Timeworks Publisher was a

desktop publishing Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using dedicated software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online co ...

(DTP) program produced by GST Software in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and published by Timeworks, Inc., in the United States. It is notable as the first affordable DTP program for the

IBM PC The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the List of IBM Personal Computer models, IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible ''de facto'' standard. Released on ...

. In appearance and operation, it was a

Ventura Publisher Ventura Publisher was the first popular desktop publishing package for IBM PC compatible computers running the GEM extension to the DOS operating system. The software was originally developed by Ventura Software, a small software company founded ...

clone, but it was possible to run it on a computer without a hard disk.

Versions

Timeworks Desktop Publisher

Timeworks Publisher 1 for

Atari TOS TOS (The Operating System) is the operating system of the Atari ST range of computers. This range includes the 520ST and 1040ST, their STF/M/FM and STE variants and the Mega ST/STE. Later, 32-bit machines ( TT, Falcon030) were developed using a ...

relied on the GDOS software components, which were available from Atari but were often distributed with applications that required them. GDOS provided TOS/ GEM with a standardized method for installing printer drivers and additional fonts, although these were limited to bitmapped fonts in all the later releases. GDOS had a reputation for being difficult to configure, using a lot of system resources, and was fairly buggy, meaning that Timeworks could struggle to run on systems without a hard disk and less than 2 MB of memory - but it was possible, and for many users Timeworks was an inexpensive introduction to desktop publishing. For the

, Timeworks ran on

Digital Research Digital Research, Inc. (DR or DRI) was a privately held American software company created by Gary Kildall to market and develop his CP/M operating system and related 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit systems like MP/M, Concurrent DOS, FlexOS, Multiuser ...

's GEM Desktop (supplied with the program) as a

runtime system In computer programming, a runtime system or runtime environment is a sub-system that exists in the computer where a program is created, as well as in the computers where the program is intended to be run. The name comes from the compile time ...

. Later versions ran on

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. Timeworks Publisher 2 included full

WYSIWYG In computing, WYSIWYG ( ), an acronym for what you see is what you get, refers to software that allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product, such as a printed document, web ...

, paragraph tagging, manual control of kerning, text and graphics imports and more fonts. Timeworks Publisher 2.1 with GEM/5 is known to have supported

Bézier curve A Bézier curve ( , ) is a parametric equation, parametric curve used in computer graphics and related fields. A set of discrete "control points" defines a smooth, continuous curve by means of a formula. Usually the curve is intended to approxima ...

s already.

Acorn Desktop Publisher

In mid-1988, following the release of GST's word processor, '' First Word Plus'',

Acorn Computers Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England in 1978 by Hermann Hauser, Christopher Curry (businessman), Chris Curry and Andy Hopper. The company produced a number of computers during the 1980s with asso ...

announced that it had commissioned GST to port and enhance the Timeworks product for the

Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse ( ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Greek mathematics, mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and Invention, inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse in History of Greek and Hellenis ...

series. Being designed for use with

RISC OS RISC OS () is an operating system designed to run on ARM architecture, ARM computers. Originally designed in 1987 by Acorn Computers of England, it was made for use in its new line of ARM-based Acorn Archimedes, Archimedes personal computers an ...

, using the

anti-aliased Anti-aliasing may refer to any of a number of techniques to combat the problems of aliasing in a sampled signal such as a digital image or digital audio recording. Specific topics in anti-aliasing include: * Anti-aliasing filter, a filter used b ...

font technology already demonstrated on the Archimedes, utilising the multi-tasking capabilities of the RISC OS desktop environment, and offering printed output support for laser and dot-matrix printers, availability was deferred until the release of RISC OS in April 1989. The delivered product, Acorn Desktop Publisher, introduced Acorn's outline font manager and bundled 14 scalable fonts plus upgraded printer drivers (for Postscript-compatible and

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

Laserjet-compatible printers, plus Integrex colour inkjet printers) to provide consistent, high-quality output on screen and paper. Despite being described as "streets ahead" of Timeworks on the Atari ST, offering "real desktop publishing, not the pale imitation possible with a Master 128 or model B", being comparable to "mid-priced DTP packages on the

Mac Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

or IBM PC", the software was regarded as barely usable on a machine with 1 MB of RAM and no hard disk (Acorn recommended 2 MB to use the software alongside other applications), and the limitations in editing and layout facilities led one reviewer to note that at the £150 price level and with other desktop publishing packages (notably Computer Concepts' Impression, Beebug's Ovation, and Clares' Tempest) announced if not yet available, purchasers would be advised to "wait and see" before making any decision. Nevertheless, with competitors still unavailable in early 1990, Acorn User deemed to be the platform's best desktop publishing package, noting that there was "little available yet for Archimedes DTP, although much is on the way soon". Ultimately, Acorn would promote Impression as part of its Publishing System package. Of the other anticipated competitors, Ovation was released later in 1990, and succeeded by Ovation Pro in 1996, having been previewed in 1995, whereas Tempest was apparently never released, being absent from Clares' software catalogue. Curiously, Tempest was itself described as being "based on the Acorn DTP package" but aiming to remedy deficiencies and provide enhancements such as multi-column frames, "text flow around regular shapes", and improved text editing support, along with memory management facilities. Developed by a freelance programmer for Clares, a pre-release version was demonstrated in late 1989, apparently requiring only 128 KB of RAM, with work underway to optimise the display routines. A price of £129.95 including VAT was announced. Initially destined for an autumn 1989 release, it was postponed to an unspecified point in time in September 1989 with the specification having changed, but hints of a 1990 release were subsequently made in early 1990. Although a demo disk was apparently available, the product was widely advertised, and a preview of the software appeared in a late 1990 magazine issue, the product was evidently not completed. Clares later took over development of another Acorn product, the spreadsheet ''Schema'', in 1990.

Publish-It!

In the U.S., Timeworks Inc. marketed the program as Publish-It!. Released in 1987, there were versions available for IBM PC (running over the GEM environment),

, and

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

(Enhanced IIe or better) computers. Further versions were named KeyPublisher 1.0 (versions 1.19 and 1.21) and produced by Softkey Software Products Inc. in 1991 for PCs with GEM. Another version, aimed at the business market, was named DESKpress. A later Compact Disc, CD-based multilingual version for Windows was named Press International.

Other names

The product was also sold under other names including NEBS PageMagic (changed after objections from

Adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

), Macmillan Publisher,

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Publisher, and many other brands, distinguished by use of the .DTP

file extension File or filing may refer to: Mechanical tools and processes * File (tool), a tool used to remove fine amounts of material from a workpiece. ** Filing (metalworking), a material removal process in manufacturing ** Nail file, a tool used to gen ...

. The latest version was sold as

Greenstreet GreenStreet, formerly known as Houston Pavilions, is a commercial development in Downtown Houston, Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. The ''Houston Chronicle'' reported that the Pavilions will provide around 1,800 to 2,000 full- and part ...

Publisher 4 and is downwards file compatible with earlier versions.

Releases

* 1987 - Timeworks Publisher (IBM PC, Atari ST) * 1987 - Timeworks Publish-It! 1.12 (IBM PC GEM-based) * 19?? - Publish-It! 1.19 by GST * 1987 - Publish-It! (

Apple IIe The Apple IIe (styled as Apple //e) is the third model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Inc., Apple Computer. It was released in January 1983 as the successor to the Apple II Plus. The ''e'' in the name stands for ...

) * 1988 - Acorn Desktop Publisher * 1990 - Publish-It! 1.20 (IBM PC) * 1990 - Publish-It! Easy 2.0 (Macintosh) * 1991 - KeyPublisher 1 by softkey (IBM PC) * 1991 - Timeworks Publisher 2 (IBM PC, Atari ST) GEM-based * 1991 - Timeworks Publish-It! PC 2.00 (IBM PC) * 1991 - Publish-It! Easy 2.1 (Macintosh) * 1992 - Publish-It! Easy 2.1.9 (Macintosh) * 199? - Timeworks Publisher 2.1 (IBM PC - GEM/5-based) * 1992 - Timeworks Publisher 3 (IBM PC for Windows) * 1994 - Timeworks Publish-It! 4 (Windows 3.1) * 2009 - Publisher 4.6 Home & Business (Windows XP, Vista)

References

{{Desktop publishing software 1987 software Atari ST software Desktop publishing software Discontinued software GEM software