Adobe Systems Inc. announced Adobe PageMaker version 6.5 for the Macintosh, Power Macintosh, Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 Workstation platforms.

Designed for graphics and publishing professionals, version 6.5 adds groundbreaking new features such as document-wide layers, automatic layout adjustment and hyperlinking for creating rich documents for both print and the Internet. Adobe PageMaker 6.5 is expected to ship in the fourth quarter of 1996.

The suggested retail price for Adobe PageMaker 6.5 software is $895 (U.S.); upgrades from any previous version of PageMaker are $99.

"In 1985 PageMaker launched a revolution called desktop publishing. With the innovative features in version 6.5, PageMaker continues its excellence in print publishing while emerging as a leader in the new revolution of Web-based authoring," said Mike Peronto, vice president, Adobe graphics publishing products.

Professional Page Design

PageMaker 6.5 adds breakthrough page layout features that expand creative options, save design time and offer new capabilities. By incorporating document-wide layers, PageMaker 6.5 is the first publishing application to enable users to place objects on different layers within a publication.

Layers are useful for creating multiple versions, annotations and multilingual documents for print and on-line. To save time when users change columns, margins, page sizes or master pages, automatic layout adjustment reflows text into columns, resizes graphics and repositions objects on the page, eliminating the need to perform these steps manually.

With this release, PageMaker becomes the only application to offer both a freeform layout metaphor as well as text and graphics frames, which are useful for designing documents with a fixed structure, such as magazines, catalogs and newspapers.

"Document-wide layers will be extremely useful for us when we produce multiple versions of a publication," said beta-tester Tom Tedesco, studio manager at Upper Saddle River, N.J.-based Prentice-Hall. "We often need to work simultaneously on regional versions of a textbook and this effectively cuts our time and effort in half."

Adobe Integration Features

Helping users increase their productivity with Adobe software, PageMaker 6.5 looks and works more like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, with new standard Adobe menus, new keyboard shortcuts and a revamped interface featuring interactive tabbed palettes which provide easy access to tools and organize on-screen work space.

Improved compatibility lets users place native Illustrator files directly into PageMaker publications and see full previews on-screen and drag and drop PageMaker elements between PageMaker and other Adobe software.

On-line Publishing

PageMaker 6.5 empowers users to create creating compelling on-line publications as well as sophisticated print documents. HTML authoring is streamlined as PageMaker preserves hyperlinks and automatically converts graphics to JPEG and GIF file formats. Users also can drag and drop PageMaker elements into Adobe PageMill and Adobe SiteMill for further HTML authoring.

To ensure cross-platform color consistency when publishing Web pages, the on-line publishing color library includes 216 browser colors. New on-line importing options include drag and drop of hyperlinks from browsers into PageMaker and import of HTML content with hyperlinks preserved.

For easy navigation both within PageMaker publications and to locations on the World Wide Web, the hyperlinking palette adds authoring and management of hyperlinks. And for delivering graphically rich formatted pages, Adobe PageMaker 6.5 supports Adobe Acrobat 3.0 software, which is optimized for viewing, searching, and linking PDF files on the World Wide Web.

Color Publishing

PageMaker offers designers the most complete set of tools for creating high-impact color publications. PageMaker 6.5 elevates the state-of-the-art in color printing by refining color technologies and enhancing usability.

For even greater flexibility when producing high-fidelity color publications using the six-color PANTONE(a) Hexachrome process, users can now edit hi-fi color values from within PageMaker. New multichannel desktop color separation support, using a plug-in from VISU Technologies (sold separately), improves workflow by enabling users to edit Hexachrome color images in Photoshop and place them in PageMaker.

In addition, the Kodak Digital Science Color Management System that is included with PageMaker now supports the International Color Consortium standard which lets different color management systems use the same device profiles.

Compatibility with Products from Other Vendors

By definition a page layout product must work well with many third party products. In addition to new import filters, version 6.5 adds new compatibility with Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and improved usability under Windows 95 and NT through right-mouse button support for context-sensitive menus.

The QuickTime import filter lets users place selected frames from QuickTime movies in PageMaker documents and include the movies in documents exported to PDF or HTML. PageMaker 6.5 also includes the save for service provider plug-in, a utility that consolidates everything needed to output a publication for easy hand-off to a service provider and includes the ability to preflight files.

Added Value

PageMaker 6.5 ships with a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Distiller software and Acrobat Reader, Adobe Photoshop Limited Edition software (Windows only), Adobe Table 3.0 software, and for the full retail version only, the Adobe Type On Call CD-ROM with 220 free fonts, unlocked upon registration.

Each full retail product includes 90 days of complimentary technical support; upgrades receive 30 days of complimentary support in the United States and Canada.

In the United States and Canada, Adobe PageMaker 6.5 is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of 1996. The suggested retail price is $895 (U.S.). Registered users of any version of PageMaker can upgrade to version 6.5 for $99 (U.S.). Customers in the United States or Canada who purchase PageMaker after September 9, 1996 are eligible to receive a free upgrade to version 6.5.

 

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