OK, so today at work I actually did some DTP. I’ve also discovered why Adobe abandoned PageMaker after version 7. It’s not because InDesign (Adobe’s current DTP application) has more features (even though it does). It’s not because InDesign isn’t optimised for OSX (it is, even though nothing feels optimal under Panther on a 400MHz G4). It’s because version 7’s files easily become unopenable! The file’s links table dies, it can’t update links to graphic files and makes the mac beep loudly every time a link fails. There is no way to stop it trying short of force-quitting your mac. Under OS9, this invariably leads to a force-restart.

The workaround? Use ResEdit to tell the file it’s a PageMaker 6·5 file, then open it in 6·5. 6·5 is blessedly stable and has all the features 6·0 and 5·0 had, and can import multi-page PDFs as graphics. It’s the Word 5 of DTP. OK, enough of that.

I was invited to a meeting of people who want to promote Fair Trade. Only 7 of us (me, a local FT campaigner, two student FT campaigners and 3 older St A residents) but it’s a start. There are two aims:

1. do Fair Trade Fortnight (1–13 March 2005)
2. try to make St Andrews a Fair Trade town.

So I will be trying to persuade CC to promote FT via Event and via sponsoring FT awards in FT fortnight, creating a web-page showing where you can buy FT products in St A and maybe producing local propaganda. Here’s hoping someone in the group has a few decent design ideas! Other ideas batted about were about profile-raising via

• Alumnus Chronicle
• local football club
• St Andrews Citizen, etc

so that local outlets are pushed into stocking FT products.

Wish us luck!