BeLight Software's Swift Publisher Page Layout App |
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March, 2005
By: Ashley Towers
Swift Publisher from
BeLight Software is designed to be an easy, fun and intuitive page layout application.
It can be used for designing and printing flyers, newsletters, brochures, letterheads
and many other documents either from scratch or by using one of the supplied templates.
There are 2 versions of Swift Publisher to choose between, a Download
Edition ($34.95US, with 60 templates and 800 images) or a 2 CD Edition ($39.95, with
over 100 templates and a whopping 23,000 images). There is little incentive to purchase
the Download Edition as the sheer quantity of extras you would loose out on easily
makes up for the $5 difference. Although, if you needed the immediacy of the download
a $5 upgrade to the CD Edition is available.
Upon launching Swift Publisher you are presented with the "Swift
Publisher Assistant", which displays the available document templates categorised
by a purpose such as Brochure, Certificate etc. I was struck by the quality of the supplied
templates; it is obvious that a lot of effort has gone into their production. However,
unlike Apple's Pages, the templates are only single page, meaning you have to create
complimentary styled subsequent pages yourself.
Once you have selected a template or a blank document, the editor window
opens; this is divided into a main editing area, a multi- tabbed media browser and a floating
window for adjusting attributes on the selected page element.
The media browser allows you to view the included images and clipart, your
iPhoto Library, Smart Shapes (squares, circles, speech bubbles, stars etc.) or browse your
disks for a file. Usefully, the images tab integrates Google's image search engine allowing
you to find the perfect image without leaving the application (sensibly, it warns you about
the copyright of images found this way).
In use, Swift Publisher achieves its aim of making creating documents fun; I
found that it got out of the way and allowed me to concentrate on getting my layout how I
wanted it. It is very easy to use, just a click adds a text box or picture, then a click and
drag to resize or move it! As you move an element around the page it snaps into alignment with
other page elements making getting a good layout easy. All of the elements in a template are
editable in the same way so you can rearrange and edit them to get the desired appearance.
A useful feature is the Image Mask. This allows you to expose selected areas
of your picture by overlaying it with a greyscale mask, the opacity varying from transparent
at black to opaque at white. There are a selection of built in masks or the program will create
a mask from any of your images. Unfortunately, you can't move a mask around relative to the
underlying image, meaning you must take care when creating your masks that they will reveal
the desired area underneath.
Masking in action
The program isn't without its quirks; by default the spell checker doesn't
check your spelling as you type, and you have to turn this feature on for every text box you
add. Whilst you can select and manipulate multiple objects, you can't group them together for
future use. It doesn't appear to allow you to replace an image in place —you have to
delete the original and then resize the replacement to the same size. Finally, when you copy
and paste an image it pastes the duplicate almost exactly over the original meaning that if
you aren't paying attention you can miss where it went!
Once you are happy with your creation, you can export your file as a PDF or
an image (TIFF and JPEG). Sometimes exporting to other file formats can introduce discrepancies
between the source document and the exported file this is not the case here as both PDFs and
images accurately reproduced my original document.
In conclusion, if you are looking for an easy to use page layout program that
allows even a novice user to create attractive looking documents, then you wont be disappointed
with Swift Publisher. For the price it represents excellent value for money, especially
considering the large image library provided with the CD edition. Whilst it will never compete
with Quark XPress or Adobe InDesign on features, it has all of the functionality and flexibility
an average user will ever need.
Swift Publisher
BeLight Software
Download Edition $34.95
2 CD Edition $39.95 + S&H
Upgrade from Download to CD version $5 + S&H
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