Pagehand1.0.8.1

Name: Pagehand
Price: 39.96 $
Rating: 4.5 (5 reviews)

15 February 2010

Easy to use word processor.

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Overview

Pagehand... Everybody knows what a word processor should do: things like styles, sections, columns, tables, tab leaders, document properties, autosave, document templates, keep together, keep with next, widow/orphan control, automatic formatting and replacement of text, numbered paragraphs, bullets, adjustable hyphenation, layout guides, split views, and small caps. That sort of thing.

But what if a word processor offered more than the usual list of features? A good word processor ought to:

Use PDF as its file format, so anyone can read your documents perfectly, fonts and all.
Help you with typography, whether you are making fractions, using a special character, or looking for a nice ornament.
Avoid dialog boxes or inspectors that cover up your work.
Categorize your fonts for you, so you don't have to scroll through a long list every time you select a font.
Never force you to choose from a bewildering array of small icons.
Let you open documents as separate windows, or as tabs in the same window.
And above all, care about what you create and guide you toward making beautiful, typographically correct documents.

Pagehand is for people who want to produce attractive documents, rather than the same old ugly stuff we've seen for years. People who want to unlock the typographic capabilities of their fonts. People who make the layout and fonts just right and want that same precise appearance to be viewed by others.

Pagehand is also for people who are tired of fighting the interface of their word processor and just want to get on with their work.

What's new in Pagehand

Version 1.0.8.1: Release notes were unavailable when this listing was updated.

7 Reviews of Pagehand

Some very interesting choices in the user interface, e.g. labels with words rather than icons, because when you write, you're thinking in words. Of course, that's not for everyone ... But the deal breaker here is that you can't save as an RTF and share a document with your MS Office friends ... or anyone else. Ouch.

(4)

I love Pagehand! It's got great attention to typography and layout, and I've been using it pretty often to write different kinds of documents. (There are a few kinks, though, like an 'unexpectedly quit' error that pops up when I use a particular font in the program, but not in other apps.) I am disappointed, however, that the developer axed the program and won't be updating it further. Well, c'est la vie. It was still worth every penny and it's staying on my computer.

(1)

Show comment (1)

I really like the looks of Pagehand, but the fact that it hasn't been updated for 8 months concerns me.

To Caesar what is Caesar's! This is a totally different writing software. It has something to do with neatness and with formalism. Folks who care about good looks of a page on the screen and immediate access to FORMatting elements should consider this app. In that respect it is exquisite. I have and am currently using almost all the writing applications in the Mac app market: Scrivener, Ulysses, Word 97, Pages 09, Writeroom, Bean, nowadays OmmWriter, along with a few journalling and notetaking software. But Pagehand is superior to them in its wonderful manipulation of formal elements. This is something that may not be seen at first glance (I too missed its forte at first try; I too was misled by some negative reviews here like PDF thing etc. -but then I saw that I was allowed to save/export a document as docx.) Its niceties come off in time, especially for those of us who have come to forget to savour the first lazy moments before a blank page. Another strong point is its use of tabs a la Ulysses. You can open and edit multiple documents within the same window. So it also acts like a temporary database with integrated side by side and under view options. I find this aspect especially useful. The only thing I miss is full screen editing. Pagehand, in short, is about pleasurable writing. I heartily recommend it.

(3)

I cannot quite rate it yet as I have not used it extensively.. but so far I like the idea..the interface is clean (I just wish the toolbar could be placed on the right (most humans are right-handed and yet we are still stuck with most software using a left toolbar (Apple should think about this...) making us move our mouse/stylus all the way across the screen every single time.. sure we write left to right but so what !!!!! that is a completely separate issue) ?!? Apart from that I just do not understand why Pagehand cannot open other pdf files.. like say.. Skim or Preview can... even if indeed it could not edit them... at least to annotate and so on.. I always like when I can replace a few pieces of software with a single one... If it did that I guess I'd give it 5 stars.. maybe even 6 lol... Price is not that bad if it becomes one's main Word Processing tool...

How does saved document size compare with the same document saved in TextEdit as RTF, in Word 2008 as doc/docx, or in Pages'09?

Show comments (5)

It is not yet complete, it is a work in process, but it is a very nice tool. I would like especially to praise the elegant, pleasant, non intrusive interface. Moreover, the entire tool is clearly meant for people who write and enjoy writing. The use of PDF as a format for saving is unexpected, but allows to share documents with other people easily, due to PDF universality. Of course, there is a related limitation: one needs to own Pagehand for working on a document created with Pagehand. However, for documents that are not too complex, it is easy to export into some other formats, preferably RTF. Since it is still at the initial stage, a number of improvements are needed, but they are all in the work, it is just a matter of patience for users. For instance, footnotes need to be added. I am confident it will improve: the developer is responsive, and the forum, while small at this point, is already starting to be active. A promising tool - I used it already for writing a few small texts, and I was very pleased: writing was pleasant, fluid. And insofar I can witness from my own experience, it was completely stable.

(2)

Pagehand1.0.8.1

Overview

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7 Reviews of Pagehand

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