InDesign is not based on PageMaker, but is a completely new program. Apparently Adobe felt that a clean slate was needed to reverse their long slide in market share. Once upon a time, PageMaker was seen as a "pro" package, but in recent years it has steadily lost market share to Quark. Adobe claims that PageMaker and InDesign will continue as separate product lines, but this jaded reviewer dares to speculate that PageMaker's days may be numbered.
It's no surprise that InDesign resembles PageMaker (or Quark, for that matter) pretty closely. After all, there are only so many ways to visualize the layout of a document. All the standard text formatting options, text wrap, text threading, drawing tools - it's all there. There are a lot more drawing tools than you might expect in a page layout program, including pencil and eyedropper tools.
As befits a professional page layout package, InDesign offers extensive prepress options. When you export a document as a PostScript file (the standard for delivering a job to a print shop or service bureau), you get to specify various options for doing so, including which version(s) of PostScript it will be compatible with.
Web Publishing
Just for laughs, let's see how InDesign does at saving a document in HTML format. Although this is a print publishing package, in the real world printed material must often be repurposed for the Web. The better a layout tool like InDesign can do at converting it, the less clean-up work there'll be for us poor Web developers.
When we reviewed InDesign's little brother, PageMaker, we tested its HTML capabilities on an existing document, and found them adequate at best. We open the same document in InDesign (InDesign can open PageMaker files, but this one, at least, did lose a bit in the transition), and export it to HTML. The result is far superior. Note how the overlapping text and graphics, which PageMaker's HTML couldn't handle, came out just right. That is to say, exactly as they are in the InDesign document. The way the headline overlaps the body text is obviously wrong, but I left it this way to show that InDesign is perfectly capable of preserving existing layers when it converts to HTML.
To my eye, this HTML document looks exactly the same as the InDesign document it was made from. A much better job than PageMaker or any other print package did. And, dare I say it? The HTML page looks as good as, and was much easier to create than, output from some so-called WYSIWYG Web editors I could name.
Whither PageMaker?
InDesign is a fine program - very powerful but easy to figure out. In just about every category, it beats PageMaker into a cocked hat. With InDesign priced at $699, a mere deuce above PageMaker's $499, it's hard to see any justification for keeping PageMaker around much longer. Of course, beating PageMaker isn't the point. Taking a bite out of Quark Xpress is Adobe's goal, so perhaps they figure that keeping the poor stepchild around increases their odds.
I make two predictions. One: Despite Adobe's protestations to the contrary, I'll wager PageMaker is put out to pasture soon. Two: If you need professional-quality print publishing capabilities, you will not be disappointed with Adobe's InDesign 1.5.
