It is a complete editing program created by Electric Studio. Supplied in a “videocassette” type case with a disc with both sides full of drawings and an excellent comb-bound manual.

Out of the box, the program works with the cursor and spacebar keys (and a few other keys), but it also supports control of an Electric Studio mouse or stylus. It is also possible to use screens digitized by Electric Studio's Video Digitizer or created by Logo.

Newsdesk International is a program for PCW users that aims to make up for the lack of a Pagemaker-type pager or something of the sort and with it, desktop publishing (at an amateur level) is intended to be within the reach of any PCW user. However, it is very difficult to oppose as such the aforementioned. Both Pagemaker and Fleet Street Editor offer many more features and good work. Newsdesk International is a program that is part graphics processor, part pager, which ultimately does any layout program worth its salt.

The handling, and we say handling not compression, of this utility is very simple and complete.

At first, the menu that appears provides us with help options, access to the printer, graphics, Fonts, windows and output. Each one of these general menu options, with the exception of the last one, presents new submenus with numerous options. The understanding of the program is no longer so simple and the manual is written in English. It will be necessary, if we want to control the program, that we dedicate a few hours to it before getting fully into a job.

Newsdek International allows you to use graphics and text together, being able, with a little imagination, to liven up any work you do. From the graphics editor it is possible to change the size, shape and proportions of both the text and the illustrations. Pressing the H key, the help screen appears on the left. We can print the page in various sizes and qualities, always with the printer that incorporates the PCW from the factory.

The program is truly powerful, although it is designed to work with the printer that the PCW incorporates, and it does not seem that an option has been foreseen to use another (for example a laser) connected to the expansion port via a Centronics interface. Given the complexity and abundance of possible options, we are going to discuss them in parts, following the order of the main menu:

HELP: This option shows us on the screen the keys that we can use in the graph creation mode, as well as the meaning of the four letters located in the upper right part of the screen, which mark the status of several “flags”.

DISC: This option gives way to a submenu that allows us to load and save pages, load and save screens, delete files and obtain a disk directory. It should be noted that “page” and “screen” are not the same, since a page is larger than several screens.

PRINTER: This option gives way to a submenu that allows us to define in detail the type of print we want, both in size and position or intensity of the print. It is possible to create pages larger than A4 format by dividing the entire image into several A4 sheets. This is done automatically by the program choosing the appropriate option.

GRAPHICS: The graphics creator is quite powerful, although with the cursor keys it is a bit slow to use; Possibly with a mouse it is more pleasant to use. We can draw by lines, both loose and linked or converging at a point (rays). We can also draw point by point, with a brush, with a spray, and fill surfaces (fill). In addition we can choose the form of filling or brush between 55 different possibilities.

Fortunately we have a key to “undo” the last operation, which saves us a lot of trouble, especially if we use the filling in a poorly defined area.

We also have a utilities submenu that allows us to move and copy screen areas, browse areas directly from disk, load them, and enlarge a screen area (zoom). In the subtleties of moving and copying, we can also vary the x/y ratio of the selected area and even rotate or invert it at will. The graphics can be made in normal video, inverse video or in four logical modes: normal, XOR, AND and OR.

Another submenu allows us to work with predetermined forms, but that we can remodel: triangle, rectangle, polygon, circle or ellipse. In some figures we can choose to create it in three dimensions or filled with the chosen pattern.

FONTS: We have the possibility to use, create and modify many character fonts, as well as access a small text editor in ASCII format: Several fonts are supplied with the disk, in which the characters can occupy up to 30×30 points. Also here we activate the text input, either by keyboard or from a file. If we have previously defined a text window, the text limits itself to it. We can activate center, left or right justification: proportional spacing, automatic or semi-automatic hyphenation in broken words, autoindentation at the beginning of each paragraph, color and writing mode. The excellent font editor stands out above all.

WINDOWS: From this submenu we can decide in which area of ​​the page we want to place the screen, or delimit the text window, or complete a reduced image of the entire page to get an idea of ​​how it looks. In the case of text windows we have the option of surrounding them with a box, which can be open or closed.

And there is not much more to say. Newsdesk is interesting, quote unquote, and somewhat complicated.

In the following images you can check the original packaging.

• Here you have the original cover.

• Here you have the restored cover.

Actual measurement of the cover: Width: 34.30 cm x Height: 22.00 cm

Original discs supplied with Newsdesk International.

Custom labels to print. Over the years due to their use, the labels are damaged and lose their color and quality. Now we try to adapt the most similar to the extent of our possibilities, the labels so that they can be printed and replaced or for those of you who work with a copy of the program and preserve the original disc. Measurement in 3“ height: 2.40 cm - width: 6.80 cm. The first row of labels correspond to the original labels that come on the 3“ discs. The second row the duplicate labels in better quality in case you have any damaged. The third row are the labels for the 3.5” discs and for finish the fourth row in case you are interested in having the 3“ labels in two instead of 4 to save double printing.

Below is the return card in case of product failure, whose measurements are Width 13.30 cm x Height 10.40 cm.

Sample of the menus and submenus of the Newsdesk International program.

Programs

The disk images, obtained from the original version of Newsdesk International, have been recorded and verified.

• Newsdesk International (Compressed .DSK file in ZIP format)
• Snip Art (Compressed .DSK file in ZIP format)

Manual

Below you can download the manual or instructions for the Newsdesk International program or view it online. The manual sheet measures: Width 14.80 cm x Height 20.90 cm and the guide sheet measures: Width 14.75 cm x Height 21.00 cm.

• Newsdek International Manual
• Newsdek International Guide

• Video de Newsdesk International