'Getting You Started' guide to
Pagemaker 6.5

Section 1   Introduction and Page set-up 

Introduction

PageMaker is a powerful Desk-Top Publishing package (DTP) produced by Adobe.  DTP packages are neither graphics packages nor word-processors, although they have some of the characteristics of both.  Their main strength lies in their ability to combine text and graphics which have been produced on other packages into a single document, sometimes consisting of many pages.

PageMaker is available for MAC and PC systems.  This guide attempts to cover both versions.  The screenshot images shown are taken from the PC version.  The MAC screens may have a different appearance, but are basically the same.

Exercises

This document also contains a number of embedded exercises to assist in learning the package. To obtain the full benefit from the document, you should attempt the exercises as you come to them. To do this, you will need  the following files:

par1.txt     par2.txt     par3.txt     par4.txt     nvq.txt

story1.txt     story2.txt     story3.txt     guide.txt

A number of clip art images in any importable format.

To download these files, go to the Download Page.

Definitions

Click Press and release the mouse button (this always refers to the left button unless otherwise indicated).

Double click Press and release the mouse button twice.

Click and drag Press and hold the mouse button as you move the mouse.

Starting PageMaker

Double click on the PageMaker 6.5 icon. (Some MAC systems require only a single click.)

Setting up a page (for a new file)

Click on 'File', then 'New'. When the dialogue box appears, enter required document setup, then click 'OK'.

Opening an existing file

Click on 'File', then 'Open'. A dialogue box will appear. Select the required drive and directory. Note that only PageMaker files will appear (.p65 suffixes). Select the file and click 'OK'.

Saving your work

Click on 'File', then 'Save'. If the file has not been previously named, name it now. (Make sure the correct drive and directory are selected.)

Columns

Best set up before importing text. Click on 'Layout', then 'Column guides'.

Enter the required number of columns and the column separation, then click 'OK'. Each page must be set up separately, unless using master pages (see later section).

Toolbox

The diagram below shows the PageMaker toolbox as it appears on the screen.  The functions of most of the tools are dealt with in the text.  Not all the tools are covered in these notes.
 

Pointer tool Rotating tool Line tool Rectangle tool Ellipse tool Polygon tool Hand tool Text tool Crop tool Constrained line tool Rectangular frame tool Elliptical frame tool Polygon frame tool Zoom tool