Home Office: Create Great Newsletters, Brochures, and More

Check out my favorite tools and some inexpensive options, but beware of the angry penguin.

Steve Bass

Have you ever needed to create a newsletter to promote your home office-based business, or a flier for some dumb meeting? This week I've got tools you can use for designing marketing materials, including some you can find right on PCWorld.com. I even have something to spice up your PC's desktop.

Newsletters 'R' Us

I publish the Altadena Neighborhood News a few times a year, and every month I put out Prompt, a newsletter for the Pasadena IBM User Group.

You may say it's overkill--and you'd be right--but I use Corel Ventura for the 12- and sometimes 16-page user group newsletter. Yes, it's expensive (a whopping $578, or $200 for the upgrade) and it's not easy to learn.

But there are buts: I've used Ventura since it was a young pup (the Gem version). With it I created a 190-page psychotherapist training manual that included a table of contents and an index. Now the new Corel Ventura 10 is finally available. Not only does it have cool new features, but it's also cleaned up many of the dumb-ass bugs from previous versions.

Ventura's new features include letting me import and edit XML files, see possible errors before I send the document to the print house, publish documents as PDF files, and do a much better job than previous versions with my newsletter's prepress needs, such as adding crop marks and calibration marks. Visit Corel's site for the full scoop, then look for the best price on the PCWorld.com Product Finder.

Publishing on the Cheap

But you needn't spend your car payment on a desktop publishing program. I think Microsoft Publisher 2002 is terrific for small jobs. At about $100, Publisher's newsletter templates let me whip out a four-page newsletter--or brochure, flier, or even a home-office Web site--more easily than I can with Ventura. You can find discount prices for Publisher at our Product Finder.

If you already use Publisher, you may be interested in the Microsoft Publisher Lounge, which has dozens of free templates to spice up your documents.

If you don't want to lay out $100, how about $22? Poster Software's Publish-It is a decent desktop publishing program you can try for free and pay a paltry $22 to keep. Granted it's not Corel Ventura, nor is it Microsoft Publisher, but you could use it to crank out an occasional newsletter without spending an arm and a leg.

Quick tip: I often need to import articles into my newsletter from authors who still use the Tab key to indent paragraphs. It used to be a killer to remove the tabs and fix the doc. Now I just send authors a copy of "Formatting With Indents," one of our terrific Office XP Tips columns.

Dig this: I have something for you that's simple, won't strain your brain, and may make you chuckle. Be sure to poke the penguin until you think the poor critter can't take any more.

Add a Little Sizzle

So you want more programs to choose from and want to add some slick graphics? No problem.

How about the $69 SmartDraw, a neat tool for creating flow charts, diagrams, floor plans, and just about anything else you can think of with the included 50,000 images and clip art. You can play with the product and see if it fits your needs by downloading a copy.

OTOH, you might be interested in experimenting with real-time 3D modeling and animation for your presentations. With Amabilis's 3D Canvas, a free tool that gives you a start with animation, you can fiddle with skeletal animations and real-time rendering, and play with 3D primitives including cube and sphere, as well as ambient, directional, and spot lighting.

BTW, if you're thinking of putting together a PowerPoint presentation, it's essential that you read "Make Your Point," a terribly old but vitally valuable article. In fact, the article's advice is also ideal for one-page fliers and brochures.

Here's an idea: Next time someone looks at your PC's desktop, make it something they'll remember. Use Webshots Desktop, a free program with an alleged 9 million images (no, I didn't count) that can be turned into desktop wallpaper or screensavers. It's free, yes, but you'll have to put up with ads and fewer features than the $20 version.

Dig this: Rock around the clock instead of doing something useful. No, I'm serious. The 1956 to 1960 Juke Box has hundreds of songs from my era in Windows Media Player format, all free, and all downloadable. Very hep.

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