Battle of Desktop Publishing Programs

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Logan Simmons
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Battle of Desktop Publishing Programs by Catharine Carpenter Commerical Open Source We all have our favourite Desktop Publishing Programs which we use as long as we can until we finally bite the

1 Battle of Desktop Publishing Programs by Catharine Carpenter Commerical Open Source We all have our favourite Desktop Publishing Programs which we use as long as we can until we finally bite the bullet and buy a more updated version of the same program. When this happens, often there is a steep learning curve in learning how to use the newer versions of our favourite programs, and they have also become increasingly expensive. (footnote: SIL is no longer eligible for the Academic License discount for Microsoft programs, so there is a move around the world for SIL International to use Open Source software like LibreOffice instead). As a literacy department, we have been asking people to electronically save their literacy materials in some way since Most SIL members have bought and used their preferred Desktop Publishing program as good, free, open-source software has been unavailable. Some have trained their PNGn co-workers to be able to use these programs. But we have all found that it is increasingly expensive and difficult to buy and keep old and new versions of commercial software to ensure ourselves and others can have access to those literacy materials. Commercial programs also assume a certain level of computer literacy, so they need more time and effort to teach to first-time computer users this means a lot of effort is spent in training, rather than literacy materials production which is the end goal of that training. 42 READ Magazine February 2012 Vol. 45

2 Why do we use the Desktop Publishing programs we do? The thought of possibly changing Desktop Publishing programs can be daunting, but I believe we need to really think about what Desktop Publishing programs we use, why (e.g. is it for our convenience/ preference?), who the literacy materials are for, who we hope to train to produce literacy materials in the future, and what Desktop Publishing programs would remain accessible to us without a large expense in upgrading to later versions. With the development in open-source software, the assumption that only expensive Desktop Publishing programs can create a nice product is no longer the case. What are our needs for publishing literacy materials? Whatever Desktop Publishing program is used, it needs to have the functionality to produce books and primers. It needs to be free and be in an accessible format. It needs to be intuitive, and easy to teach a person with low/no computer literacy, but also versatile enough for those familiar with computers. The Battle Begins Commercial Programs Microsoft Publisher and Adobe Page Maker 1 have been well-used by many people in SIL to produce their literacy materials. The main drawbacks for both of these programs when compared with current open source software, is that they are expensive commercial software that needs to be kept current, they have more functionality than needed for creating most literacy materials, other programs are unable to read their files, and they assume a higher level of computer literacy and are therefore more difficult to teach to new users of computers. Both Microsoft Publisher and Adobe Page Maker are also not usable with the free Linux operating system that many people are turning to. 1. InDesignhas has replaced PageMaker. 43

3 Open Source (free) Programs Scribus Scribus This program is free and is being actively developed and supported. It is Macintosh, Linux and Windows friendly, and was taught to students at Australia s EQUIP course in 2011 for producing literacy materials. You could do any layout job in Scribus - primers, story books, theme webs etc. Regarding suitability for nationals, from my limited exposure to Scribus, I'd say it is about on a par with Publisher for learning how to use it well. Glenys Waters On the negative side, Scribus isn t intuitive to use or teach, and it is fiddly to adjust tables. The undo function works in unexpected ways, and it doesn t handle stacked diacritics well or export diacritics to PDF correctly. Having said that, this is an adequate free open source program for creating glossy publications, and which has more functionality than needed if creating primers, story books, shell books etc. As with all open source software, if someone needed this program, all they would need to do is to download the program. Libre Office LibreOffice will work with Macintosh, Windows and Linux operating systems. The Writer and Draw programs within this LibreOffice package are both good programs for desktop publishing of literacy materials. Basically, if you would produce something in MS Word and need a word processor, use Writer instead. If you would produce something in MS Publisher, then use Draw it doesn t have the higher functionality of Publisher and Scribus, but it is an easier program to both use and teach. 44 READ Magazine February 2012 Vol. 45

4 Draw This program was especially nice for creating posters, story books, shell books, and could also do simple primers. In testing, Draw had some issues related to deferring page numbering until page 3 (this can be done manually though). It was easier to teach and use the basics of this program with new PNGn computer users (compared to Scribus and Writer), and they enjoyed how Draw presented each page as slides, and that it wasn t until printing that one could choose to print it as a booklet. In the May 2011 STEP inservice (also mentioned in this issue of READ on p39), we spent two weeks teaching the participants who had mostly never used computers before, how to make shell books using Draw. By the end of the two weeks of training they knew how to modify and also create their own books from scratch! I think I d prefer Draw over Scribus for training nationals, unless they are very computer savvy and you have plenty of time to train them. Glenys Waters. Writer Writer is an appropriate program for creating longer documents with tables of contents, footnotes, using styles, applying master pages and for creating more complex primers (using master pages). In testing, some new PNGn users who were creating shellbooks found this program harder to use as it has too many functions and dropdown menus that were superfluous to their needs. This would require more training than Draw to use (but less than Scribus it is similar to MS Word for those familiar with that program), but would enable the user to create those more complicated word processor documents. The SILPNG Literacy office will be reformatting shell books, primers and dictionary files into Draw or Writer. With both of these programs, there is now an SIL developed program called PDFDroplet that can convert a file into a PDF booklet (and which also has the option of printing it at double the size) that makes printing easier as one does not need to tackle different printer settings or set the pages up in the programs as a booklet. 45

5 Writer Is a word processor with similar functionality to Microsoft Word or WordPerfect. Draw Is a vector graphics editor and diagramming tool comparable in features to early versions of CorelDRAW. It also includes features similar to Scribus and Microsoft Publisher. Also available from: Bloom We are very excited about the SIL production of Bloom which is featured in more detail in this issue of READ. Bloom uses templates for making new books, picture dictionaries, and translating shell books. The goal of Bloom is, as the developer John Hatton writes, to allow language communities to make the 200 books after the primers by providing more structure, more smarts, and less complexity than traditional publishing programs. Bloom has features designed specifically for simple book-making. It shows a gallery of shells and other templates, and a single click adds a copy to the user s library. For original books, images can be added from scanner, file, or with the built-in Art Of Reading gallery. You can enter the illustrator, copyright, and license which goes with the image, so that in the future anyone can check to verify its legality. Finished books can be printed as booklets, or saved as PDF. The file format is future-proof, because it is HTML, the language of web pages. Organizations can supply their own Front-matter packs so that the cover, title page, etc. conforms to their standards. A calendar template is available which fills in all the months for you automatically. Bloom lets you create your book once and then use it for multiple publications. You can switch the paper size and orientation, and the content is automatically reformatted. You can also switch between monolingual, bilingual, and trilingual; since Bloom shell books have all the source texts built-in, the appropriate texts just appear, and the page is automatically reformatted to fit the new material. 46 READ Magazine February 2012 Vol. 45

6 However Bloom is not intended as a general-purpose page-layout program. For example user control over page contents is purposely limited (i.e. specific placement of images, text, and insertion of shapes is automated), and this makes it easier to teach the program and also for those not familiar with computers, to use. This is a great tool for producing shell books and we have begun bringing the PNG shell book library into Bloom (reportedly taking about 10 minutes per book). An earlier version of this program was tested at the May 2011 STEP inservice, and that very same day, participants were producing their own literacy materials! Bloom is currently still under development, and is expected to be ready for users by May In the meantime, you can always get the latest experimental version, suitable for testing and making shell books, at Next time, don t upgrade, Switch! Literacy workers in the same entity should intentionally reduce and stop using MS Publisher and Adobe PageMaker, and instead start using free open source programs when producing literacy materials. This would enable the materials they are now working hard on to be affordable and accessible to others for a longer time period*. There is a steep learning curve in learning how to use the newer versions of our favourite programs anyway, so I challenge us all instead of upgrading, Switch! If we have to put in the effort in re-learning our favourite programs, lets change to something that meets all our literacy materials needs, that is affordable and easier to teach to our PNGn collegues. The LibreOffice package with Writer and Draw programs is suitable for the computer user to create both simple and more complex literacy materials from scratch. They are more intuitive and simpler to learn and teach than Scribus, and they have more editing freedom than Bloom. The LibreOffice package is also equivalent in functionality to MS Office Professional and other SIL entities are considering it. For these reasons, the LibreOffice package should become the default programs on our computers rather than the commercial software packages we have. * There are ways that previous materials produced with commercial software can be converted, so this could be done over time whilst these files and programs are still accessible. 47

7 In the specific PNG context of producing literacy materials and training Papua New Guineans to do this, I see Bloom replacing Draw as a quick and easy tool to build a library of books in a particular language. Draw would still be appropriate in cases where full editing control is needed/wanted, and both these programs would be used alongside Writer (for complex primers, instruction manuals etc). All three of these programs used together would complement any literacy program in PNG. In conclusion, as much as possible, we should be producing literacy materials using the same programs that our PNGn colleagues can afford and have access to. This action would also reflect our desire to have more PNGns involved with and trained in creating their own literacy materials. Now that good, free, open-source software is available we can intentionally head in this direction. (Many thanks to David Wilkinson, Former DTP/Multi-skilled Computer Specialist, SIL Senegal; Karl Rolfe, Language Technology Trainer, EQUIP Australia; Glenys Waters, Literacy and Training Consultant, SILAustralia; John Hatton, Langauge Software Developer, for their input.) Catharine Carpenter arrived in PNG in 2008 with her husband Noel, who is a pilot. She has been invovled in courses at Ukarumpa and has revised the electronic resources in the literacy office READ Magazine is available electronically in two formats, - pdf laid out as a booklet ready for printing - pdf laid out in sequence for reading Contact lr-read@sil.org.pg for subscriptions and specify which version you would like. 48 READ Magazine February 2012 Vol. 45

On the Web sun.com/aboutsun/comm_invest STAROFFICE 8 DRAW

On the Web sun.com/aboutsun/comm_invest STAROFFICE 8 DRAW STAROFFICE 8 DRAW Graphics They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Pictures are often used along with our words for good reason. They help communicate our thoughts. They give extra information that