PagePlus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Serif PagePlus | |
 PagePlus SE and one of their pre-designed templates. |
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| Developer: | Serif |
|---|---|
| Latest release: | 11 / Autumn 2005 |
| OS: | Microsoft Windows |
| Use: | Desktop publishing |
| License: | Proprietary EULA |
| Website: | [1] |
PagePlus is a desktop publishing (page layout) program developed by Serif. The first version was released in 1991 as the first commercial sub-£100 DTP package for Windows. The latest release is version 11.
PagePlus is primarily written in C++ using Visual Studio 2003, with a heavy dependence on the Microsoft MFC framework. The Windows GDI library was discarded early in development in favour of an in-house composition engine - supporting advanced bitmap and typeface operations. Said engine currently performs well in comparison to other GDI based products - but Microsoft's recent decision to drop accelerated bitmap functions in the forthcoming Vista implementation of GDI appears to cause widespread performance problems. Under Windows XP, the text engine supports Unicode text entry. Version 11 has added Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German (pre and post-Schreibreform), Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish spelling checkers. Recently, support for importing / exporting PDF format files has been added, along with a number of relatively simple image manipulation functions (red-eye reduction etc.). The PDF Export supports PDF/X1 and PDF/X1-a formats as well as "regular" Acrobat 4, 5, and 6. The Pantone colour library is supported.
Whilst PagePlus is generally targeted at the "entry level" DTP user, a lot of the functionality present in market leading applications from companies such as Adobe Systems is present in PagePlus, such as working in the CMYK colour space - although Serif has failed to achieve much acceptance within professional circles, partly due to the notable absence of Macintosh versions of its products.
Earlier versions had a system where the user was forced to register within 30 days. This restriction seems to have been now dropped. Registering will give the user access to very cheap upgrades. If the user misses the first "time-limited" offer, you quite often get another one a few weeks later.
There is a free version of the software, called PagePlus SE. It is based on an older version of the software. In order to use this software, the user must download and install the program, then get an activation code through their email in order to unlock the software. The user has access to free designs and templates to download at the site.
