Finesse Ver. 3.1 - Desktop Publishing Software Copyright 1990 David Batterson Many desktop publishers, like myself, have been searching for a quality DTP program, with outstanding features, reasonable price, and easier to learn than Xerox Ventura Publisher or Aldus PageMaker. We do have a winner, folks! It's called Finesse. It comes from Logitech, the mice and scanner company. Many publications have gone the DTP route, avoiding the old pasteup and klunky typesetting methods carried over from the days of yore! However, some--like Computer Currents--have gone through major stress and sticker shock getting these systems up to speed. Meanwhile, newsletters editors, corporate PR people, schools, publicity people at nonprofit organizations, and self-published authors also want better DTP software. Ventura is still the number one choice, but it's not easy to master. The price is a bit hefty, too. The Logitech team correctly saw that there was a need for an alternative. Finesse is the result, and I think you're going to like it as much as I do. Finesse uses a runtime version of GEM (Graphics Environment Manager), the graphical user interface (GUI) from Digital Research Inc., or it will run under your existing GEM Desktop. GEM is a competitor to Windows, but I prefer it. Ventura also runs under the GEM GUI. To create a document with Finesse, you place text and graphics frames on your page(s). Next you import text to the text frames, or create new text, selecting the various Bitstream fonts used by Finesse. Imported text can be in ASCII (.TXT), WordPerfect (.WPF), WordStar (.STR), Microsoft Word (.DOC), FirstWord Plus (.WPL), or GEM Write (.DOC) formats. You can choose style options (plain, bold, italic, underline) and justification (left align, right align, center, justify). Likewise, you import your graphics images, in four formats: .IMG (used by Finesse), .PCX and .PCC (PC Paintbrush), .TIF (Logitech's PaintShow), and .GEM (Microsoft Windows Paint). The latter three formats are converted to .IMG format for use by Finesse. The images can be sized in three ways: Auto-Aspect (resized to fit within frame while keeping same proportions), Scale to Frame (fills frame with image, without regard to original proportions), or 1:1 (frame-shaped window on an imported image, at full size). Frames are easily modified or removed. Selecting "Size/Position" from the Frame menu allows you to specify precise measurements. Documents you produce can be viewed onscreen in three ways: "Full Page," "Actual Size," and "Double Page." Finesse comes with some page layout templates, including a calendar, newsletter, brochure and so forth, with suggested fonts for each section of the document. There are also 70 clip art images in the .TIF format, depicting various business, lifestyle and holiday representations. Also included is the Bitstream Fontware installation kit, along with Dutch, Swiss, Courier and Symbol typeface disks. Finesse requires 640K RAM, PC- or MS-DOS 2.1 or higher (3.1 or later if you want to use Bitstream Fontware), a hard drive, most any graphics adapter, and any mouse. Finesse supports most popular printers, including HP LaserJets (and compatibles) and PostScript printers (and compatibles). Ver. 3.1 keeps the same system requirements, but has some needed improvements. For instance, Ver. 3.0 treated VGA the same as EGA (something that many software products are guilty of doing). Now you really get VGA display with your VGA monitor. However, if you created VGA documents using Ver. 3.0, and import them into Ver. 3.1, your screen ratios are thrown off. To correct this, you can run Finesse by typing: C:> FINESSE /XEGA Or you can manipulate the graphics and text manually, and then save it as a new Ver. 3.1 document. That's what I did. It's also now advised to avoid using fill pattern #1, if your printer is an HP LaserJet Plus or Series II. I don't know why this is necessary. Another new feature is support of Logitech's ScanMan and ScanMan Plus hand scanners. Ver. 3.1 automatically configures the default settings. Hairline rules have now been added, inside the horizontal/vertical rulers at the top and left sides of the screen. This helps you place lines and boxes more accurately. Document size has been increased from the moderate 16 to a whopping 99 pages! The Help section has been greatly improved also. If you feel limited by using the four graphics file formats (.PCX, .TIF, .IMG and .GEM) in Finesse, Ver. 3.1 has added Catch. Catch is a screen capture TSR program, like FRIEZE in PC Paintbrush. After capturing screens from other graphics programs, Catch saves them in the .TIF format for use with Finesse. It works only in specified video modes. They've added new printer drivers for the HP DeskJet and PaintJet. With the price slashing and rebates on the DeskJet, lots of users are buying them. Additional device drivers for printers, plotters and displays are available at reasonable cost from Digital Research. Suggested list price of Finesse Ver. 3.1 is $179.95, but actual street price will be much less. The upgrade to 3.1 costs only $10. The optional Finesse Spell Checker uses the Proximity/Merriam-Webster Linguibase containing 81,000 words. I didn't review this option, however. Logitech has a 24-hour BBS called LBBS for tech support: 415-795-0408 (300/1200/2400 baud). The company also sponsors a tech support conference on BIX, the online system run by BYTE magazine. For more information, contact Logitech Inc., 6505 Kaiser Drive, Fremont, CA 94555; 800-231-7717, 800-552-8885 (CA), 415-795-0801, FAX: 415-792-8901. # David Batterson writes about various PC applications. Send comments via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON.