Desktop Publishing

DESKTOP PUBLISHING

Before 1985 the process of creating and publishing a professional-looking document was quite different from what it has evolved into since that time. Before the invention of the laser printer and then in 1985 desktop-publishing software, the publishing process involved numerous professionals performing various tasks—typically in a variety of locations. Writers and editors created the text for a project; designers and artists created the layout and necessary photographs and other artwork; typesetters created galleys of finished type that then had to be cut and pasted into place on an art board; camera operators, "strippers," and other printing professionals produced negatives, flats, and printing plates; press operators printed the finished project.

All that changed significantly with the advent of laser printing and desktop-publishing software. Aldus Corporation founder Paul Brainerd coined the phrase desktop publishing to refer to a new publishing process—a combination of technology that now allowed the functions of writing, editing, designing, typesetting, illustrating, formatting, and printing a document to be accomplished by one person (if desired) working at one location—his or her own desktop!

The process of desktop publishing can be accomplished with word-processing software or with sophisticated desktop-publishing software. Desktop publishing includes projects printed on desktop printing equipment (black-and-white laser printers, ink-jet printers, and color laser printers) as well as those prepared in electronic form for final printing on high-end commercial printing presses. The use of personal computers (PCs) has become so widespread that the traditional publishing process described earlier is obsolete—and rarely seen. Essentially, all professional printing projects are created on PCs with word-processing or desktop-publishing software (or both).

As a result, desktop publishing is taking on a new meaning. Rather than referring to the process that was such a revolution in 1985 or even to the type of software used to produce a project, the term is now generally used to refer to the type of document produced. Generally speaking, desktop publishing refers to a "designed" document that effectively integrates type and visual elements for printing either on desktop-printing equipment or on traditional or digital professional-printing equipment. Thus, desktop publishing could be summarized simply as the combination of design principles, type, and visual elements into a professional-looking document. By contrast, word processing refers to such basic text-intensive documents as business letters, memos, and reports created with word-processing software that facilitates efficient entry, editing, and layout of the text.

The term desktop-publishing software refers to PC programs designed to facilitate professional document design and creation. Also referred to as page-layout programs, Adobe InDesign, Adobe FrameMaker, QuarkXPress, and Corel Ventura were the leading professional-level desktop-publishing programs in the early twenty-first century. In addition, Adobe PageMaker—producing basic documents such as brochures and newsletters—was targeted to business, education, and small- and home-office users.

Desktop-publishing software targeted to small- and home-office users included such programs as Microsoft Office Publisher and Serif PagePlus. Another category of desktop-publishing software is home-publishing and specialty programs—programs not considered to be serious desktop-publishing programs—designed for home users to create such projects as calendars, greeting cards, business cards, and fliers. Such programs included Print Shop, PrintMaster, Calendar Creator, and Greeting Card Factory.

HOW WORD-PROCESSING AND DESKTOP-PUBLISHING PROGRAMS DIFFER

Understanding the essential differences between the functionality of word-processing software and that of desktop-publishing software can help an organization or individual make a good choice between the two types of software for use in creating desktop-publishing projects.

Both word-processing and desktop-publishing programs include basic word-processing capabilities such as these:

• Copy, cut, move, and paste functions
• Spell-checking

• Find-and-replace functionality
• Automatic generation of tables of contents and indexes
• Styles for formatting characters and paragraphs
• Tables and columns

Despite the inclusion of such features in desktop-publishing software, word-processing software is nearly always a much better choice for basic word processing, as it allows the user to focus more on editing and developing content efficiently than on creating the document layout and implementing design elements.

Where word-processing and desktop-publishing programs begin to differ most noticeably is in the way the programs handle the integration of graphical elements and text elements. In word-processing software, all the text of a document is treated as one long "string" of words running through the entire document. If a new paragraph is inserted on the first page of the document, all the text in the document (and often the graphical elements as well) typically moves down by the length of that inserted paragraph, and the text on the last page of the document may even move to the top of a new page that is automatically added to the document. Even if the document contains sections, chapters, or other "unmovable" breaks, the insertion of the paragraph on the first page can significantly alter the layout of the entire document.

In most word-processing applications (basic documents such as letters and memos), this string of text running through the document works just fine, because the document is not layout- or format-intensive. Likewise, designed documents that do not include extensive graphical elements and that are not adversely affected by the flow-through-text effect of word-processing software can often be created more easily in word-processing software than in desktop-publishing software.

On the other hand, when documents are carefully designed and formatted to integrate text and graphics in specific ways on each page, the string effect of word processing can be frustrating and inefficient. That is where desktop-publishing software is much more effective.

Desktop-publishing software is designed as a page-layout tool, meaning that its emphasis is not on processing words but on laying out and integrating textual and graphical elements in a document. Text is generally placed in a desktop-publishing document in text boxes or "frames" that can be positioned in exact locations on specific pages. A "story" or unit of text (such as an individual article in a newsletter) may be broken into several frames in a document, and the text will "flow" like a string through these frames—but the frames retain their original sizes, shapes, and positions, and graphical elements are not moved or otherwise affected.

If the addition of a paragraph to a story pushes text through the associated frames and causes the text to exceed the capacity of those frames, the user is warned that some text is not "placed" and must be positioned or placed by the user. But the overall document layout is not affected by the new text as it can be in word-processing software. In short, the desktop-publishing-software user has greater control over the layout of document elements than does the word-processing-software user.

TYPICAL DESKTOP-PUBLISHING-SOFTWARE FUNCTIONALITY

Functions and features that are typically present only in desktop-publishing software and that therefore set desktop-publishing software apart from word-processing software include the following:

Grids and guidelines:

Document layout is facilitated by nonprinting guidelines and underlying document grids. Graphical and textual elements placed in the document may "snap" to these guidelines and grids to ensure alignment with other document elements, creating a more-professional, consistent look in the document.

Printing-industry measurements:

Although type size is measured in points in both word-processing and desktop-publishing software, word-processing software typically uses inches for all other measurements. In desktop-publishing software, units of measure more common to the traditional printing industry are used for greater ease and accuracy. For example, indentations and margins may be set using picas and points rather than inches. (One pica is 12 points, and 6 picas is an inch. Thus, an inch is 72 points.) A margin of three-quarters of an inch would be designated as 54 points or, more typically, 9p0 (9 picas and 0 points). A line height of just over one-sixth of an inch could be designated either as 14 points or as 1p2 (1 pica and 2 points).

Sophisticated typographic control:

Desktop-publishing programs often have very sophisticated typographic control that results in the most professional typesetting possible. For example, individual character widths and heights can be expanded or condensed as needed, and line spacing and word spacing can be set to custom specifications. The appearance of fully justified text (text lines that are either "stretched out" or "compressed" to make them all exactly the same length) is enhanced by multiline "composition" rather than single-line composition typical of word processing. That is, the desktop-publishing software evaluates multiple lines of type at a time to determine the optimal places to break each line for the most-pleasing overall look of a paragraph.

Other advanced features:

Desktop-publishing software may include such other advanced features as book and chapter management, built-in manipulation of graphical elements (such as the addition of key-line borders, drop shadows, rounded or beveled corners, and feathered edges), text set on a curved line, and easy overlapping or "wrap-around" of graphical and textual elements for the desired effect.

USING DESKTOP-PUBLISHING SOFTWARE EFFECTIVELY

An experienced word-processing operator can probably learn to be proficient in using desktop-publishing software fairly quickly with the right training. Most people find that the learning curve for desktop-publishing software is much steeper than it is for word-processing software because of the advanced features of desktop-publishing software.

One of the most-useful practices for effective use of desktop-publishing software is that of using both word-processing and desktop-publishing software in the overall process of creating a desktop-publishing project. Since word-processing software is especially suited to entering, editing, and collaborating with others on the basic copy or text of a project, it should generally be used to complete those copy-intensive tasks. Then, when the copy is completely edited and ready for layout and formatting, it can be imported into desktop-publishing software, where it can be laid out on the page along with graphical elements much more efficiently because of the advanced page-layout functionality of desktop-publishing software.

see also Information Technology; Software

bibliography

Conover, Charles (2003). Designing for print: An in-depth guide to planning, creating, and producing successful design projects. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Hinderliter, Hal (2003). Desktop publishing primer. Sewickley, PA: GATFPress.

Lake, Susan E. L. (2006). Desktop publishing (2nd ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western.

Ray L. Young