Word as A high end page lay out program

K

Kenneth O

When creating pages is word as good an option as Quark and Indesign. I
am considering using word as my primary page creation application. Is
this a goog idea?
 
J

Jezebel

Depends on what you're trying to create. Word is adequate for a lot of
purposes, but it's not a high-end page layout program (it's not a page
layout program at all -- it's a word processor).

If you're starting with a document (ie text) and you need to format it, then
Word may be acceptable. If you're starting with pages and you need to fill
them (eg a magazine, or a book with a lot of discrete articles) then Word is
definitely the wrong choice.

Word falls short if you need --

1. High-quality typography
2. Sophisticated text effects
3. Precise positioning of text and graphics
4. Multi-layer text and graphics
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

To add to what Jezebel has said, here are some more things Word cannot do:

* Wrap text around full-page graphics
* Create color separations of any kind (spot or process color)

Areas in which Word *may* be superior to *some* page layout applications
are:

* Footnotes/endnotes
* TOCs/indexes
* Multiple headers and footers (produced semi-automatically with StyleRef
fields)

Even in the above areas, however, Word sometimes falls down:

* If you want endnotes at the end of each chapter and restart numbering each
section, you can't have more than one section in a chapter.

* You can collect endnotes at the end, but you won't (without considerable
effort) be able to insert headings for the endnotes in each chapter or have
running heads that indicate this.

* TOCs and indexes *can* be constrained to look and behave the way you want
them to, but finishing touches often have to be applied after the fields
have been unlinked.
 
C

CyberTaz

In support of the other comments, the bottom line answer to the question is
"no", simply because Word *isn't* a page layout program, let alone "high
end" as indicated in your Subject. It *is* a high end word processing
program in which to generate your copy, but either of the programs you
mention are far superior (not to mention easier & more flexible) for layout.
Both will allow you to import your Word document content & combine it with
graphics for quality professional output.
 
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