Look Like a Design Pro with Printcasting 1.5

We've been busy working on a new version with completely new templates that give your publications more polish, while also giving you more control over design and layout. It all launched this morning, so jump in and give it a try. This video shows you how easy it is to look like a pro:

This is just the first of two major upgrades, with much more to come in Printcasting 2.0 in the coming weeks. You can read more about our release schedule and future plans on PBS MediaShift Idea Lab.

Here's what you have to do to take advantage of the new templates and functionality, depending on which publishing mode you use.

1. If you publish each edition manually ...

• Sign in and go to the My Publications tab, then click the Publish New Edition button next to your publication. That's it! You'll see the new features immediately.

2. If you set up your publication to publish automatically ...

• Sign in and go to the My Publications tab, then click the Edit Settings link under your publication. Check the box next to Create Each Edition Myself and and then click Save Changes. When the screen refreshes, click the Publish New Edition button next to your publication.

There are a lot of improvements in the new interface of the Edition Builder, some of which you can see in this video and in the screen shots below. Here are some of the juicier ones:

• Live Previews as you Edit: The Edition Builder now doubles as a live preview of your magazine. It updates the preview right on the same screen as you add stories and change layout options.
• Cool New Header Design Options: The header tool has some new options that make you look like a pro without having to be a design wiz.

  

  Add transparent overlays to make otherwise average photos look like professional design elements, change font colors and more.
• Granular Layout Control: You can change the layout for text and photos for every story. Want three columns instead of two?

  

  Want your photo to appear at the upper right instead of the left? Just choose a sub-template layout and see everything move into place.
• Add and Crop Photos to Appear in Stories: You can now upload a photo from your hard drive to appear in any story spot, and even fill in the entire space with a photo instead of text (great for charts!)

  

  A slider lets you to position and crop it in seconds.
• Instant PDF Preview Download: At any time, you can download a preview of your PDF (marked "Preview") so you'll know exactly how it will look when you publish.

We hope you'll give the new features a try and let us know if you have any questions or feedback. You can e-mail us any time at help@printcasting.com and a real, live human being will get back to you within 24 hours.