Printshop Companion GS review
By Graham Symes
Copyright (c) 1992 Apple Users' Group, Sydney
Republished from Applecations, a publication of the Apple Users' Group, Sydney, Australia.
Program: Printshop Companion GS
Publisher: Br0derbund Software Inc.
Distributor: Dataflow
RRP: $89
Required: Apple IIgs
Printshop Companion GS is a software package that has slipped onto the market quite recently without any advanced publicity or fanfare, but it really should be loudly acclaimed, as I regard it as the best "value for money" program that I have ever purchased.
Even though this program can greatly enhance the usefulness of the original Printshop GS program, it could also be accepted as a full stand-alone program because of its diversity and flexibility.
A brief resume of its functions would include:
o An additional data disk for Printshop GS
o A calendar maker
o A label maker
o An envelope maker
o An editor for all the various Printshop elements
o A cataloguer for any Printshop elements
o A program to produce a single page involving graphics, fonts and paint elements
o A "fun with graphics" application in the "Goodies" section of the program
To elaborate more on each of these functions:
o The program has 20 high quality full colour small graphics, 20 borders, 11 panel patterns (mono & coloured), 5 letterhead panels, 6 full greeting card panels, 8 envelope panels and 10 fonts; all of which can be used in the Printshop GS program or as data for the various parts of the Companion program.
o Printshop Companion GS can produce daily (one hour divisions), weekly, monthly or yearly calendar layouts. The grids are produced and the dates are assigned automatically. Text and graphics can be included in the separate entries. The calendars can have both top and bottom display panels with a wide variety of layout possibilities using 1 or 2 graphics and text.
o Labels can be produced in 3 sizes - 88mm (3.5") by 25mm (1") mailing labels or labels suitable for both 3.5" and 5.25" disks. In all cases there is the ability to mix graphics and text in a variety of layouts.
o The envelope maker is a feature which is new to the Printshop family. Within this program, full envelopes can be printed with all flaps necessary, or labels 99mm by 132mm can be printed which includes the name and address of the receiver, the return address, an all round border, 1 or 2 graphics and a trim linking the address and the graphics. All these elements can be arranged in any of 8 layouts. I have used these to great effect on parcels I have mailed, and they have provoked quite a deal of comment.
o The editor can handle all of the Printshop elements. Graphics of all different types may be imported, and a full set of paint tools is available for the editing. The font editor accepts fonts from other
Printshop programs as well as all the GS fonts. There is a facility to globally alter and resize all the characters as well as to work on individual symbols. When saving any products of the editors the user is given the choice of saving it in the Printshop GS or New Printshop format. Also whenever any saving is to be done, the user has the ability to delete other files, format a new 3.5" data disk or open a new folder.
o The cataloguer is a most useful application for avid Printshop users, as it can catalogue any Printshop elements from any disk, including the old DOS 3.3 versions. The user may choose to do a full catalogue, and in this case it gives the user the option of doing so in a continuous manner or may allocate separate pages for the different element types.
o The "Quick Pages" option alone is worth the total purchase price. Within this area the user has a full paint program at their disposal, together with the ability to load in any Printshop graphic as well as other graphics from a variety of sources. These can be resized, flipped etc. and can be positioned anywhere on the page. Fonts can be loaded in and different styles are possible, and also, the text can be inserted using any of left, centre or right justification. The results of your efforts can be viewed in 0.5, 1, 2 or 4 times the actual size. The final page can be printed at full size or at any percentage reduction in either Draft or Final mode.
o The "Goodies" section contains a tile maker and a creature constructor. Both allow anything that is produced to be captured, edited and saved to be used in other areas of the Printshop program.
Printshop Companion GS is a versatile and indepth program, yet it is still extremely easy to use. At any stage the user is no more than a mouse click away from the main menu.
The unique system for handling various volumes allows one to switch from 3.5" to 5.25" disks and deal with sub-directories with absolutely no difficulties. With all the Load commands, the user can have a preview of the element under construction, and as well the overall Preview command is readily available to check what has been created.
When any layout is chosen it can be customised to produce a distinctly different appearance. There is support for 58 different printers and 10 interfaces, and any settings can be saved permanently or used just for one session.
All Apple II people should be thankful that Br0derbund has shown faith in the II line, and has continued to produce programs of this calibre. Their programmers should be highly commended for the efforts that have produced the likes of Bannermania, New Printshop, Printshop Companion GS, The Playroom and the Carmen Sandiego series. Each program has significantly expanded the horizons of the Apple II users.

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