NOTA BENE
11.5

RELEASED JUNE 10, 2016




1. Save to PDF

You can now save a file in PDF format, without needing to buy a separate program.



  • There are a variety of options:
    • File, File Options, Save as PDF — to save the file with the same name as the current file (but with a .PDF extension, of course)
    • File, Save As — to choose a different name
    • File, Send To, and then the desired option — to attach a PDF version to an email
    Note that it is no longer necessary to follow the counter-intuitive step of selecting a different printer driver to create a PDF file
  • This new capability also simplifies naming of files — unless you change it, the resulting PDF file will automatically have the same name as the original Nota Bene source file (but with the .PDF extension)
  • Coupled with the new page-composition system (described below), the entire process of creating PDFs should now be much easier
  • Note: Full compatibility is not yet guaranteed for Wine and/or the Mac (work continues on implementation)
This feature alone covers almost the entire cost of the 11.5 upgrade — there’s no longer any need, as there was with earlier versions of NB, to buy an external PDF printer driver, such as the pdfFactory program we recommended (itself a very good deal at $49).



2. Simplified Page-Composition System
NB 11.5 includes a new page-composition engine that will greatly simplify your work across multiple systems:
  • Previously, Nota Bene composed files — that is, determined line and page breaks — based on the font metrics (widths) of the currently active printer driver, which meant that page layout could change as you:
    • Moved to a computer with a different active printer (for example, when going to or from home and office)
    • Changed the printer resolution, or output quality
    • Selected the PDF printer driver to create a PDF file
  • In 11.5, Nota Bene composes the file using printer-independent metrics, ensuring that the document will have the same line and page breaks, regardless of where you are working or what printer is available

It’s difficult to depict how much this will simplify your life, but this might do...




Perhaps nothing we’ve ever done will simplify the tasks of working on files and manuscripts where precise pagination is important as this change
  • This will be particularly appreciated by those creating camera-ready PDF output — whereas previously you needed to make sure that the PDF driver was active when creating final pagination, or you would need to check page breaks again after choosing to save as PDF, now you can compose without worries, only deciding at the last minute whether you wanted to print to your physical printer, or save as a PDF file
  • A compatibility mode is available so that files composed using the older system will retain their current pagination (assuming that the printer driver used to compose them is still available)



3. Preview NB Files in File Dialog & Windows Explorer

You can now preview — see both the text and the formatting of — Nota Bene files in:
  • The Nota Bene File, Open and Save As dialog (so you can see if the selected file is the one you want to open, or overwrite)
  • Windows File Explorer (whether Nota Bene is running or not)


Simulated view, subject to change (we may decide to remove the ruler, for example)

Note that this option is not yet available on the Mac, since that uses the Wine file dialog, not Windows File Explorer. While we do intend to provide file preview on the Mac (when we create our own improved file open/save as dialog), this will be part of a future version, not 11.5.



4. Enhanced File –> New & Style-Manual Dialogs
The File, New dialog is now much more visually attractive, which makes the various options easier to identify and select:

The same visual improvements are carried over into the various Style Manual section options:



5. Pen Scanners and Voice Recognition Input
NB 11.5 now directly accepts input from pen scanners and voice recognition software.





Note:
  • Nota Bene does not provide scanning and voice-recognition software, but only accepts the output produced by other software and allows that data to be inserted into an NB file
  • If this external software does not follow Windows standards, NB may not be able to accept its results, and no guarantee is made that every piece of software will work
  • Specifically, full compatibility is not yet guaranteed for Wine and/or the Mac (work continues on implementation)
  • In addition, although text should be able to be input from this external software, some voice-spoken commands instructing how that inserted text should be processed may not work



6. Phrase Searching in Orbis
You can now search for phrases — where words are contiguous to each other, and not merely in the same entry —in Orbis
  • You can combine phrase searching with other individual terms and boolean operators
  • Phrases can include words on the omit list, such as “sleight of hand”

RESULTS OF SEARCH FOR New York:



7. Faster Orbis Indexing
Indexing in Orbis is now up to twice as fast
8. Improved Graphics
Graphics are significantly improved:
  • You can now drag graphics anywhere on a page, including into the margins
  • If desired, they will even print up to the printable edge of the page
  • The “gutters” around graphics are now clean





9. Zoom in Side-by-Side Page View
You can now zoom in side-by-side page view:
  • Standard — show two-full pages in their entirety (may not use full screen width in order to make sure that the vertical page size is displayed)
  • Maximum — show the two pages side-by-side, as large as possible, even if the entire vertical depth of the pages cannot be shown (without scrolling)
  • Minimum — reduce to any size to see more spreads at a time








10. Precise Character Count
NB 11.5 adds an option to get a precise character count, both of the body of the paper, and of notes
  • While most journals and presses in America calculate document length (and set limits, as necessary) based on the number of words, many European journals and presses require character counts instead
  • The traditional NB character count reports the total number of characters in the file, including:
    • All formatting commands, including headers and footers, note separators, and everything else that you see when switching to Codes View
    • Characters with extended encoding (characters in non-European alphabets are coded internally as three characters), which inflates the count
  • NB 11.5 provides a new option that counts the actual number of characters in the body of the paper (omitting headers and footers, tabs, paragraph breaks, and all commands, while treating multilingual characters properly) and in notes




Includes Everything in Nota Bene 11
April-December 2015


Includes Everything in Nota Bene 10
September 2014