CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Software</title> <meta name="generator" content="Serif WebPlus X8 (16,0,4,32)"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=900"> <meta name="keywords" content="freeware, OpenType, DTP, font-editing, font manager, learning Pali, Character Map, Best Browsers, Screen Capture, Image Viewer, Stitch Panoramas, PDF Editor, PDF Viewer, Archiving, Create Fonts"> <meta name="author" content="Bhikkhu Pesala"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="wpscripts/wpstyles.css"> <style type="text/css"> @font-face { font-family: 'Verajja'; src: url('wpscripts/wpc6b8acad.ttf'); font-weight: bold;} .C-1 { line-height:41.00px;font-family:"Verajja", sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-weight:700;color:#cc0033;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;font-variant:normal;font-size:32.0px;vertical-align:0; } @font-face { font-family: 'Verajja'; src: url('wpscripts/wp709e4023.ttf'); } .C-2 { line-height:20.80px;font-family:"Verajja", sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;font-variant:normal;font-size:16.0px;vertical-align:0; } .C-3 { line-height:20.80px;font-family:"Verajja", sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;font-variant:normal;font-size:16.0px;vertical-align:0; } a.C-3:link, a:link .C-3 { color:#32381d;text-decoration:underline; } a.C-3:visited, a:visited .C-3 { color:#a3a3a3;text-decoration:underline; } a.C-3:hover, a:hover .C-3 { color:#a3a3a3;text-decoration:underline; } a.C-3:active, a:active .C-3 { color:#385f06;text-decoration:underline; } .C-4 { line-height:20.80px;font-family:"Verajja", sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-weight:700;color:#252559;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;font-variant:normal;font-size:16.0px;vertical-align:0; } .P-1 { text-align:center;line-height:1px;font-family:"Verajja", sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;font-size:16.0px;vertical-align:0; } </style> <link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" sizes="16x16 32x32 48x48 64x64"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" sizes="16x16 32x32 48x48 64x64"> </head> <body style="height:1190px;background:url('images/gray%20spots.png') repeat scroll center top #ffffff;"> <div id="divMain" style="background:transparent;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;position:relative;width:900px;height:1190px;"> <a href="index.html"> <img alt="Home - Software Reviews" title="Home - Software Reviews" src="images/home.png" id="pic_733" style="position:absolute;left:19px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="PagePlus.html"> <img alt="PagePlus Versions Review" title="PagePlus Versions Review" src="images/pageplus.png" id="pic_711" style="position:absolute;left:59px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="WebPlus.html"> <img alt="WebPlus Versions Review" title="WebPlus Versions Review" src="images/webplus.png" id="pic_712" style="position:absolute;left:99px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="DrawPlus.html"> <img alt="DrawPlus Review" title="DrawPlus Review" src="images/drawplus.png" id="pic_898" style="position:absolute;left:139px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="Freeware.html"> <img alt="Freeware" title="Freeware" src="images/separator.png" id="pic_735" style="position:absolute;left:180px;top:9px;width:8px;height:26px;"> </a> <a href="7-Zip.html"> <img alt="7-Zip Archive Program" title="7-Zip Archive Program" src="images/7zip%2024.png" id="pic_1832" style="position:absolute;left:192px;top:8px;width:36px;height:28px;"> </a> <a href="BabelMap.html"> <img alt="BabelMap Unicode Character Map" title="BabelMap Unicode Character Map" src="images/babel.png" id="pic_713" style="position:absolute;left:233px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="cst4.html"> <img alt="Chattha Sangayana Tipitaka" title="Chattha Sangayana Tipitaka" src="images/CST4.png" id="pic_1445" style="position:absolute;left:273px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="ExamDiff.html"> <img alt="Exam Diff Text File Comparison Tool" title="Exam Diff Text File Comparison Tool" src="images/ExamDiffIcon.png" id="pic_1378" style="position:absolute;left:313px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="FastStoneViewer.html"> <img alt="FastStone Viewer and PhotoResizer" title="FastStone Viewer and PhotoResizer" src="images/faststone.png" id="pic_714" style="position:absolute;left:353px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="IrfanView.html"> <img alt="IrfanView Image Viewer and Converter" title="IrfanView Image Viewer and Converter" src="images/IrfanView%2048.png" id="pic_730" style="position:absolute;left:393px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="Jarte.html"> <img alt="Jarte - A Wordpad Clone" title="Jarte - A Wordpad Clone" src="images/Jarte%2032.png" id="pic_727" style="position:absolute;left:433px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="MainType.html"> <img alt="High-Logic MainType - Font Manager" title="High-Logic MainType - Font Manager" src="images/MainType%2032.png" id="pic_728" style="position:absolute;left:473px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="LibreOffice.html"> <img alt="LibreOffice Office Suite" title="LibreOffice Office Suite" src="images/LibreOffice%20Writer%2032.png" id="pic_719" style="position:absolute;left:513px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="Fonts.html"> <img alt="Free OpenType Fonts" title="Free OpenType Fonts" src="images/TT.png" id="pic_715" style="position:absolute;left:553px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="opera.html"> <img alt="Opera 12.18 Web Browser Review" title="Opera 12.18 Web Browser Review" src="images/Opera%2032.png" id="pic_2456" style="position:absolute;left:593px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="PDF-XChange.html"> <img alt="PDF-XChange Editor Review" title="PDF-XChange Editor Review" src="images/PDF%20Editor%2048.png" id="pic_722" style="position:absolute;left:633px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="page28.html"> <img alt="VeraCrypt" title="VeraCrypt" src="images/VeraCrypt%20Icon.png" id="pic_2528" style="position:absolute;left:674px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="vivaldi.html"> <img alt="Vivaldi Browser Review" title="Vivaldi Browser Review" src="images/Vivaldi%2048.png" id="pic_1993" style="position:absolute;left:714px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="Shareware.html"> <img alt="Shareware" title="Shareware" src="images/separator.png" id="pic_1377" style="position:absolute;left:754px;top:9px;width:8px;height:26px;"> </a> <a href="FastStone.html"> <img alt="FastStone Capture Screen Grab Utility" title="FastStone Capture Screen Grab Utility" src="images/capture.png" id="pic_723" style="position:absolute;left:767px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="FontCreator.html"> <img alt="High-Logic FontCreator - TrueType/OpenType Font Editor" title="High-Logic FontCreator - TrueType/OpenType Font Editor" src="images/FontCreator%2032.png" id="pic_724" style="position:absolute;left:807px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <a href="Scanahand.html"> <img alt="High-Logic Scanahand - Create Fonts Automatically from Scans" title="High-Logic Scanahand - Create Fonts Automatically from Scans" src="images/Scanahand%2032.png" id="pic_729" style="position:absolute;left:847px;top:4px;width:36px;height:36px;"> </a> <div id="txt_1038" style="position:absolute;left:20px;top:50px;width:860px;height:1102px;"> <h1 class="Heading-1">Software Reviews</h1><img alt="" src="images/WPX8%20Site%20128.png" id="pic_2149" style="float:right;margin:6px;width:128px;height:128px;">In more than thirty years of using computers I have tested and used many software packages. Because I live on charity, I always look for free or low cost software. Some freeware is better than commercial products. If it is reviewed on this site I have used it myself, and I still use most of it regularly for my work on Buddhist Publications. This site was produced in Serif <a href="WebPlus.html" class="C-3">WebPlus X8</a>, which was the final version of WebPlus. It produces fixed width sites using absolute positioning. These reviews are my way of giving back something to the programs’ authors for their efforts in developing their software and providing it for free or at low cost. It has helped me in my work, and I hope others will also find these products useful. Whether you’re a software author or just a fan of some product, please don’t send me anything for testing. I select software based on my needs through recommendations on various support forums. If I find a product that I like and use frequently, then I may write a review. I don’t do it for commercial reasons and I wish to preserve my impartiality. I am not on a mission to promote free or Open Source software. If commercial software or shareware is good value for money, then I will ask someone to purchase or register a copy for me. Not long after I started using PCs in 1988, WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS was £350, and CorelDraw 3.0 was heavily discounted at £150 when CorelDraw 4.0 was due to be released. People complain if software is more than £100, and about the lack of proper beta testing if it is less than perfect. Even if it is free they complain about its limitations. If only they knew how things used to be! <img alt="" src="images/P.png" id="pic_2381" style="float:left;margin:0px 2px 0px 0px;width:465px;height:515px;">ALI TEXTS IN ROMAN SCRIPT need accents such as macrons above ā, ī, and ū, and dots below several consonants. In those days we were all using the ANSI character set as Unicode fonts were unheard of. I got a copy of CorelDraw 3.0 to add the accents to existing fonts. It had an export filter that added one new character at a time to a TrueType font. The choice was limited to the ANSI character set and the program frequently crashed. For much less (£40/$49) than the price of CorelDraw 3.0 over thirty years ago, <a href="FontCreator.html" class="C-3">FontCreator Home Edition</a> makes the task far easier and has many more features. It supports the latest version of Unicode, and fonts with one or more <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4BSK_ASOlw" target="_blank" class="C-3">colours</a>. You can download my <a href="Fonts.html" class="C-3">free OpenType Unicode fonts</a> — they were created with <a href="FontCreator.html" class="C-3">FontCreator</a>, which I have used since version 4.0. Some have coloured glyphs for Stylistic Alternates like that illustrated on the left, but coloured fonts are not supported in Serif’s applications. Modern browsers and some other applications can display them in Windows 10. The Segoe UI Symbol font has <a href="https://www.iemoji.com/" target="_blank" class="C-3">Emojji</a> glyphs in colour. Commercial software is not necessarily better than Freeware, but if it is designed well it can prove to be better value. There are some excellent free programs like Inkscape, which have a great deal of power, but only if you know how to use them, and that requires a big investment of time. Technical support is another important issue. <a href="https://netobjects.com/html/free-website-design-software.html" target="_blank" class="C-3">NetObjects Fusion Essentials</a> is still free, but it is very dated now and support is hard to get. I used it for many years, so I know how to do what I need to do, but someone new to web publishing would find WebPlus easier to learn. Ask a question on Serif’s CommunityPlus support forum and you will often get a reply within minutes, and offers of all kinds of help from other users. WebPlus is no longer sold by Serif, and Serif Web Resources are deprecated, so unless you have sites built in WebPlus look elsewhere for web-publishing solutions. Page last updated on 25 December 2024 </div> </div> </body> </html>