Ventura Publisher
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Founder | John Meyer, Don Heiskell, Lee Jay Lorenzen |
| Fate | Closed in February 1990; acquired by Xerox and later by Corel |
Key people | John Meyer, Don Heiskell, Lee Jay Lorenzen |
| Products | Ventura Publisher |
Ventura Publisher emerged as the pioneering widely adopted desktop publishing software tailored for IBM PC compatible systems. Created by Ventura Software, a company established by John Meyer, Don Heiskell, and Lee Jay Lorenzen—all previously employed at Digital Research—the program leveraged the graphical user interface capabilities of Digital Research's GEM runtime environment bundled with the application.
History
Initially launched in late 1986 with global distribution managed by Xerox, which secured exclusive source code rights in 1990, Ventura Publisher combined text editing with line drawing functionality but primarily emphasized integration with various word processing and graphic design applications. It preserved text files in the native formats of word processors such as WordPerfect, WordStar, and early versions of Microsoft Word, allowing users to perform extensive editing and spell checking within their preferred software. Text formatting relied on user-defined paragraph tags similar to HTML, granting flexible styling options beyond Ventura itself.
Ventura was innovative in introducing a concealed "underlying page" frame concept alongside a comprehensive "style sheet" system, which maintained strong document-wide consistency. Its design facilitated management of publications ranging from simple newsletters to extensive documents spanning thousands of pages through "publication" files that referenced multiple "chapter" files.
Notable advantages of the original DOS/GEM release included:
- Smooth operation across diverse hardware platforms, including PCs based on 8086 and 286 processors
- Generation of uniformly formatted documents by default
- Automatic export of text back into native word processor formats
- Wide-ranging printer compatibility encompassing PostScript, PCL, InterPress laser printers, imagesetters, dot matrix, and inkjet devices
Following the closure of Ventura Software in February 1990, a new entity named Ventura Software Inc., affiliated with Xerox, was established. The initial development team contributed to Version 3.0 Gold, released late that year for DOS/GEM, Win16, Classic Mac OS, and OS/2. By November 1990, the founding trio had departed.
Version 4.0 was introduced in 1991, with the final release from Ventura Software being version 4.1.1 in 1993. Later that year, Corel acquired the product and rebranded it as Corel Ventura 4.2, making only minor modifications aside from discontinuing support for non-Windows platforms.
Corel's first major revision came with version 5.0 in 1994, which brought substantial changes to both the user interface and document architecture. Despite these updates, the original DOS/GEM edition maintained a dedicated following due to increasing hardware requirements in later iterations.
Rewritten for Win32 compatibility, Corel Ventura 7 debuted in 1996 to synchronize its version numbering with CorelDRAW. Subsequent versions included Ventura 8 (1998) and the final release, Ventura 10 (2002), which received updates until February 2003. Reports indicate that Ventura can operate under Windows 10 using compatibility mode—though with some constraints—and also runs on Linux through Wine (as confirmed in April 2020).
Ventura’s proficiency in managing structured documents positioned it competitively against products like Adobe FrameMaker, QuarkXPress, and eventually Adobe InDesign.
Reception
In January 1987, Ian McKinnell of Personal Computer World commended Ventura Publisher for GEM, describing it as exhibiting "general excellence" and being user-friendly for those acquainted with Macintosh systems. He highlighted its macro capabilities as a noteworthy advancement compared to PageMaker on Macintosh computers. While not a compelling reason alone for new users to purchase a PC, he advised existing owners that Ventura Publisher was "well worth investigating."
See also
- QuarkXPress
- Adobe FrameMaker
- Adobe InDesign
- Aldus PageMaker
- Microsoft Publisher
- Ready, Set, Go!
- Scribus
- Serif PagePlus
- Quark CopyDesk
- Quark Publishing System
- Timeworks Publisher / Publish-It! / KeyPublisher, a cost-effective Ventura alternative operating on the GEM platform for the PC or Atari ST systems without requiring a hard disk
- XTension
References
- Desktop Publishing Using Ventura on the IBM-PC. Don Busché, affiliated with Saddleback College, alongside Bernice Glenn, Desktop Publishing and Design Consultant. Published in 1989 by Prentice-Hall, Inc. Paperback edition includes 270 pages, monochrome illustrations, and a 5 1/4" floppy disk.