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General Philatelic/Gen. Discussion : Does anyone have experience producing club/society newsletters?

 

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keesindy
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17 Aug 2015
11:41:14pm
One of the local philatelic societies I've been associated with had a changing of the guard nearly two years ago. In the process, the publication of the quarterly newsletter ceased. The former editor won't be able to return and resurrect the newsletter. He was using MS Publisher, but rarely printed in color.

Recently, the society's secretary has decided to try her hand at resurrecting the newsletter. However, her experience with newsletters predates the digital age. She is familiar with Word, but my personal experience with Word and positioning images has been very frustrating and I'm not sure it's a good way for the new editor to proceed. I've used MS Publisher, but I'm afraid the learning curve for Publisher would be too steep.

A friend just told me there are numerous templates available for MS Word. I don't know anything about them.

Does anyone here have suggestions that I can relay to the new editor that might help ease her introduction to the world of digital publishing? Is anyone familiar with any Word templates that might be suitable for a philatelic newsletter with quite a few images in each issue? Or maybe MS Publisher templates? What else is out there that might be helpful?

Thanks for any suggestions you can offer!

Tom
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roy
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BuckaCover.com - 80,000 covers priced 60c to $1.50 - Easy browsing 500 categories

17 Aug 2015
11:47:52pm
re: Does anyone have experience producing club/society newsletters?

Try this. It's free. I use the paid version 8, but IO started with this. I love it.

PagePlus
http://www.serif.com/desktop-publishing-software/

Roy

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amsd
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Editor, Seal News; contributor, JuicyHeads

18 Aug 2015
08:17:21am

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re: Does anyone have experience producing club/society newsletters?

Tom,

I edit Seal News, the quarterly journal of the Christmas Seal and Charity Stamp Society.

I had never used any pagination software before; they were using Publisher, so I did, too. It's not the most intuitive software in the world, and I'm among the least intuitive people, but after some early struggles, it's fast and usually fairly straightforward.

IF your new editor wants to chat, have him/her contact me. I'll happily share my standard page layouts, which are serviceable at best.

David

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nl1947

18 Aug 2015
08:22:04am
re: Does anyone have experience producing club/society newsletters?

I would agree that PagePlus is the best for your needs.
A little expensive if you want the full edition but worth it.

Top Ten Reviews

MS Publisher will do a decent job but it is not the most versatile.

I have mainly used Adobe InDesign but that is quite a learning curve & $$$

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Jansimon
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collector, seller, MT member

18 Aug 2015
08:41:34am

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re: Does anyone have experience producing club/society newsletters?

I have done a lot of newsletters / magazines with InDesign which is by far the best in my opinion. But as has been said already, it has a steep learning curve. Once you start to understand how it works, Publisher pales in comparison.

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keesindy
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18 Aug 2015
07:01:11pm
re: Does anyone have experience producing club/society newsletters?

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions!

I remember looking at PagePlus many years ago! I've looked at the features and user reviews for PagePlus and MS Publisher. PagePlus seems to get better reviews. So, I'm inclined to recommend PagePlus to the new editor.

One thing I read about PagePlus is it's ability to format publications for various viewing platforms. The editor probably isn't even thinking about this aspect of publishing yet and I don't know how well MS Publisher—or Word for that matter—handles online publication!

But, the editor told me today she has decided to try using Word since she's already familiar with it and would like to avoid a new learning curve. I've never looked at a Word template and don't know if the editor has either. So, we'll see how this initial effort goes. I personally think she'll eventually need to move on to PagePlus or MS Publisher.

Stay tuned!!!

Tom

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BenFranklin1902
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Tom in Exton, PA

18 Aug 2015
11:36:40pm
re: Does anyone have experience producing club/society newsletters?

Me thinks we are recommending to shoot flies with a Howitzer! Big Grin

People are recommending PagePlus, but it is probably too much of a program for a newbie who just wants to publish a club newsletter of a few pages.

If indeed our new editor is familiar with Word, by design she has basic experience with the entire Microsoft suite, just by it's design and parallel commands. So she can start out with Word, and maybe graduate to using MS Publisher.

A few years ago I was tasked with producing a quick newsletter for a project I was involved with at work. My boss started out in a Word template in a two column format. It was a pain, and things seemed to jump from column to column without my knowledge. It wasn't really up to the task.

So we decided to try the same newsletter in Publisher. Man, what a difference! It's a mix of Word and PowerPoint functionality. In short, if you have experience with those, you will just walk into Publisher!

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Author/Postings
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keesindy

17 Aug 2015
11:41:14pm

One of the local philatelic societies I've been associated with had a changing of the guard nearly two years ago. In the process, the publication of the quarterly newsletter ceased. The former editor won't be able to return and resurrect the newsletter. He was using MS Publisher, but rarely printed in color.

Recently, the society's secretary has decided to try her hand at resurrecting the newsletter. However, her experience with newsletters predates the digital age. She is familiar with Word, but my personal experience with Word and positioning images has been very frustrating and I'm not sure it's a good way for the new editor to proceed. I've used MS Publisher, but I'm afraid the learning curve for Publisher would be too steep.

A friend just told me there are numerous templates available for MS Word. I don't know anything about them.

Does anyone here have suggestions that I can relay to the new editor that might help ease her introduction to the world of digital publishing? Is anyone familiar with any Word templates that might be suitable for a philatelic newsletter with quite a few images in each issue? Or maybe MS Publisher templates? What else is out there that might be helpful?

Thanks for any suggestions you can offer!

Tom

Like
Login to Like
this post

"I no longer collect, but will never abandon the hobby"

BuckaCover.com - 80,000 covers priced 60c to $1.50 - Easy browsing 500 categories
17 Aug 2015
11:47:52pm

re: Does anyone have experience producing club/society newsletters?

Try this. It's free. I use the paid version 8, but IO started with this. I love it.

PagePlus
http://www.serif.com/desktop-publishing-software/

Roy

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Over 7,000 new covers coming Wednesday March 20. See my homepage for details."

www.Buckacover.com
Members Picture
amsd

Editor, Seal News; contributor, JuicyHeads
18 Aug 2015
08:17:21am

Auctions

re: Does anyone have experience producing club/society newsletters?

Tom,

I edit Seal News, the quarterly journal of the Christmas Seal and Charity Stamp Society.

I had never used any pagination software before; they were using Publisher, so I did, too. It's not the most intuitive software in the world, and I'm among the least intuitive people, but after some early struggles, it's fast and usually fairly straightforward.

IF your new editor wants to chat, have him/her contact me. I'll happily share my standard page layouts, which are serviceable at best.

David

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"

juicyheads.com/link. ...
nl1947

18 Aug 2015
08:22:04am

re: Does anyone have experience producing club/society newsletters?

I would agree that PagePlus is the best for your needs.
A little expensive if you want the full edition but worth it.

Top Ten Reviews

MS Publisher will do a decent job but it is not the most versatile.

I have mainly used Adobe InDesign but that is quite a learning curve & $$$

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
Jansimon

collector, seller, MT member
18 Aug 2015
08:41:34am

Approvals

re: Does anyone have experience producing club/society newsletters?

I have done a lot of newsletters / magazines with InDesign which is by far the best in my opinion. But as has been said already, it has a steep learning curve. Once you start to understand how it works, Publisher pales in comparison.

Like
Login to Like
this post

www.etsy.com/nl/shop ...
Members Picture
keesindy

18 Aug 2015
07:01:11pm

re: Does anyone have experience producing club/society newsletters?

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions!

I remember looking at PagePlus many years ago! I've looked at the features and user reviews for PagePlus and MS Publisher. PagePlus seems to get better reviews. So, I'm inclined to recommend PagePlus to the new editor.

One thing I read about PagePlus is it's ability to format publications for various viewing platforms. The editor probably isn't even thinking about this aspect of publishing yet and I don't know how well MS Publisher—or Word for that matter—handles online publication!

But, the editor told me today she has decided to try using Word since she's already familiar with it and would like to avoid a new learning curve. I've never looked at a Word template and don't know if the editor has either. So, we'll see how this initial effort goes. I personally think she'll eventually need to move on to PagePlus or MS Publisher.

Stay tuned!!!

Tom

Like
Login to Like
this post

"I no longer collect, but will never abandon the hobby"
Members Picture
BenFranklin1902

Tom in Exton, PA
18 Aug 2015
11:36:40pm

re: Does anyone have experience producing club/society newsletters?

Me thinks we are recommending to shoot flies with a Howitzer! Big Grin

People are recommending PagePlus, but it is probably too much of a program for a newbie who just wants to publish a club newsletter of a few pages.

If indeed our new editor is familiar with Word, by design she has basic experience with the entire Microsoft suite, just by it's design and parallel commands. So she can start out with Word, and maybe graduate to using MS Publisher.

A few years ago I was tasked with producing a quick newsletter for a project I was involved with at work. My boss started out in a Word template in a two column format. It was a pain, and things seemed to jump from column to column without my knowledge. It wasn't really up to the task.

So we decided to try the same newsletter in Publisher. Man, what a difference! It's a mix of Word and PowerPoint functionality. In short, if you have experience with those, you will just walk into Publisher!

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Check out my eBay Stuff! Username Turtles-Trading-Post"
        

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