Chapter 1 - Basic Information (Part 2) PageMaker

Viewing the Page:

When you create a publication, PageMaker opens a publication window, which contains an empty page centered on the pasteboard. PageMaker lets you view your pages at several preset magnifications. The Fit to Window option under the View menu lets you see the entire page or page spread inside your publication window. This is the default view. It gives you an overall feel of the page layout. However, you cannot see much detail. The Actual Size option displays the elements on your page at their actual printed size. Use this option to read small type. To toggle between Fit in Window and Actual Size, press Shift and press the right mouse button. When precision is imperative, you can select Zoom To select a larger value. To find or view objects on the pasteboard, use Entire Pasteboard. To move to the next greater or lesser preset view of a page, choose View > Zoom In or View > Zoom Out.

The Zoom Tool lets you magnify or reduce the display of any area in your publication. To toggle between magnification and reduction, press the Ctrl key. Thus when Ctrl key is pressed, the Zoom tool results in reduction, otherwise it gives magnification. When the publication has reached the maximum magnification or reduction level, the center of the magnifying glass appears blank. On selecting the Zoom tool, place it at the centre of the area you want to magnify or reduce, and then click to zoom in or out. You can also double click the tool to jump to Actual Size, or Alt as you double click the tool to Fit the Window view.

To magnify a part of the page, you can drag the magnifying glass after selecting the Zoom tool. Drag to draw a marquee around the area you want to magnify. You can also zoom to magnify or reduce, even when you are using a different tool. To magnify, press Ctrl + Spacebar as you click the mouse, and to reduce, press Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar as you click.

Scrolling Within a Window:

You can use the scroll bars along the bottom and right sides of the active window to control what displays in the publication window. You can show or hide the scroll bars at any time. In addition, PageMaker lets you reposition the page quickly by dragging the mouse.

To display or hide the scroll bars, choose View > Show/Hide Scroll Bars. If the scroll bars are already visible then you would get the option Hide Scroll Bars, and if they are not currently displayed, the option available would be Show Scroll Bars.

To reposition the page by dragging, you can either have the Alt key pressed as you drag with the mouse, or alternatively, select the Hand tool in the toolbox.

Working with Palettes:

As already mentioned, PageMaker comes with several palettes. The following techniques can help you save time when you are working with palettes.

Choose the appropriate Show or Hide command from the Window menu to control the display of the palettes or group of palettes. Use the Window > Plug-in Palettes command to show or hide palettes for installed plug-ins. You can open or close most palettes using the keyboard shortcuts. You can also show or hide all palettes by pressing the Tap key (make sure that the insertion point is not selected in your text).

To hide all palettes except for the Tools Palette, press Shift + Tab. Pressing the Tab key without the Shift will hide also the Tool Palette. To rearrange, separate, or reorganize palettes, drag the palette’s tab. You can create a separate palette outside of an existing group to create a separate palette or drag it over an existing group to add the palette to that group. However, note that the Control Palette, Library Palette, Scripts Palette and Tools Palette cannot be grouped with other palettes. By default, the Colors and Style Palettes are grouped together so that they appear as panels within a larger palette; the Layers and Master Pages Palette are also grouped together in this way. To make a particular tab (say Colors) at the front of the group, click the palette’s tab. To display the palettes menu commands, click the triangle in the upper right corner of the palette (For more details click here Working With Palettes (PageMaker).