Review: Swift Publisher 2.0 what Pages should have been
Posted by Don Foy 
Apr 26, 2007 at 7:20am
I always look forward to the second version of a program. Version 2.0 of any program is the software world’s version of a mulligan — a “do-over.” Developers have a chance to fix what didn’t work quite the way they wanted it to in the first version, deal with customer complaints and add features that they would have like to have had in v. 1 but didn’t have the time or resources.
Such is the case with BeLight Software’s Swift Publisher. BeLight’s software engineers have been busy as little bees (sorry, I had to) with several new programs, but they made time for a nice upgrade to Swift Publisher. They didn’t fix a couple of my nit-picky complaints about the program, but they added features galore — the most impressive of which is the integration of their own text-manipulation program, ArtText.
And best of all, the upgrade from version 1 to version 2 is free. Yes, a free upgrade. And this was already an inexpensive program at $45 (download edition).
You may remember (actually, probably not, it was a year and a half ago) my review of v. 1 of Swift Publisher. I gave it 7 out of 10. I had three small complaints with the program. Two remain unfixed: you still can’t group objects or relocate the zero point in the rulers. What they did fix was the uncertainty of the precise location of guides. As you move the guides, a popup box notifies you where the guide is located. One out of three ain’t bad (apologies to Meat Loaf).
But on to the new features. The biggest and best is, as already mentioned, integration with ArtText. ArtText is a program similar to TypeStyler to make fancy graphics and logos with type or shapes. You can bevel and color and drop shadow and that doesn’t even scratch the surface. But instead of making your artwork in ArtText, exporting it as something like an EPS, TIFF or PDF and importing it into your layout program, here you can directly move it from ArtText to Swift Publisher.
I mentioned Smart Shapes in the first review, and developers have extended their use in this version. You can now fill Smart Shapes with pictures to make cool frames. Although BeLight seems proud of the integration of iPhoto with Swift Publisher, I couldn’t find a way to get a photo directly from iPhoto into a Smart Shape. But I was able to easily get photos from the hard drive.
For the more professional designer, you can now convert all text incidences to curves, or vector images, so you don’t have to worry about font inclusion when sending files to a print shop (PDF and EPS export). They’ve also added tables, which can include both text and graphic objects, and page thumbnails for rapid navigation through larger files. There are 20 new template designs added in the boxed version. Customers of the version 1 box version will be able to get the new templates, according to a post on the BeLight forum, but I couldn’t find them as of the writing of this review. There are other new features specifically suited to the professional designer included in the new version.
I could simply list more new features, but you can read them at the BeLight Web site or experience them in the free demo download.
The Good
This is still the easiest page design program I’ve used (and I work on publishing programs daily). It makes the anathema of publishing programs, Microsoft Publisher, look like a terribly amateurish try at a program. And using the templates, just about anyone should be able to make professional looking flyers and brochures.
The Bad
Now everyone can be a publisher.
The Ugly
Move on along — nothing to see here.
The Bottom Line
For US$45, this is a steal. It is simply what Pages (Apple’s competitor to this program), should have been, and at about half the price. This is really a bargain. Run out and buy it. But spend the extra $14 ($5 + $9 shipping and handling) for the box edition, which includes all the tremendous clip art and templates. ArtText is sold separately for $30.
Macsimum rating 8 out of 10.
Cubert Says:
More expensive than Pages??? iWork (Pages + Keynote) costs $79, so Pages is $39.50 - cheaper than Swift Publisher. Granted, you cannot buy it separately, but you get Keynote with it! After giving one of my lectures, it floors people when I tell them that Keynote is only $39.50 vs. $200-300 for PowerPoint.
Posted on April 27, 2007
Steve Self Says:
Pages also exports in a Word format, useful if I am designing something for a client who MUST edit parts of it later in either Pages or Word. Yes, I know that the Save-As_Word is not perfect, but it is workable. Swift only exports as pdf and the usual image files. Swit is cheap, but then the client needs to learn another program, something that is often too much of a threshold to get over. And I refuse to work in Word… It is too annoying, buggy and poorly designed.
Posted on May 01, 2007
Jim Watson Says:
Swift Publisher is a simple, easy to use, inexpensive program w/ many useful capabilities. I just spent a frustrating 1/2 day with Quark 7.3. While perhaps useful for high end publishing tasks, Quark is a major frustration if you want to do basic graphic design. Also BeLight has been prompt in answering my questions which helps. While I wish there was a program somewhere inbetween SP and InDesign/Qwack, I would choose SP in a second at this time. Capable program, bargain basement price.
Posted on August 09, 2007
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Don Foy
Don Foy is a past president and current Apple ambassador for the Upper Cumberland Macintosh User Group in Cookeville, Tennessee. He is also a former newspaper reporter who has been fixing Macs for 13 years. His first Mac was a Mac Plus maxed out with 4MB of RAM and a 17MB hard drive.
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Jon Hancock Says:
I pretty much agree with all your comments, but I’d note that Swift Publisher and Pages each have strengths for different tasks. I’ve used Pages very successfully for things like technical papers, Application Notes, and conference papers, and it works very well for these highly repetively formatted documents, and plays nice with MathType, an absolute must for pretty much any writing tool I use.
Swift Publisher is more of a “page layout” program in the sense of Quark Xpress (which I also have, rarely use anymore), and it’s great for more free form kinds of projects, like double sided pitch pieces (even technically oriented), handout kind of projects, and things like highly formatted newsletters, or other more graphically oriented projects.
The updates in V2 are very useful (Tables finally!!), and it’s an absolute steal at it’s price. It is a page layout tool, not a structured document tool. Pages is better at the latter. Both belong in your arsenal if you need to do this kind of work on a budget.
Me, I’m debating whether there’s anything I have to do that requires the power and complexity of the new Universal version of InDesign. I’ve just started reading reviews, and while it looks quite capable, I’m not sure I"m sold on the performance/cost ratio.
~Jon
Posted on April 27, 2007