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The Newsroom by Springboard


Bill Lange

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Heh... OK. Proportionally spaced text uses less space than mono-spaced text, but there's no accounting for XLEnt's advertising strategy. Years ago I wrote a demo document for The Last Word which - when printed out - said something along the lines of:

 

 

Text can be styled using bold, italic, and underlining.

 

You're right: 'proportional text' would certainly be equivalent to 'proportional spacing' on the face of it, but I'm simply a little concerned that use of the facility may be slightly restricted if it's confined to the 'Rubber Stamp' tool. In NewsRoom (where pages were awkwardly made up of several separately edited panels), you could at least flow good-looking proportionally spaced text around graphics. The thing about mono-spaced fonts is that they look objectively bad compared to proportionally spaced text, although mono fonts like Courier are generally preferred for coding or any text-mode environment where vertical alignment is important.

 

Proportional fonts also lend themselves well to fully justified paragraphs (where neither the left nor right margins are 'ragged'), although I can't remember if NewsRoom catered for such formatting.

 

Having used NewsRoom in the 90s primarily for making cassette-tape inlays (which takes me back some), I remember trying some of the XLEnt desktop publishing tools briefly a decade or so ago and being rather disappointed by the apparent absence of proportionally spaced fonts. Possibly the feature is there but I simply didn't look hard enough. :) But there were even entry-level Atari ST desktop publishing applications which employed mono-spaced fonts (GEM of course using a mono-spaced font in the UI), and I remember thinking at the time how well NewsRoom's output compared to a screenshot of one of the ST apps I saw in Atari User or Micro Mart.

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Typesetter, Rubberstamp, Page Designer and Magnaprint are all a system that works together, so if one has it, the other can use it. Rubberstamp is a utility tool to use with Typesetter, so if you do proportional text in it, then move that stuff over to Typesetter, then you have proportional spacing in Typesetter too, though I don't think you HAVE to use Rubberstamp to get it with Typesetter, it's the main program. But maybe you do have to use both together to get the end result you are looking for. They made the whole series to do much more than they could fit into one program alone, since you are generally dealing with either 48k or 64K of memory, but, it also can use expanded memory too. But they obviously made the series of apps work together for the lowest common denominator of 48/64K.

 

But why they chose to use some examples in the ad, and not others I don't know, except they say there wasn't enough room, but yes, they probably could have shown proportional text in it instead of showing some other features, only the people that made the ad could answer why they chose to demonstrate some things and not others, or only point out features in the text, but not actually showing the features. It also states that a using expanded memory on a 130XE gives even more features to the programs too.

Edited by Gunstar
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I liked newsroom as it was closest to what was used in the publication I worked for at one point. It was a natural fit.
I would love to see a work flow video of Typesetter, Rubberstamp, Page Designer and Magnaprint system in use.

 

News room was kind of preconfig from the start for the column way of doing things.

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From a quick look at the manual, it appears pretty much as I'd supposed: you may - for example - create a graphic in Rubber Stamp which (optionally) incorporates proportionally spaced fonts (from Print Shop?), and export that into one of the page layout tools. But it doesn't look like said layout tools support proportional text layout themselves (the fact the 'Page Designer' section talks about 40 and 80 column text is a bit of a giveaway there). Actually I think it was the ST version of 'Typesetter' which I earlier mentioned I remembered seeing reviewed in a magazine in the 90s.

 

Anyway: I wasn't a user of the XLEnt tools way back, but I recall NewsRoom being a thoroughly professional offering with an excellent UI. It made no attempt to use extended memory (which is hardly surprising since it was ported from other 8-bit platforms), but I can't imagine the software would be easily 'shamed' by a competing utility.

 

One drawback with NewsRoom was the default clipart, which - although of high quality - looked decidedly cartoonish for the most part.

Edited by flashjazzcat
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Page Designer uses lower-res than Rubberstamp and Typesetter, those are the two working together mainly, Page Designer, as it states in the ad, is a lower-res alternative when higher-res isn't needed.

 

So it is as you say about Page Designer, you wouldn't want to use it, just Rubberstamp and Typesetter for what you want. But IMHO the series is a league above Newsroom, if you don't agree, so be it. I'm done jumping through hoops trying to defend my claims, I just was pointing the software out as an alternative that I find much better than Newsroom myself, if you don't agree, fine.

Edited by Gunstar
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Well, that is initially what I expected when I first mentioned it, that people could try it out and see it in practice for themselves. But apparently some people have no desire to really look into it themselves, and that's their prerogative. I've no time or desire to make a video or whatever showing it in practice at this time. I didn't realize I'd have to try and explain it all myself, being new to it myself, when I posted it as an alternative, I thought people could try it, and find out for themselves just like I did and continue to do. I thought the ad I posted could be read thoroughly by anyone interested, and then if still interested afterwards, could then look into it deaper by using it.

Edited by Gunstar
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Page Designer uses lower-res than Rubberstamp and Typesetter, those are the two working together mainly, Page Designer, as it states in the ad, is a lower-res alternative when higher-res isn't needed. Which you obviously still don't care to read, even though it does explain things without having to go through the manuals.

 

So it is as you say about Page Designer, you wouldn't want to use it, just Rubberstamp and Typesetter for what you want. But IMHO the series is a league above Newsroom, if you don't agree, so be it. I'm done jumping through hoops trying to defend my claims, I just was pointing the software out as an alternative that I find much better than Newsroom myself, if you don't agree, fine.

Erm... dude: please don't get upset. I'm not out to start an argument and I'm genuinely at a loss as to why you're starting to sound shirty. I'm sure the XLEnt products are quite splendid but I'm just trying to get some information about their capabilities. I asked if proportional fonts were supported and you posted a promo page which consisted entirely of mono-spaced text. You now tell me that proportional text is supported by certain components of the software and that's just fine, but you opened by saying XLEnt's software 'puts NewsRoom to shame', makes it look like PD software, and 'leaves NewsRoom in the dust'. These are pretty bold objective claims, and since NewsRoom (IMO) sets the bar quite high, I was expecting to hear and see amazing things. First thing I see is mono text throughout the promo page.

 

I'm kind of enjoying discovering and discussing the pros and cons of NewsRoom vs XLEnt tools since I always used the former and may have misunderstood or underestimated the latter, but for some reason you want to shut the matter down after doing a good job of talking up the XLEnt software?

 

Fine - no problem. I dunno if there's something in the air but this appears to be the second topic on this forum in as many days which is in the middle of its period. :)

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Actually, you asked if it could do better than 8x8 fonts and then I posted the ad, after that you asked about proportional text. I give you the answers, which are also in the ad I posted, then you start about the Printshop stuff, which is just allowing you to ad stuff from Printshop if you want, but it won't be as good as just using the XLEnt software, but it just seems you keep moving the goal posts as to what you expect compared to Newsroom, that's why I'm getting a bit perturbed. I still stand by my initial claims, but of course it's an opinion, and you can disagree.

 

I figured I give it as an alternative, state my claims, and you and others could look into it and discover what I have for yourselves. The claims were made to get people interested, I didn't realize I'd have to defend them on this level. Because most of what I've said is said in the ad which I thought people would read. My mistake. :thumbsup: The guy who started the thread was the intended recipient, and I didn't expect you to jump in and jump on me. But it's all good, I just want to move on because I never thought I'd have to go through all this explanation and convincing in the first place, I thought the ad and manuals could do that, you just sort of ambushed me, if unintentionally. ;)

Edited by Gunstar
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Actually, you asked if it could do better than 8x8 fonts and then I posted the ad, after that you asked about proportional text.

Sigh... no. Go look again:

 

Do the XLEnt tools provide quality proportional fonts in different sizes (NOT simply 8x8 fixed spacing scaled to suit)? They were the reason I used Newsroom at the time.

Proportional != fixed spacing. And scaling 8x8 fonts (whether proportionally rendered or not) is a common 'cheap' method of rendering text at a larger size, but usually looks awful at anything more than a factor of two.

 

I give you the answers, which are also in the ad I posted, then you start about the Printshop stuff, which is just allowing you to ad stuff from Printshop if you want, but it won't be as good as just using the XLEnt software, but it just seems you keep moving the goal posts as to what you expect compared to Newsroom, that's why I'm getting a bit perturbed.

It appears the forum is currently characterised by tremendously fragile sensibilities, is all I can say. How am I moving the goal posts when my very first question concerned proportional fonts? I have focused from start to finish on the single aesthetic quality which I consider the most important in any typesetting tool. If you didn't initially know what proportional spacing was, that's no problem either: I gave a brief explanation and suggested you Google it. Later, I had a poke through the manuals and came back with a few more musings on the topic...

 

What exactly is your problem with all this? Did I mistakenly log into the safe-space sub forum, or what? Or is the latest pastime here trying to goad me into appearing to start a row?

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Sorry, I thought I just explained what my problem was above, but maybe it's just me misunderstanding you. I really have no desire to argue with you about it, sorry if I seem over sensitive, as I said, reading the ad would explain a lot of it, and the manuals more, I just don't feel like doing it myself anymore. I apologize and no, I'm certainly not trying to goad you or whatever, I just feel like I'm wasting my time, especially with even posting the ad which explains quite a bit, so I wouldn't have to. I posted it 1st because it explains stuff if you read it, as a physical example of what it could do was supposed to be secondary. But you are using it the opposite of what I expected. But it *seems* to me like you want me to convince you, the non-believer, like a challenge or something. I just don't care enough to take up that challenge. ;) The ad and then trying them out for yourself was supposed to do that for me. ;)

Edited by Gunstar
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Yeah, sorry about that, it was my intention the claims would make people interested in looking into it themselves, not to come to me for all the answers, because I don't have them all, I'm learning it myself. I guess I just should have recommended it as an alternative group of programs and not add in my personal views on how good I think it is, again my mistake. Sorry for leading you on...I found them in recent weeks/months myself and am liking them a lot better than Newsroom. I move on now too, just thought I'd post one more of their ads before I do. Posted for anyone who cares, don't feel obligated to read it...

post-149-0-69136500-1542842083_thumb.jpg

Edited by Gunstar
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It does not include the manual PDF's, I seem to have misplaced them or was reading them directly on-line and forgot to save or something...I have to go to Atarimania and download again myself.

 

Here is a link to search for just XLEnt Software: http://www.atarimania.com/pgelstsoft.awp?system=8&type=U&publisher=1505&step=25

For manuals only, they don't have most of the software there...

XLEnt Printware Series.zip

Edited by Gunstar
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It does not include the manual PDF's, I seem to have misplaced them or was reading them directly on-line and forgot to save or something...I have to go to Atarimania and download again myself.

 

Here is a link to search for just XLEnt Software: http://www.atarimania.com/pgelstsoft.awp?system=8&type=U&publisher=1505&step=25

For manuals only, they don't have most of the software there...

Sorry, I didn't get around to making ATX's of these but I did get all the manuals scanned. They are cool set of programs inspite of their flaws. I'd love to see someone make some flyers, newsletters, etc., (even if they were just made up info) just to see what could be done with them. Same goes for Newsroom and Publishing Pro.

 

Allan

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wow that's a great number of disks! at Atarimania. This is going on real disks so I can keep it straight....

 

I spoke too soon, as I click on each... no disk images on a great number of them....

Yeah, most of the ones I posted came from elsewhere after searching for them, I don't recall where off hand. But there were a couple of the icon and picture disks from Atarimania in the .zip file too. I still haven't located Magnaprint II+, I thought I had it, but if I found it and downloaded it, I promptly lost it on my PC!

 

I've only been using Rubberstamp and Typesetter myself, with an Atari touch tablet. I think I'll play around with it more soon and maybe do like was suggested and make up some hard-copy to show, but I doubt it will end up with anything not shown in the ad examples, just different examples. I'll see what I can accomplish with some 16x16 proportional text and icons.

Edited by Gunstar
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Here is Magnaprint, Magnaprint II+ and Print All from Alpha systems (just happens to be on a disk with original Magnaprint, version II is the one I know works with the Printware series anyway). Thanks to Timothy Kline for linking them to me.

 

 

XLEntSoftwareMagnaPrintII.zip

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