Sunday, July 29, 2007

Home publishing macro available

Recently I completed writing a Visual BASIC macro (for MSWord 2003) which is useful for DIY bookmakers. This code is available to anyone who would be interested.

The input for the code is a text file such as those freely obtainable from Project Gutenberg or the user's self-authored manuscript. The user chooses the size of the signatures; further manipulation requires adjustment of the source code. There is little to no error checking included; it's a bare bones operation.

The output is formatted to print two columns (separated by the gutter) on each side of typical 8 -1/2" x 11" sheets of copy paper. Before printing, illustrations and additional formatting tweaks can be added. When printed, the sheets can then be folded and assembled into signatures and bound.

The macro is very easy to use and comes with a page of instructions for clarification.