Two basic improvements

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greenmorpher
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Two basic improvements

Post by greenmorpher »

After some years' use of NWE and now NWPro, I feel there are two very simple, basic things that MUST be done to make this program a proper platform for going forward.

(1) VERTICAL RULER.

NW in the original was the ONLY WP around WITH a vertical ruler. Now it is about the only fully featured WP around WITH0OUT one. Having one, originally, was vive la difference (or however you right it properly in French). NOT having one now is just whacko. We can put in graphics, we have tables, now we have mail merge -- we are producing documents that have parts we need to be able to locate. We need the damned ruler.

(2) LOCK THE MARGINS

I set the margins by measurements, then I can accidentally grab them and drag them totally out of position, totally stuffing up layout and content placement, with just a slip of the mouse! This is ridiculous. Can you do this in any other professional WP? I expect, once I have set the margins, that I don't have to think about them again -- I can concentrate on the content. I simply can't imagine why we can drag the margins at all.

Cheers, Geoff

Geoffrey Heard, Business Writer & Publisher

"Type & Layout: Are you communicating or just making pretty shapes" -- Revealed! The secrets of how you can use type and layout to turbocharge your messages in print. See the book at http://www.worsleypress.com
steintal
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Post by steintal »

I can only support this two requests. They are a "must".
Groucho
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Post by Groucho »

I harp on about the horizontal ruler's zero referring to page corner, not paper corner. I usually allow an extra binding gutter of about 0.25", so when I set a tab the distance has an extra 0.25" on odd pages.

Henry.
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greenmorpher
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Post by greenmorpher »

In Europe and referring to quarter inches, Grouncho! Fi! :D

If you have a binding gutter of, say, 8 mm, then there is no problem incorporating that into the left hand or (if you are working on both sides of the sheets) inside margin.

Working on both sides dramatizes the matter you raise. The binding margin moves from the left to the right of the page as you move odd > even (assuming you are writing left > right). Your left hand margin changes width, but the tab, of course, remains the same vis-a-vis the text margin.

Tabs AND indents/outdents ought to be measured from the text margins, not the page edges. Since they retain their position vis-a-vis the text margins when the page margin changes, obviously that is the actual measurement they are working from, and that should be the measurement given and/or set for tabs and indents/outdents.

Cheers, Geoff

Geoffrey Heard, Business Writer & Publisher

"Type & Layout: Are you communicating or just making pretty shapes" -- Revealed! The secrets of how you can use type and layout to turbocharge your messages in print. See the book at http://www.worsleypress.com
Groucho
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Post by Groucho »

greenmorpher wrote:In Europe and referring to quarter inches, Grouncho! Fi!
I like to feel international. I would use Bible's cubits if I knew how long a cubit was, for that matter.:)
As for the rest, agreed.

Greetings from Europe,
Henry.
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greenmorpher
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Post by greenmorpher »

Groucho wrote:I would use Bible's cubits if I knew how long a cubit was, for that matter.:)
How would 0.02272727 of a chain suit you, Henry? That's a good one because it means you can readily lay out a cricket pitch in cubits -- a most progressive approach to measurement, I would have thought, sicne it is very acceptable in the biggest English-speaking nation on earth: India.

If you want to work to a less mundane standard, though, there is 9.469697 *10-05 of a league (that's 10 to the power of -05).

All this and more readily available at http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/un ... it.en.html although heaven knows where they got it from.

It must be right, though, because it's on the web!

Cheers, Geoff

Geoffrey Heard, Business Writer & Publisher

"Type & Layout: Are you communicating or just making pretty shapes" -- the secrets of how type can help you to sell or influence, now at a new low price of $29.95. See the book at http://www.worsleypress.com or Amazon.
Groucho
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Post by Groucho »

Great, Brer Greeno!
I'll give it a try.
By the way, I have found how long a cubit was in the times of the Bible. It's a forearm's length. King Solomon's forearm, I suppose.

Henry.
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