Robert Waltz, you said on 11/1/01 5:01 AM >Nisus is a lousy layout tool; if you're doing camera-ready work, you >need something else (not Word; Quark XPress or FrameMaker). Well, Bob, I agree with you that it doesn't do professional layout which is why many of us use the above or PageMaker (in my case). But referring to Mark's original question, I would want to say it is very good for what I call quick-and-dirty layout text flowing round quickly inserted inserted graphics, that sort of thing AND the booklet feature eg 4pp A5 which I use *all the time* for handouts. As long as you don't need uneven columns . . . Nisus >doesn't have an irritating little icon making irritating little >suggestions. :-) Worth buying for this lack-of-feature alone > Nisus doesn't do tables or outlining. Now, I feel this is a little on the harsh side. Nisus Table Tool requires one to jump through some hoops to do large or multi-page tables, but it does produce an elegant result. Word tables always had a certain look . . . not elegant. I didn't like the Table Tool at first - bit of a learning curve - but it has become more of a friend now, and I use it regularly. And outlining . . . major topic of discussion (check the archives). This is a strange drawback for something which is a writer's tool, since it seems that many if not most writers use outlining as a means of organisation. Then there are those of us who write first, and then reduce to outline to speak or produce handout notes . . . (Addressing Mark really but reflecting on Bob's comment) Nisus *can* outline, using macros. It isn't perfect. But then Word's approach was truly barbarian (might be better now, I haven't checked it out on the family Windoze rig). It seems most on this list use alternatives such as More (available free, very powerful), Acta (also available free?? - I never quiter got on with Acta) and Inspiration, which costs but offers a useful and flexible outliner *and* concept mapping. Getting to and from from Nisus to one of these is still current debate as only the Australians seem to know how to do it . . . I think it helps to figure it out if you put beer on your cornflakes, from what I've gleaned . . . Ian Greig
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