Publisher Improves Commercial Printing Support

Publisher 2002 makes Microsoft’s entry-level print publishing software a better choice for preparing documents for commercial printers and adds interface elements first seen in Office XP. New features include increasing the number of spot colors (used in logos, for example), from 3 to 12, and allowing documents to mix process colors (used in color photos) with spot colors. Publisher 2002 has also added basic functions such as print preview, customizable toolbars, headers and footers, and the ability to open multiple documents at once.

Microsoft has added additional output options to the program, including export to HTML, saving page elements as graphics for easy reusability, and sending a Publisher publication (from Outlook 2002 only) as an e-mail attachment or as HTML e-mail which recipients can view without having Publisher installed. The program can now be customized using Visual Basic for Applications.

The interface for Publisher 2002 borrows heavily from Office XP, with task panes that aid in selecting font and color schemes, hold Clipboard items (with previews of graphics), configure mail-merge jobs, and assist in other tasks. It can also accept speech and handwriting input and includes Office XP–style Smart Tags for pasting objects and autocorrecting text input.