Nobody likes writing HTML documents using a text editor. OK, there are a few people who do, but these are the same ones who wax nostalgic about command-line interfaces and the joys of writing your own operating system. Stand next to them at a party, and you can hear how they put together a scale model of the galaxy using only toothpaste and Fruit Loops.
PageMill is aimed squarely at fledgling Web publishers who want a simple and intuitive page-layout tool for designing Web pages. It’s meant to replace the mixed bag of utilities that Web masters have been using to cobble together pages, and to alleviate the need to hand-piece the proper HTML tags in files, PageMill embeds the tags behind the scenes so you can work in a WYSIWYG environment. This approach will annoy some users, PageMill insulates you from the HTML tags, not even offering a view-source option. Traditionally, Web-page authors have used text editors with add-on tools specific to Web pages — a process that offers finer control over the results. PageMill doesn’t offer that level of control, but it’s easier to use and has better image tools than competing programs like SoftQuads HoTMetaL Pro... or Bare Bones Software's BBEdit.
Working with Pages
You create your Web pages in the Page View window, which toggles back and forth between edit mode and browse mode so you can track your progress, IPs easy to cut and paste objects and text, and the software has standard Mac keyboard equivalents for nearly all the formatting. The mouse-inclined can use the Attributes Inspector, a floating palette that lets you manipulate highlighted text and objects using simple formatting and linking controls. You also use this palette for controlling background patterns and colors, as well as text color.
While the Attributes Inspector is useful for making changes to existing documents, the program’s other floating palette, the Pasteboard, is better for creating new pages. Preassemble the images and hypertext links you intend to use on the Pasteboard, then drag and drop them onto a Web page. You also can store regularly used images, like buttons and icons, on the Pasteboard for easy access.
Creating HTML forms is just as simple, Select form elements from a tool bar and place them on the page. Double-click on them to edit the text or size, or drag them to new locations on the page. Creating these forms by hand-placing tags isn't fun, so the ability to quickly mock up new forms and change existing ones is a major advantage. But don’t let this lull you into a false sense of accomplishment. PageMill only writes HTML scripts, not the CGI scripts needed to process the data people will enter in these forms.
PageMill can open existing HTML pages, including those that contain tags PageMill doesn't recognize, like the table tags in the proposed HTML 3,0 standard, PageMill displays these unsupported tags in red on the page, as “raw” HTML, You can also enter such tags into your documents manually PageMill attempts to stick to the HTML 2.0 standard but deviates on a few points, favoring certain Netscape extensions.
Playing with Pictures
PageMill's image-handling tools are perhaps its most impressive features. The drag-and-drop placement of images works particularly well for designers who want to experiment with new designs and modify existing layouts. Using the Image Editor mode, you can give images a transparent background, create a clickable linage map, or link the image to a URL — all of which PageMill handles nicely Other Web-authoring tools don’t offer this functionality; you have to use a handful of utilities to accomplish these tasks. While its also possible to use PageMill to translate PICT files into GIF or JPEG format, it’s not particularly efficient. You are better off preparing your images with Adobe's Photoshop or Equilibrium's DeBabelizer first, to reduce color palettes and file size for Webfriendly downloads.
The Last Word
PageMill's creators faced a daunting task: bringing an easy-to-use interface anti flexible design tools to a page-display system without solid layout structures. Imagine Michelangelo trying to sculpt David from Silly Putty, and you get an idea of what designers face in creating HTML pages, PageMill doesn't solve the many challenges of this new medium, but it begins to address them in elegant ways with an interface that encourages experimentation and quick manipulation of page dements. PageMill needs an expert mode or plug-in architecture that allows users more-direct access to HTML tags. But overall, the program is a welcome addition to the toolbox of just about any Web developer.
Hawn, Matthew. (March 1996). PageMill 1.0. Macworld. (pg. 56).
Adobe Systems, Inc.
Applications
out of 10 (0 vote)
42 / 
2014-04-14 / 
59b6c50adf5198764af6499e4c0aaf42061d5774 / 
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adobe_pagemill_1.0.sit
Emulating this? It could probably run under: 
Basilisk II
