Take messages beyond medium -- to extra-extra large
Ben Long
Reviews / Layout Tools
Rating: Very Good (4 of 5 mice)
POSTERWORKS CAN TAKE TIFF, Scitex, or EPS files and tile them across multiple pages to create images of up to 10,000 square feet. Version 4.0 introduces several new layout tools, EfiColor support, and new features that speed creation of complex poster layouts.
Getting Started
Creating a poster in PosterWorks is a simple process of specifying the size of your layout, placing and positioning elements on the page, and printing to any monochrome or color PostScript-compatible printer, including large-format poster printers.
To create a PosterWorks document, you first specify the overall size of your poster, using either pages or measurements. The new Layout Assistant feature helps you configure the margins and page size and define a layout that fits the poster size you want.
Once you've created your layout, you import TIFF, EPS, or Scitex images. New in version 4.0 is a tool for rotating placed images. Unfortunately, the program can rotate objects only in 90-degree increments and once you've rotated an element, PosterWorks no longer displays it as it will print; it displays only a bounding box.
PosterWorks' layout tools automatically position and optimize image placement to achieve maximum coverage on each sheet of paper, or "tile," in PosterWorks parlance.
Printing Out
PosterWorks' printing controls are outstanding. You get complete control over PostScript Level 1 and 2 printing options, halftone screens and separations, and a built-in font-downloading utility. We found PosterWorks' print quality consistently impressive, even on 300- and 600-dpi black-and-white printers.
You also get a thorough, robust set of color-correction tools, with curves controls for CMYK and grayscale as well as advanced features such as Under Color Removal and Gray Component Removal. New to version 4.0 is support for EfiColor profiles for color correction on EfiColor-compatible devices.
Assembling a poster is simple, thanks to PosterWorks' overlapping printing and crop and registration marks.
The Bottom Line
PosterWorks does a great job of providing a vast range of complex, specialized functions in a streamlined interface. If you simply want to print large-scale images and banners, you'll find the program easy to use; those with more-sophisticated needs, such as making billboard displays, will find it just as easy.
PosterWorks 4.0, $495 (list). Company: S. H. Pierce, Cambridge, MA; 617-338-2222; http://ww .posterworks.com/. Reader Service: Circle #422.
PosterWorks 4.0 makes it about as easy to print a billboard image as it is to print a newsletter.
