PagePlus

PagePlus was first launched in 1990 and was the first sub-£100 desktop publishing program for Windows 3.0.{{Cite book|url=https://www.serif.com/media/community/pdfs/pageplus10.pdf|title=PagePlus 10.0 Companion|publisher=Serif (Europe) Ltd.|year=2004|pages=5–6}} Three years later, in spring 1993, PagePlus 2 was released and provided full colour printing support. Following this release, a new version of the product was released on a roughly annual basis.

Serif did a complete rewrite of the original program source code for the release of PagePlus version 8. Despite the rewrite, at that time the program name was retained and the version number was simply incremented. Version 8 was able to read data files created in previous versions 1 to 7.

Serif announced that PagePlus X9 was to be the final PagePlus release. The last build issued to date is v19.0.2.22 from 28 April 2017. Serif ceased further development of all "Plus" products to focus efforts on their 'Affinity' product line.

Serif began rewriting their DTP software, to allow a multi-platform implementation, and allow new methods of internal program operation with more modern operating systems and the typical current (2018/9) configuration of PCs.

A public beta of Serif's Affinity Publisher (the closest of the Affinity applications to PagePlus functionality) was launched in August 2018,{{cite web|url=https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/publisher/ |title=Affinity Publisher |website=Serif Website |access-date=3 August 2018}} followed by the first full version of the application in June 2019.{{Cite web|last=Gallagher|first=William|date=2019-06-19|title=Mac page design app Affinity Publisher comes out of beta|url=https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/06/19/mac-page-design-app-affinity-publisher-comes-out-of-beta|access-date=2019-08-17|website=AppleInsider|language=en}}

While PagePlus was generally targeted at the "entry level" DTP user, some of the functionality present in the market leading applications (Quark's XPress and Adobe's InDesign{{cite web|url=http://webserver.computoredge.com/editorial/2530/coverprint.htm | title=DTP is alive and flourishing | access-date=6 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902044812/http://webserver.computoredge.com/editorial/2530/coverprint.htm |archive-date=2 September 2011 }}) is present in PagePlus, such as working in the CMYK colour space, OpenType Feature support, and Optical margin alignment (Optical Justification). PagePlus also has the ability to view, create, edit and publish PDF files,{{cite web|author=Jason Whittaker |url=http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/taxid;2136212749;pid;4101;pt;1 |title=Serif PagePlus X2 Review: - Software and Services – Graphics & Publishing – PC World Australia |website=Pcworld.idg.com.au |access-date=28 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071129214759/http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/taxid;2136212749;pid;4101;pt;1|archive-date=29 November 2007}} and publish E-books in *.epub or *mobi formats{{cite web|author=Bhikkhu Pesala |url=http://www.softerviews.org/PagePlus.html#E-Book_Publishing |title=PagePlus |website=Softerviews.org |access-date=28 February 2016}} suitable for the Kindle store. It also includes support for EPUB3 fixed layout eBooks for textbooks, children's books etc.

PagePlus is primarily written in C++ using Visual Studio 2008, with a heavy dependence on the MFC framework. The Windows GDI library was discarded early in development in favour of an in-house composition engine supporting advanced bitmap and typeface operations. The text engine supports Unicode text entry.

PagePlus was first developed for 16-bit Microsoft Windows v3.0 running on PC/MS DOS but the final releases support Windows XP, Windows Vista (32/64bit), Windows 7 (32/64bit), Windows 8 (32/64bit) and Windows 10 (32/64bit).{{cite web | year=2015 | url = http://www.serif.com/pageplus/ | title = Serif PagePlus | publisher = Serif | access-date = 6 October 2015 }}

• PagePlus: 1990
• PagePlus 2: 1993
• PagePlus 3: 1994
• PagePlus 4: 1996
• PagePlus 5: 1997 (revised for XP compatibility and reissued in 2002)
• PagePlus 6: 1999
• PagePlus 7: 1 October 2000
• PagePlus 8: 2001
• PagePlus 8: PDF Edition, 9 September 2002
• PagePlus 9: September 2003
• PagePlus 10: 11 October 2004
• PagePlus 11: 3 October 2005
• PagePlus X2: 19 February 2007
• PagePlus X3: 21 April 2008
• PagePlus X4: 11 September 2009
• PagePlus X5: 18 October 2010
• PagePlus X6: 5 December 2011
• PagePlus X7: 3 June 2013
• PagePlus X8: 4 August 2014
• PagePlus X9: 16 November 2015

• Comparison of desktop publishing software
• Desktop publishing
• DrawPlus{{snds}}vector graphics editor
• List of desktop publishing software

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20170315102648/https://www.serif.com/media/community/pdfs/pageplusx9.pdf/ PagePlus official user guide]

• {{official website}}
• The CommunityPlus Forums were closed on 5 July 2022
• [https://punster.me/serif/ Alfred's Serif Users' Forums] is a fan-based forum for users of the legacy Serif products

• [http://desktop-publishing-software-review.toptenreviews.com/pageplus-review.html #1 DTP product on TopTenReviews.com]
• [https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2371169,00.asp Affordable Desktop Publishing From Serif – PC Mag]
• [http://www.softerviews.org/PagePlus.html Comparative Review of Recent Versions]
• [http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/software/362944/serif-pageplus-x5 Review of PagePlus X5 – PC PRO]

{{Desktop publishing software}}

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Category:1990 software

Category:C++ software

Category:Desktop publishing software

Category:Windows-only proprietary software