The PageMaker Environment

PageMaker is a powerful software application used for desktop publishing and is available for both Windows and Macintosh users. The application allows you to manipulate features such as page size, text, graphics, and borders. PageMaker’s strengths are in its ability to bring together text and images to make professional looking resumes, brochures, handouts, and newsletters.

This document will familiarize you with the PageMaker 6.5 environment and its components.

The PageMaker Window

The PageMaker window contains many parts that work together to make creating a document easier.

Window Elements

Understanding the elements you see in the PageMaker window is the first step to becoming comfortable with the application. The elements listed below are the ones you will use most often.

Title Bar
The title bar displays the document’s name. If the document is unnamed, the name displayed in the title bar will be Untitled-1.

Rulers
Two rulers running vertically and horizontally along the screen can be set to measure in inches or picas (a pica is a unit of measurement used in typography, equal to 12 points, approximately 1/6 of an inch). If rulers are not visible on your screen or you need to change the measurement system of the rulers, see Working with Rulers & Guides.

Pasteboard
The pasteboard is the background behind the PageMaker document. It is useful for temporarily placing text and graphic elements when deciding where to place items, or when moving items between pages. Text and graphics on the pasteboard will not print.

Page Icons
The numbered page icons represent the pages of your document. The highlighted icon indicates which page(s) you are currently viewing. The L and R icons represent master pages. Items on master pages will appear on all pages of the document.

Margins
The dotted lines represent the page margins. Generally, all the text and graphics are placed within the page margins.

Page Boundaries
The page boundaries represent the edges of the paper. Any items outside or overlapping the page boundaries will not print.

Toolbox
PageMaker provides several tools that are used to accomplish various tasks. The most common tools are the Pointer and the Text tools. If the Toolbox is not visible, see Displaying the Toolbox.

Scroll Bars
Like Microsoft Word and other applications, PageMaker has scroll bars to help you move to various points on the current page(s). Scroll bars are not used to move between pages.

Resize Box
The Resize box (lower right corner) is used to change the size of the window. Click and drag it to change the window to the desired size.

Previous Size (refresh) Box
The Previous Size box (upper right corner) is used to refresh your screen display. This is especially useful when you have been making several editing changes or testing different font sizes and styles. Sometimes, bits of previous edits remain on the screen and using this option will clear it up. If you adjusted the size of the PageMaker window, this button will also return the window to its previous size.

The Control Palette

The Control Palette is used to manipulate both text blocks and graphics. There are three views within the Control Palette: Character, Paragraph, and Pointer. The view displayed depends on the tool that is selected. In each view, you can manipulate the text, paragraph, or object by adjusting the settings within the Control Palette.

To display the Control Palette:

1. From the Window menu, select Show Control Palette
   NOTE: If the Control Palette is already being displayed, Hide Control Palette will be appear under the Windows menu.

Character View
Displays font, type style, and type size when the Text tool is selected.

Paragraph View
Displays paragraph styles, alignment, indentation, and space before and after paragraphs when the Text tool is selected.

Placed Object View
Displays information of a placed graphic selected with the Pointer tool. You can scale, crop, and rotate the graphic using this Control Palette view.

Pointer View
Displays the x and y coordinates of the pointer as it moves around the PageMaker window.

In-Line Graphic View
Displays information about an image within the context of the text surrounding it. You can change the image’s spacing from the text on either side and top and bottom. You can also crop the image to suit your needs.