Serif PagePlus X3 Publisher Professional

More Nice Features in PagePlus X3

While the special effects are plentiful, what makes them especially attractive is both the similicity and the complexity. Numerous preset styles make it one button easy to apply metal, glass, or plastic textures, add shadows, bevels, and 3D effects to text and objects. But if the presets aren't exactly what you want, the filter effects can be completely customized including amount of transparency, size, color, and direction of shadows, depth of bevel and 3D effects, amount of blur, feathering, and other details.

]Larger image of Special Effects screenshot.

Initially I chose to work with the default layout and toolbars. However, after getting acquainted with the program I began experimenting with altering the workspace. You can turn toolbars off and on, show only the style tabs you use most often, change the default text font, change the color of guides and the pasteboard (that default gray is boring -- how about a nice cream color), turn rulers off and on or change the default measurements (picas anyone?). One of the first things I did was modify the Auto-Correct settings -- sometimes I want two, initial consecutive capitals. You can configure shortcuts for the menu commands you find yourself using over and over.

Easily overlooked in the shadow of the more glamorous bells and whistles is the handy move handle. Although you can move most objects by simply selecting them and moving them around on the page, the large move handle in the corner is great for grabbing small bits of text or overlapping objects. And the position of the move handle (upper left by default) gives a visual indication that the selected object has been flipped -- if flipped horizontally then vertically the move handle moves to the lower right, for instance.

Larger view of Move handle screenshot.

Some of the additions to X3 make it easier to share files with other PagePlus users and between Serif applications. These include the new Serif Metafile format and Saving a PagePlus publication as a package that can include all fonts and linked images so that a user on another computer can open up the file and have everything they need to work on it further.

There are plenty of PDF options for both prepress and general file sharing including publishing as a PDF slide show.

And as is the case with most desktop publishing programs these days, it's not all about print production. Although the focus is on print, you can easily convert from Paper Publishing to Web Publishing mode. In this mode you'll have access to additional PagePlus features specifically for publishing your pages to the Web. The Site Properties command lets you fill in a title, add a sound file, include a search engine friendly site description, and convert graphics to Web suitable formats. You can preview pages in various browsers, publish a site on your computer or to the Web, or send HTML pages via email.

Desktop publishing programs with comparable features cost hundreds of dollars. Don't let the low price of Serif PagePlus X3 Publisher Professional lead you to think it's too good to be true. This is a really good program. It's Windows only and you might run into resistance in some circles (including with some commercial printers) if you choose to use PagePlus for more than just desktop printing, but don't let that dissuade you from giving this program a close look. If a commercial printer frowns at PagePlus files, hand your design off as a PDF you create from within PagePlus -- it's a widely accepted professional format.