On Sun, Dec 22, 2002 at 04:07:13PM +0000 lewiz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi, > > I'm looking for some powerful DTP software for FreeBSD / UNIX in > general (Linux would be fine, emulation is nice :).
Hi Lewiz. "Powerful" is a funny word to use when comparing Windows/Earlymac software with *Nix. TeX and groff are some of the most powerful typesetting/publishing software ever created, but there's a steep learning curve before you can be productive with it. You have to remember that *Nix was around long before graphical user interfaces were common. There're worlds of software available through a CLI (commandline interface). And, once you get used to it, this type of software has a lot of advantages over graphically oriented software. > I am familiar with > CorelDRAW (I have version 10) but so long as the software is quite > powerful I'd be willing to put the effort in to learn it. I have never used CorelDRAW, so I don't know what all it does. But it sounds kinda like a drawing program with extras. (Probably an understatement.) You might look at some of the graphics packages in the new kde or gnome. Open Office probably has a fairly good graphics package. Some of the word processors have some graphics capability, though I doubt they're anywhere near where FrameMaker and that type of software is (was?). > I want to design a yearbook for my college, I've got some nice stuff > in CorelDRAW right now. It'd need to be fairly sturdy. Any information > would be appreciated. I know of the KDE/GNOME projects but haven't used > them, any feedback on these would be good. Your goal, then, is to create camera ready copy, right? I think that's what DTP normally implies, but even that could have changed since I was doing it. ;-) May I suggest that you take a larger view of the project and consider various ways to use the data that goes into a yearbook. It might be possible to create an SGML application with an SQL database that could give you many ways to reuse the data, including camera ready copy for the printer. But if you think of the data clearly and efficiently, you could also generate output for CDs for your class or school, a class website, specialized products for special interest groups in your class (sell the wrestling team or whoever all their data that didn't make it into the yearbook, for instance), or even print a web-based yearbook as well, without the restrictions that come with the printed format. Anyway, you could also just search graphics and desktop publishing and Linux/BSD application sites for software. I just googled "desktop publishing" +linux and got http://www.epinions.com/cmsw-Graphics-All-Adobe_Framemaker Seems you can get Adobe FrameMaker (with decent SGML capapbility) for some UNIX flavors after all. It ain't cheap, though. :-) -- David S. Jackson [EMAIL PROTECTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Nirvana? That's the place where the powers that be and their friends hang out. -- Zonker Harris
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