Requirements: Mac OS 7.0, 2 MB of RAM, 4 MB of Disk Space
 
Ahh! They've Seen My Neighbors!
 It's really humorous that I'm in
backwoods, USA visiting family
while I'm writing this review. You
see, about a half-mile away from
our isolated property, there resides
  a family that has to have been the inspiration for Staz
Software's Redneck Publisher. The authors of this software
realized the niche in the market for a publishing tool
customized for inbred hicks like my neighbors. They recognized the need for fancy looking letters to parole officers, hunting certificates, and shotgun wedding invitations.  
Redneck Publisher provides all of these essential
templates plus a collection of unbelievable clip art
to go with it. Even city slickers will love how
easily one can create a variety of original
documents including post cards, shipping labels,
cassette/diskette labels, and banners with
Redneck Publisher.
 
It's Got Somethin' For Every Hick
After you get past the killer clip art and Sheriff Bubba, a cartoon hick cop who pops up from time to time to share hints and tips as you go about your work, Redneck Publisher looks a lot like a normal word processor. What makes this package very different from a word processor like ClarisWorks is that everything that you place on a page is called an object. For example, if you want to put text in your document, first select the text tool and create a text box. After typing into the text box, you can use the selection tool to stretch the text box into different dimensions. The advantage of using objects is that you can layer objects, resize, and rearrange them easily on the page. Redneck Publisher makes it easy to place text on top of a graphic, as I have shown in the below demonstration.
 
Aside from the ability to work with objects, this desktop publisher has quite a few useful items built in to its interface. Most of these special features fall under one of four "tools" categories that are represented by buttons on the toolbar. These tool groups are Selection , Text Group, Graphics Group, and Special Group Tools. One of the coolest tools is the Icon Tool, which brings up a menu of small black and white icons that can be used to accent letters and cards. Staz Software even included an icon image of everyone's favorite pet, Clarus The Dogcow! Other tools handle such tasks as drawing calendars, making frames, shapes and tables, and choosing clip art. If you happen to own a digital camera, Redneck Publisher will allow you to import pictures from the camera right into your document with ease.
 
Let's Do Some Publishin', Ya'll!
  Why would anyone buy Redneck
Publisher when one could probably
accomplish the same projects with
ClarisWorks/AppleWorks? The
answer is simple. Preformatted
documents eliminate the guesswork
in making business cards, labels, and
other types of materials. This saves
you time and precious sanity.
Included in Redneck Publisher's
arsenal are templates that work in conjunction with Avery business labels and other standard media. Avery makes blank, printer ready sheets of labels for such things as diskettes, VHS tapes, cassettes, envelopes, name badges, file folder labels, and shipping labels. Avery labels can be found at your local Office Depot and used with virtually any printer. Staz Software doesn't stop with Avery labels; this program also has templates for post cards, index cards, greeting cards, and rolodex cards. You can even create banners and posters of any size and orientation. Try all that with your word processor!
Making pretty pictures on your 17" monitor running at millions of colors under 1028 x 768 resolution is one thing, but getting that type of quality output on your Stylewriter II is like a whole different pickup-truck. What's a redneck to do? Redneck Publisher has it covered. The application automatically detects whether you have a color or black & white printer and adjusts your document output accordingly. I printed a variety of full color documents to my Stylewriter II printer and everything came out quite presentable. Items printed on an Epson color printer looked great as would be expected. Before you print, however, don't forget to spell check your work. Redneck Publisher is prepared with its own built in spell checker!
 
What's Your Preference?
When it comes to setting preferences in Redneck Publisher, there aren't a whole lot of choices, but this fact just adds to the program's ease of use. Users can change such things as sound, text and graphics behavior, or whether or not Sheriff Bubba pops up to offer advice from time to time. Document-specific preferences like setting columns, page numbers, rulers, and grids can be found under the "Document" window of the main interface.
 
Defending The 4.5 Star Rating
 I would have liked to see one more template.
You see, rednecks often like to print newsletters
in order to help spread local and county gossip.
Redneck Publisher loses half a star for not providing a simple way to create your basic newsletter. But, a 4.5 rating still means that Redneck Publisher fulfills all of its developer's claims and performs its tasks excellently. It's cute, easy to use, and effective, the way Macintosh software is supposed to be. The fact that the font menu (as shown above) presents all of the installed fonts with a preview will score big, big points in anyone's book. All told, Redneck Publisher is a great little package at an even better price. If you're looking for a combination of laughs and productivity, check out this offering from Staz Software.
