Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cwjcc!gatech!prism!russ
From: russ@prism.gatech.EDU (Russell Shackelford)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Desktop Publishers???
Summary: Ventura ease of use
Message-ID: <1100@hydra.gatech.EDU>
Date: 18 Jul 89 16:15:25 GMT
References: <8703@attctc.Dallas.TX.US>
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology
Lines: 67

In article <8703@attctc.Dallas.TX.US>, rcj@attctc.Dallas.TX.US (Robert Johnson) writes:
> I need some help.  Our department at work has been producing ~200
> page manuals recently.  All of the work is done on computers (graphics
> on Lotus Freelance, and Harvard Graphics, and text on CEO (a word
> processing package on the Data General that I can download into
> wordperfect 5.0).  The only problem is that to combine the two, we are
> resorting to cutting and pasting the finished product together.  This, 
> I feel, is rather pointless, and have begun looking into a good
> desktop publisher.  Briefely, this is what I need:
>  
>         1) Capability for >150pg documents.
>         2) Lotus Freelance & Harvard Graphics compatability.
>         3) Word Perfect compatibility (need I ask for this?!)
>         4) Ease of use.
> 
> I think that #4 is the real stickler here.  I have looked into Ventura,
> and it definately does not addapt itself to ease of use from what I have
> seen. 


I believe that you are on the verge of making a common-but-serious error,
namely: 

Confusing "ease of use" with "ease of LEARNING to use".

Specifically, I have some experience with Ventura and I have found it to
be EXTREMELY easy to use .... once I "got a handle" on it.  It is
particularly valueable for long documents, such as you describe, especially
when revisions are called for.  Ventura keeps your original files intact,
albeit with readily-understandable formatting tags inserted, so that you
can modify the document but still have all the formatting work without
tedious updating to accomodate content-changes.

Ventura LOOKS hairy AT FIRST.  But it IS logically arranged and EASY to
use AS SOON AS you get over being mystified by it.

Personally, I would give it an "A+" for "ease of use", and a "C+" for
"ease of learning to use".

Also, while I am NOT intimately familiar with alternatives to Ventura,
I would be relatively skeptical of any product which was extremely easy to
learn, in that I would question how much power it has.  In other words,
desktop publishing SHOULD give you considerable control over ALL the facets
of document appearance.  And I do not understand how this could be
accomplished in a program that is immediately learn-able, due to the
NUMEROUS facets that need to be controlled.

Again, I suggest that you give Ventura a try, with your Number 1 goal
being to overcome the initial mystification.  The problem is NOT any
inherent difficulty of Ventura; the problem IS an expectation that a
powerful formatting tool will come with a 5-minute learning curve.

I would anticipate that using Ventura on your existing manual would 
provide you with the experience necessary to master the thing.  It
makes no sense to try to learn such a program by sitting down and reading
the manual.  Rather, you should start with your document and refer to
the manula and tutorial AS ISSUES arise, i.e., first get the paragraph
formatting done; then import your graphics; then tie the graphics to the text,
and so on.  Within a week or two, you'll be comfortable with it!

hope this helps (even though it's not what you asked for)

-- 
Russell Shackelford
School of Information and Computer Science
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332
russ@prism.gatech.edu         (404) 834-4759