The Bottom Line
An extremely capable and inexpensive alternative to Microsoft Publisher for individuals and small business users.
Pros
- Easy-to-use, flexible interface
- Numerous templates to jumpstart designs
- Some commercial printing options
Cons
- No printed manual
- Supports TrueType fonts only
- Limited bundled clip art and photos
Description
- Publisher: greenstreet
- Current version: 4 (review covers version 3)
- OS Requirements: Windows 95/98/NT; 16MB RAM; 115MB hard disk space
- Page Pilots assist novice designers; includes templates, clip art, cartoons, design snippets, fonts
- Has mail merge, table editor; utilities for font and image management, screen shots, 3D text
- Offers JAVA Applet export; CMYK and spot color separations for commercial printing
Guide Review - greenstreet Publisher 3
This frame-based desktop publishing software packs in both ease-of-use with nifty extras at a fraction of the cost of comparable programs. The bundled clip art and fonts may seem limited up against other similar software, but it makes up for it by providing useful features and utilities not found in those other products. I found working with multiple page text-intensive documents tedious at times, but for the most part the frame options and graphics tools are quite flexible. The color separations options work well although novice designers may lack the color knowledge and experience to use those tools adequately. While a newer version of the software adds true Web publishing support, for print design this is an excellent low-cost tool.
