2 GB too large?

[Matthias Vering]

We're producing a little newspaper (32 pages) with
Publisher. It has text and photos in it. It uses
exorbitant 2 GB of space on disc - and removing the
pictures does not make it smaller. After some times XP
runs slow, and I do not have any idea how to improve it.
Yesterday then Publisher was not able to save the file
("no sufficient memory - but the disk has >60 GB space)
and after several hours of trying Publisher ended with a
fatal error.

Is there a error in the publisher's memory model dealing
with pictures? Any help and hint would be appreciated

Thanks - Matthias

 

[Ed Bennett]

A small child turns to Ed, and exclaims: "Look! Look! A post from

Is there a error in the publisher's memory model dealing
with pictures? Any help and hint would be appreciated

Publisher files cannot exceed 2GB.

Publisher 2000 and below decompressed images when importing them - Publisher
2002 and 2003 do not.

 

[Brian Kvalheim - [MSFT MVP]]

Hi °°MS-Publisher°° ([email protected]),
in the newsgroups
you posted:

| For publishing a newspaper you would be substantially better using
| Serif PagePlus 9.0

How is that?

| Serif has none of the issues of large file sizes and includes CMYK

Publisher 2002/2003 doesn't have large file size issues either, and also
include CMYK
--
Brian Kvalheim
Microsoft Publisher MVP
http://www.publishermvps.com
~pay it forward~

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
confers no rights.

 

[Mike Koewler]

Matthias,

I publish a weekly newspaper (usually from 16-20 pages with a few issues
24-32 pages) and in an entire year, all my pages (generally about 1,000)
of them will easily fit on once CD.

Mike

 

[°°MS-Publisher°°]

Brian trying to compare Publisher 2003 to Serif PagePlus 9.0 for doing a
weekly newspaper is like trying to compare a Pinto with a Mitsubishi Grande.

PagePlus links pictures PROPERLY without any issues,
If you do embed a picture in PagePlus it retains the picture in original
format - unlike Publisher which blows them up.
PagePlus has the Portfolio feature which is just magic for re-using objects.
PagePlus has a FULL set of defaults that work
PagePlus has a comprehensive and highly useful set of drawing tools far more
suited to creating things for a newspaper than Publisher.
PagePlus has FX effects which Publisher has no answer to.
PagePlus has PDF built in with no extras to buy
PagePlus converts to HTML without any issues and will retain the format
including columns if they want to publish the newspaper as HTML or of course
PDF. Publisher has no ability to convert the document directly to HTML or
PDF.
PagePlus has a TOC (Table of Contents) or an Index function.
PagePlus has up to 99 undo's

It is a NO contest between Publisher and PagePlus to do a weekly newspaper.

Publisher is aimed more at the small business user and is more suitable for
short documents, flyers, invitations etc. etc.

Sure Publisher is a good program, but it has far to many limitations and
falls down in so many areas to do a larger document, and especially a weekly
newspaper where speed and functionality is so important.

 

[°°MS-Publisher°°]

Mike forgot to mention he uses Serif PagePlus 9.0 to achieve what he does so
well.

As much as I know Publisher backwards, forwards and inside out, never would
I even contemplate or consider doing a newspaper in Publisher. I would
automatically use Serif PagePlus 9.0 because it is a substantially superior
program for that purpose.

--

"If you don't know where you are going,
any road will take you there!"

"Never give your mind or heart away"

 

[Mike Koewler]

FWIW,

I have 18 pages done so far this week, with lots of embedded images
(some are 300 dpi large-size tif images) and my total file size is 12
megs. Six of those 12 megs are in a file that is a center spread - 30
merchants with a color ad each.

Mike

 

[Brian Kvalheim - [MSFT MVP]]

PagePlus links pictures PROPERLY without any issues,

While this is a known bug in Publisher, it has no effect on creating a
newspaper. It just happens that the picture is linked AND embeded.

If you do embed a picture in PagePlus it retains the picture in original
format - unlike Publisher which blows them up.

Not true. At least not true in Publisher 2002/2003

PagePlus has the Portfolio feature which is just magic for re-using

objects.

As does Pubilsher. The Design Gallery performs the same as the Portfolio.
You can re-use publisher objects, html objects, text objects, clipart, smart
objects, etc.

PagePlus has a FULL set of defaults that work

As does Publisher 2002/2003. And if you are looking beyond
margin/tab/paragraph/font defaults, there is a free add-in available for
adding even more defaults. In fact, with the Object Model in Publisher, it
almost unlimited.

PagePlus has a comprehensive and highly useful set of drawing tools far

more
suited to creating things for a newspaper than Publisher.

Publisher does indeed have excellent drawing tools. However, comprehensive
drawing tools should be left to drawing programs for serious drawing. That
is why Serif offers the excellent DrawPlus for an additional fee.

PagePlus has FX effects which Publisher has no answer to.

Publisher has VBA for programming routine functions, say in a newspaper for
print for commericial printing, which PagePlus has no answer to. Not to
mention, users of older versions of PagePlus have no way of opening files
sent to them in newer versions. And if you want FX effects, get a drawing
program.

PagePlus has PDF built in with no extras to buy

Plenty of free alternatives for Publisher. No extras to buy.

PagePlus converts to HTML without any issues and will retain the format
including columns if they want to publish the newspaper as HTML or of course
PDF.

Publisher converts to HTML just fine, PDF can be converted via a free
printer driver.

Publisher has no ability to convert the document directly to HTML

Publisher indeed does.

PagePlus has a TOC (Table of Contents) or an Index function.

Publisher does not. However, over 90% of the systems running Publisher have
Microsoft Word, which is superior for making TOC's and Index, which can be
accessed and used in Publisher. And as noted by Mikes excellent PagePlus
created newspaper, the TOC remains consistent in a template each issue.
Publisher can use the same feature, and on top of that use Smart Objects
that once you enter a TOC title, it also automagically adds the title to a
corresponding text box for that particular story.

PagePlus has up to 99 undo's

Publisher 2002/2003 is unlimited (except via the memory). I remember when I
pointed out that the new Works was better than the old Works 4.5 because of
it's unlimited undo and you said that "you are pathetic if you need that
many undo's". Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

It is a NO contest between Publisher and PagePlus to do a weekly

newspaper.

Depends on the user. I have had Serif PagePlus on my system for Version 4.0,
8.0 and 9.0 and have found nothing compelling to TAKE me away from
Publisher. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. You use which
ever you are comfortable with.

Publisher is aimed more at the small business user and is more suitable for
short documents, flyers, invitations etc. etc.

And long documents, full color magazines, newspapers, etc. I have 4 issues
of RC (Radio Control) Magazine from England. It looks just like the
MotorTrends/People high quality magazines, and is done entirely in
Publisher, and sold at their magazine stands and drug stores. Granted, they
don't have as fancy of camera's, so the pictures are not quite as perfect as
say GQ, but it's awesome quality none the less.

Sure Publisher is a good program, but it has far to many limitations and
falls down in so many areas to do a larger document, and especially a weekly
newspaper where speed and functionality is so important.

Not true. If you wanted to get nit picky, I could ramble on how PagePlus
doesn't have a translation feature, isn't supported in as many
countries/languages, doesn't support *.mht output, doesn't support File >
Send as an embeded email in Outlook, doesn't support a catalog merge with
images, doesn't support a Pack & Go, doesn't support the ability to save as
older versions to share with other PagePlus users for editing, 24 item
clipboard, hundreds of professional online templates free for download from
Microsoft, continuous online help updates, graphics manager for locating
multiple objects in a Publication for replacing (at least not that I have
found), smart tags that connect to stocks, encyclopedias and searches (which
also include the ability to add parental controls to the smart links/tags in
Publisher publications), shared workspace for sharepoint services, design
checker, and let me know if I should keep going.

However, I do enjoy Serif's advantage with built in PDF, with PDF Hyperlink
support, and PDF security, it's drawing tools and it's ability to center
webpages in browsers, unlike Publisher. And I enjoy the Serif Community as
much as I do the Publisher community. Great people, great ideas. And Dale
and Patrick at Serif are also excellent guys.

Again, to each his own. I do recommend both products of course, but I am a
bit biased to what I know very well. And I know Publisher very well.
--
Brian Kvalheim
Microsoft Publisher MVP
http://www.publishermvps.com
~pay it forward~

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
confers no rights.

 

[Mike Koewler]

Brian,

I'm not going to get into this urinating contest. Both programs have
their strengths, both can be improved. It's a horses for courses type thing.

Mike

P.S. I NEVER link a picture, they are always embedded. Five years from
now, when I want to open a file, I don't want to search for a photo. For
the most part, if I embed the photos and save the file, its size is
usually than if I link the file and save the photo.

Mike

 

[Ed Bennett]

A small child turns to Ed, and exclaims: "Look! Look! A post from

Brian it is true. If you put in a JPG into a Publisher doco it
converts it to a PNG internally which is a larger file than a JPG.

NOT TRUE.
I have just tested this.
I inserted a 255,102 byte JPG into a 32,256 byte blank Publisher file, and
on saving the filesize went up to 290,304. That is not unreasonable - there
is about 3k difference, which is probably Publisher's header on the image.
I then converted the JPG to PNG in IrfanView, and the PNG was 3,203,584
bytes in size. I deleted the JPG from the Publisher file and saved it, and
checking the filesize it had gone back down to 32,256. I inserted the PNG
into the Publisher file, and the Publisher filesize went up to 3,261,440.
From this I think it is safe to draw the conclusion that Publisher will NOT
always convert images to PNG.

Out of interest, I then converted my image to an uncompressed BMP, with a
size of 9,290,358 bytes. I deleted the image from my Publisher file,
checking that the size was once again 32,256 bytes, and inserted my BMP. On
saving, the Publisher filesize was 3,561,984 bytes.

This confirms the conclusion I reached a long time ago and the advice I have
given users:

Publisher stores the image in its original format with the original
compression, unless the filesize can be reduced by converting the image to
PNG format, in which case it converts the image to a losslessly compressed
PNG internally and stores it like that.

So I am totally correct in my original post.

Or not.

Brian PagePlus requires NO add-ins, it is all built into the program.

You mean there's no way at all you could get PagePlus to function better by
getting it to repeat some arduous task over and over.
I want to insert 1,000 circles at random intervals on a page to make it look
like bubbles, I can write about 10 lines of VBA and it is all done for me.
Without VBA support, I would have to draw 1,000 circles (that's a minimum of
1,000 drag-drop operations, and 1,000 holdings of the shift key, plus any
extras to add fills)

If you were honest you would admit the add-ins for Publisher are
amateurish in the extreme in operation.

Gee, thanks. I love you too.

The Object Model in
Publisher is about as useful as the tits on a bull.

To YOU. Because you don't choose to make usre of it.

Brian you continually harp on about the VBA functions, but as you
know few to nobody

Oh, so now I'm a nobody.

use them as Publisher users don't want to be
programmers.

You don't have to be a programmer to install a Publisher add-in.
And you hardly have to be a programmer to write a few lines of VBA.

Now that you always rave on about the VBA functions in
Publisher then show us all the VBA examples you have done and your
portfolio of improved artwork.

VBA doesn't improve artwork, it allows you to accomplish repetetive tasks
easily.

What is this horse manure about PagePlus not being able to open files
from older versions. Which planet are you living on.

If you actually read his post you would see that he said that OLDER versions
of PP cannot open files from NEWER versions.

Brian get real will you. None of the free alternatives are up to the
functionality or the need of CMYK and printer settings.

Built-in functionality is almost always dangerous, IMO. If one thing goes
wrong, it can cause a load of other things to go wrong. That's why I don't
buy all-in-one printers.

I don't want to take you away from Publisher, but for a weekly
newspaper Serif PagePlus is a substantially superior tool to
Publisher for all the right reasons. PagePlus is the right tool for
the job.

In your opinion. Some would say that Adobe PageMaker or InDesign was the
ONLY and/or RIGHT tool for the job.
If the program can do what you need it to do, and you're comfortable with
it, than I'd say that it is the right program for the job.
So for YOU, PagePlus is the right tool. For Brian, Publisher is the right t
ool. For some, Corel Ventura is the right tool.

I also recommend both products, but for a weekly newspaper or longer
documents like magazines with adverts etc. PagePlus is a
substantially better program for the job.

For you.

 

[Brian Kvalheim - [MSFT MVP]]

Hi °°MS-Publisher°° ([email protected]),
in the newsgroups
you posted:

| Brian it is true. If you put in a JPG into a Publisher doco it
| converts it to a PNG internally which is a larger file than a JPG.
| So I am totally correct in my original post.

I was going to reply to your post to debunk, but Ed did a great job for me

--
Brian Kvalheim
Microsoft Publisher MVP
http://www.publishermvps.com
~pay it forward~

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
confers no rights.

 

[Brian Kvalheim - [MSFT MVP]]

Hi Mike Koewler ([email protected]),
in the newsgroups
you posted:

|| Brian,
||
|| I'm not going to get into this urinating contest. Both programs
|| have their strengths, both can be improved. It's a horses for
|| courses type thing.

Good, cuz urine is gross

|| P.S. I NEVER link a picture, they are always embedded. Five years
|| from
|| now, when I want to open a file, I don't want to search for a photo.
|| For the most part, if I embed the photos and save the file, its size
|| is
|| usually than if I link the file and save the photo.

Ditto.
--
Brian Kvalheim
Microsoft Publisher MVP
http://www.publishermvps.com
~pay it forward~

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
confers no rights.

 

[Brian Kvalheim - [MSFT MVP]]

Hi °°MS-Publisher°° ([email protected]),
in the newsgroups
you posted:

| Brian you continually harp on about the VBA functions, but as you
| know few to nobody use them as Publisher users don't want to be
| programmers. Now that you always rave on about the VBA functions in
| Publisher then show us all the VBA examples you have done and your
| portfolio of improved artwork.

http://www.publishermvps.com/Default.aspx?tabid=43
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnpubta/html/pub_txtbox.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/odc_pb2003_ta/html/odc_PB_NavBarsWebPubs.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/odc_pb2003_ta/html/ODC_pb_Prepress1_.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/odc_pb2003_ta/html/odc_PB_prepress2.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/odc_pb2003_ta/html/odc_PB_Prepress_3.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/odc_pb2003_ta/html/ODC_PB_CreateWizardPubs.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/odc_pb2003_ta/html/ODC_PB_CatalogMergeOverview.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/odc_pb2003_ta/html/ODC_PB_MergeSortFilter.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnpubta/html/pub_txtbox.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...72-5322-40dd-8d78-dabf0d2c6979&displaylang=en
--
Brian Kvalheim
Microsoft Publisher MVP
http://www.publishermvps.com
~pay it forward~

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
confers no rights.

 

[°°MS-Publisher°°]

Brian K so what, look what they are used for - all pretty damn useless when
you get to look at them.
Half are for little brainless kiddies like Ed or to overcome bugs that
should have been fixed before release.

 

[Brian Kvalheim [MSFT MVP]]

In °°MS-Publisher°° <[email protected]> posted:
|| Brian K so what, look what they are used for - all pretty damn
|| useless when you get to look at them.
|| Half are for little brainless kiddies like Ed or to overcome bugs
|| that should have been fixed before release.

BS

--
Brian Kvalheim
Microsoft Publisher MVP
http://www.publishermvps.com
~pay it forward~

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
confers no rights.

 

[°°MS-Publisher°°]

BS = Bloody Sure and correct.

 

[Brian Kvalheim - [MSFT MVP]]

Yawn.

--
Brian Kvalheim
Microsoft Publisher MVP
http://www.publishermvps.com
~pay it forward~

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
confers no rights.