Timeworks Publisher

Timeworks Publisher was a desktop publishing (DTP) program produced by GST Software in the United Kingdom.

Timeworks Publisher, Timeworks DTP, Publish-It!
Developer(s)GST Software
Initial release1987 (1987) (Atari ST)[1]
Stable release
Publisher 4.6 (Windows) / 2009 (2009)
Operating systemGEM, Mac OS, Windows
TypeDesktop publishing
LicenseProprietary commercial software

It is notable as the first affordable DTP program for the IBM PC. In appearance and operation, it was a Ventura Publisher clone, but it was possible to run it on a computer without a hard disk.

Timeworks Desktop Publisher

The TOS version of Timeworks[2] relied on the GDOS software components, which were available from Atari but were often distributed with applications that required them. GDOS provided TOS/GEM with a standardized method for installing printer drivers and additional fonts, although these were limited to bitmapped fonts in all but the later releases. GDOS had a reputation for being difficult to configure, used a lot of system resources and was fairly buggy, meaning that Timeworks could struggle to run on systems without a hard disk and less than 2 MB of memory - but it was possible, and for many users Timeworks was an inexpensive introduction to desktop publishing.

For the IBM PC, Timeworks Publisher ran on Digital Research's GEM Desktop (supplied with the program) as a runtime system. Later versions ran on Microsoft Windows.

Version 2 of Timeworks Publisher included full WYSIWYG, paragraph tagging, manual control of kerning, text and graphics imports and more fonts.[3] Timeworks Publisher 2.1 with GEM/5 is known to have supported Bézier curves already.

Publish-It!

In the US, Timeworks Inc. marketed the program as Publish-It!. Released in 1988, there were versions available for IBM PC (running over the GEM environment), Apple Macintosh, and Apple II (Enhanced IIe or better) computers.[4][5]

KeyPublisher

SoftKey KeyPublisher 1.0 (versions 1.19 and 1.21) was a version of Publish-It! 1.0 for PCs with GEM produced by Softkey Software Products Inc. in 1991.[6]

DESKpress

DESKpress was a version aimed at the business market, and Press International was a later CD-based multilingual version for Windows.

Other names

The product was also sold under other names including NEBS PageMagic (changed after objections from Adobe), Macmillan Publisher, Canon Publisher, and many other brands, distinguished by use of the .DTP file extension. The latest version was sold as Greenstreet Publisher 4 and is downwards file compatible with earlier versions.

Releases
  • 1987 - Timeworks Publisher (IBM PC, Atari ST)
  • 1987 - Timeworks Publish-It! 1.12 (IBM PC)
  • 19?? - Publish-It! 1.19 by GST
  • 1987 - Publish-It! (Apple IIe)[7]
  • 1990 - Publish-It! 1.20 (IBM PC)
  • 1991 - KeyPublisher 1 by softkey (IBM PC)
  • 1992? - Timeworks Publisher 2 (IBM PC, Atari ST) GEM-based
  • 1991/1992 - Timeworks Publish-It! PC 2.00 (IBM PC)[8]
  • 1992? - Publish-It! Easy 2.1.9 (Macintosh)
  • 199? - Timeworks Publisher 2.1 (IBM PC - GEM/5-based)
  • 199? - Timeworks Publisher 3 (IBM PC - GEM/5-based)
  • 1994 - Timeworks Publish-It! 4 (IBM PC for Windows)[9]

See also

References
  1. "Atari ST Timeworks DTP: scans, dump, download, screenshots, ads, videos, catalog, instructions, roms". Atarimania.com. 2016-07-31. Retrieved 2016-08-09.
  2. "Review: Desktop Publisher ST (Timeworks)". Atarimagazines.com. Retrieved 2016-08-09.
  3. Nelson, Bruce D. "Atari Explorer, Z*Net, & ST Report: Z*Net: 10-Apr-92 #9215". Atariarchives.org. Retrieved 2016-08-09.
  4. PC Mag. 1989-01-17. p. 34. Retrieved 2016-08-09.
  5. "It's No Contest!". InfoWorld: 10. 1989-09-11. Retrieved 2016-08-09.
  6. https://winworldpc.com/product/key-publisher/1x
  7. "Publish-It! (Apple II, 5 1/4" Disk) Timeworks - 1987 USA, Canada Release". Eli's Software Encyclopedia. 2010-03-07. Retrieved 2016-08-09.
  8. https://winworldpc.com/product/publish-it/20
  9. https://winworldpc.com/product/publish-it/40
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