Design philosophy: all information in this web site should be accessible to the intended audience regardless of platform, browser, or size of screen. Graphics are kept to a minimum to reduce download times. If you see a frame or an animated GIF, feel free to flame me mercilessly.

This site uses fully compliant cascading style sheets (CSS). Older browsers should display text in their default fonts, while more recent browsers will all display fully formatted text. (However, the styles sheets will look best viewed in Internet Explorer 4.0 or above.) The site also complies with major accessibility standards.

Colophon

The base font for this page is Trebuchet MS, a free font from Microsoft designed for on-screen readability at small point sizes. The headlines are 32 pt Times bold italic, combining elegance, classical proportions, and compactness.

The logo is variation on the original logo from Aldus PageMaker and depicts Aldus Manutius, a student of Johannes Gutenberg and inventor of italics. This is to echo the roots of desktop publishing, both in the 1450s and the 1980s. The logo uses Courier from ITC to evoke the feel of metal type and Poetica from Adobe Systems to evoke the era of hand lettering.

Made on a Macintosh using Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia DreamWeaver.

Simulating Character Styles

PageMaker does not do character styles, only paragraph styles. This was one of the most loved features of the late lamented PageTools from Extensis. There is a script at the PM Scripting Site that will simulate character styles, but it remains one of the most-requested features for a future version of PageMaker.

In the meantime, Carol Majors <majorspubl@aol.com> suggests the following workaround:

There is a little trick that might work for you. Store the formatting as a paragraph style in the style sheet. When you get to the place in the text that needs special formatting, hit RETURN before and after the text to create a standalone paragraph. Format this paragraph with the style you choose, and it will take on the appropriate formatting. Now tag the text back to NO STYLE.

Now use backspace to merge the paragraphs back together, deleting the inserted returns. Your line should be still styled and be sitting in midst of the paragraph properly styled. The only drawback is that this paragraph will now be tagged as NO STYLE, but all the attributes will be there.

P.S. When you set up your styles, be sure to set your leading the same for both to avoid bad line spacing.

STEPPS -- Stop Tax Exempt Private Property Sprawl -- Framingham