Work is almost complete on the next version of PageFour. This release will see major improvements to the printing capabilities of the product, focusing as always on the needs of writers, rather than business users.
Building on feedback over the past few months, the basic printing options of version 1.3 have been drastically overhauled. Changes include:
- Full control over headers, footers, and page numbers when printing.
- Facility to ‘override‘ font, paragraph, and line spacing settings.
- Feature whereby the user can create multiple print templates, and choose which one to use when printing.
Lack of control over headers and footers has always been a weakness of PageFour, so I’m very pleased that this is about to be resolved. The key feature of the coming release however, is the ability to print using different font and paragraph settings to those you use when writing.
I work on a high resolution monitor, and use Verdana 11 as my default font, with single line spacing. The changes in version 1.4 will allow me to continue using these settings, yet print using Times New Roman 12, with one and a half line spacing. Different publishers have different requirements, and the font or paragraph settings you use when writing may be completely different to those you would use when printing a manuscript. In the past, you may have had to change these settings within the document each time before printing. With version 1.4 of PageFour, it’s simply a case of setting up however many print templates you may need, and choosing which one to use when printing.
If all goes to plan, a beta version should be available for download and testing this weekend, with the release version following a week later. If anyone is interested in trying out the beta version, please and I’ll point you in the right direction. Previous beta testers have had a major impact on the shape of the product, so it’s a good opportunity to have a say in how PageFour develops.