PagePlus

Serif PagePlus
Developer(s) Serif Europe
Initial release 1990 (1990)
Stable release
X9 / 19 November 2015 (2015-11-19)
Written in C++
Operating system Windows XP SP3
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8
Windows 10
Type Desktop publishing
License Proprietary commercial software
Website www.serif.com/pageplus/

PagePlus is a desktop publishing (page layout) program developed by Serif for Microsoft Windows. The first version was released in 1991 as the first commercial sub-£100 DTP package for Microsoft Windows. The latest (final) release is PagePlus X9,[1] which was released in November 2015.

History

PagePlus was first launched in 1990 and was the first sub-£100 desktop publishing program for Windows 3.0.[2] Three years later, in spring 1993, PagePlus 2 was released and provided full colour printing support. Following this release, a new version of the product was released on a roughly annual basis.

PagePlus X9 was the last of the PagePlus line. Serif dropped further development of all "Plus" products (including Serif's vector graphics editor, DrawPlus, which was launched as an accompanying product to PagePlus in 1994) to focus efforts on their 'Affinity' product line.

A public beta of Affinity Publisher (the closest of the Affinity applications to PagePlus functionality) is scheduled for release before the end of August 2018.[3] As of November 2017, PagePlus X9 was available at a very heavily discounted price from Serif via the official PagePlus website.

Overview

While PagePlus is generally targeted at the "entry level" DTP user, some of the functionality present in the market leading applications (Quark's XPress and Adobe's InDesign[4]) is present in PagePlus, such as working in the CMYK colour space, OpenType Feature support, and Optical margin alignment (Optical Justification). PagePlus also has the ability to view, create, edit and publish PDF files,[5] and publish E-books in *.epub or *mobi formats[6] suitable for the Kindle store. It also includes support for EPUB3 fixed layout eBooks for textbooks, children’s books etc.[1]

PagePlus is primarily written in C++ using Visual Studio 2008, with a heavy dependence on the MFC framework. The Windows GDI library was discarded early in development in favour of an in-house composition engine supporting advanced bitmap and typeface operations. The text engine supports Unicode text entry.

Supported platforms

PagePlus was developed for Microsoft Windows and supports Windows XP, Windows Vista (32/64bit), Windows 7 (32/64bit), Windows 8 (32/64bit) and Windows 10 (32/64bit).[7]

Reception

PagePlus has generally been well received by the press, especially for its value for money when compared to expensive alternatives like Adobe InDesign.[8][9]

PagePlus remains popular among its users with 95% of those surveyed saying they would recommend it to family or friends[10] and receiving an average star rating of 4.32 out of 5 from 540 users.[11]

Version history

  • PagePlus: 1990
  • PagePlus 2: 1993
  • PagePlus 3: 1994
  • PagePlus 4: 1996
  • PagePlus 5: 1997
  • PagePlus 6: 1999
  • PagePlus 7: 1 October 2000
  • PagePlus 8: 2001
  • PagePlus 8: PDF Edition, 9 September 2002
  • PagePlus 9: September 2003
  • PagePlus 10: 11 October 2004
  • PagePlus 11: 3 October 2005
  • PagePlus X2: 19 February 2007
  • PagePlus X3: 21 April 2008
  • PagePlus X4: 11 September 2009
  • PagePlus X5: 18 October 2010
  • PagePlus X6: 5 December 2011
  • PagePlus X7: 3 June 2013
  • PagePlus X8: 4 August 2014
  • PagePlus X9: 16 November 2015

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "PagePlus X9 – Easy-to-use desktop publishing software". Serif.com. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  2. ↑ PagePlus 10.0 Companion (PDF). Serif (Europe) Ltd. 2004. pp. 5–6.
  3. ↑ "Affinity Publisher". Serif Website. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  4. ↑ "DTP is alive and flourishing". Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
  5. ↑ Jason Whittaker. "Serif PagePlus X2 Review: - Software and Services – Graphics & Publishing – PC World Australia". Pcworld.idg.com.au. Archived from the original on 29 November 2007. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  6. ↑ Bhikkhu Pesala. "PagePlus". Softerviews.org. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  7. ↑ "Serif PagePlus". Serif. 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Affordable Desktop Publishing From Serif". Serif.com. PC Mag. 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "#1 DTP product on TopTenReviews.com". TopTenReviews.com. 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  10. ↑ "Serif PagePlus Press Release". Serif.com. 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  11. ↑ "Serif PagePlus Reviews". Serif.com. 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2016.

Bibliography

Reviews

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