ALAP
Imposer
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The Layout
tab offers more choices and controls. Your document can be 2-up,
4-up, Work & Turn or Work & Tumble—a proxy-page
preview shows how your pages will be arranged depending upon
your choice. You can choose from three binding types: saddle-stitched,
perfect or cut-sheet. You can also set margins, gaps (horizontal
and vertical), bleed, creep and crossover. Margin settings are
represented in inches; the other settings are all points. There
is no option for customizing the units of measure.
Printing
is fast, trouble-free and familiar. You do want to ensure that
you've chosen a PostScript printer though. This is the only
unacceptable problem I had with the XTension itself: I forgot
to switch from my default printer, a non-PostScript inkjet,
a couple times and was unceremoniously dumped not only from
Imposer, but from QuarkXPress as well, losing my unsaved document
once. In fact, the first time it happened I wasn't sure what
the problem was, even though I had read the Imposer requirements
clearly. The need for a little more elegant (to say the least)
error handling is solely needed.
Little annoyances
are perhaps to be expected from a $200 product in a $4,000 category.
The only other problem I had wasn't with the program itself,
but with the documentation—specifically the fact that it's
a little difficult to print, with a completely black cover and
back page. But it's certainly forgivable.
The bottom
line
At less than 10 percent the cost of most professional Imposition
software, Imposer is a heck of a deal, if it will do what you
need and you don't have to go out and buy the expensive
stuff anyway. The good news is that you can try the demo version
first; the bad news is that you can't really test the program's
full capabilities and performance without registering it. Once
you're convinced, you can buy in bulk and save—ALAP
offers five- and 10-pack pricing.
If you use
QuarkXPress, need imposition software and are willing to work
within the relatively narrow parameters of the program, Imposer
could be the best buy you've had in a while. In our traditional
review parlance, that translates into a "strong buy"
recommendation.
Incidentally,
InDesign users aren't out in the cold either; there is a separate
version for that program (not reviewed at this time). Macintosh
users can choose between the InDesign and QuarkXPress 3.x or
4.x versions of Imposer.
