The Bottom Line
For Mac or PC home users, this package offers a true page layout and publishing solution without the cost of the major desktop publishing programs.
Pros
- Free for non-commercial use
- Windows and Mac versions
- True page layout and spreadsheet integration
Cons
- 50MB download
- No spell check or hyphenation in free version
- Must download manual separately
Description
- Publisher: RagTime GmbH
- Versions: Solo (free for personal use), 5 (commerical use)
- OS Requirements: Windows 95/98/NT4,SP3 or Macintosh OS 8.1/9.0 & above
- Combines word processing, spreadsheet, and page layout in frames-based, integrated package
- Professional version adds spell check, hyphenation, and additional color profiles
- RagTime Solo is available in English, French, Dutch, or German
- Imports Word, Excel, RTF, and many graphics formats
- Exports as PS, EPS, WMF, PDF (requires Distiller)
- Color management; CMYK and spot color separations
- Basic Print to HTML function
Guide Review - RagTime Solo
Home users can get a taste of what real page layout is all about without paying a penny. Within a frames-based environment text, graphics, spreadsheets, charts, and tables are combined to create complete documents. RagTime offers typographic controls, color separations, unlimited master pages, automatic generation of table of contents and index, and footnotes management along with spreadsheet calculations. The Inventory Window for viewing and working with all components of a document is a great feature. For those users who want to do page layout, this is an excellent free option.
