
saver) -- I have found no equivalent in Word.

I do not particularly like the way Word handles text in two or more
columns. Nor do I like the way it handles longer documents -- I recently
created a 40 page document broken into chapters and linked together with
the Word's document linking feature -- while Word numbers the pages
correctly within the document, the TOC feature insists on renumbering for
each of the 8 chapters (tho' it worked just fine last year. I haven't
changed a thing except copy the files into a new folder for this year's
revisions).

In order to use the "feature," you must open the document, select the
DOCUMENT item under the FORMAT menu; then in the Document window you must
click on the "File Series" button, which brings up the File Series window;
then press the "Next Document" button, which will display the File Open box
from which you choose your desired document. You must repeat the procedure
for each document you want to link. And my the gods help you if you decide
to rename a document or <gasp> move these files into another folder.

I prefer PM's book list--it is all handled in one menu, the documents are
easy to reorder, and I have yet to encounter any (major) problems with
TOC's or indexing.  I haven't tried to create an index with word.  However,
I did bring in some PM files for revision and editing (exported them out of
PM as RTF).  I was particularly annoyed with the way Word displayed the
hidden text it creates to mark index entries.  I attempted to rid myself of
these by changing the preferences to hide the hidden text (heh.), which
worked for a while, until I modified a style, which undid all my efforts.
I finally ran a global replace on the hidden text formatting to delete it.

My manager also would prefer Word in case I shuffle off the mortal coil or
to Buffalo -- my advice to her was to hire a replacement who knows PM. Two
other employees here know PM in case of emergencies.

I can only speak about the versions I am using now. I have not as yet
worked extensively with Word 6.0 (the diskettes are on my shelf). And I am
upgrading to PM 6.0 next month.

--Val

PS: Word 6.0 users (Windows and Macintosh): check out the IBM or Mac Web
page about the Macro virus currently goin' round:

http://www.research.ibm.com/xw-D953-wconc

If you do not have access to the World Wide Web, please email me privately,
and I will send you the information I have.  I would post this info to the
list, but Virus alerts are off-topic, and the last thing we need is 62
virus-alert postings.