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Excerpt from

De sk to p Pub lishing :A n Intro d uc tio n

By

Eric Sw a nso n

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Ab out the Author

Eric Swanson is the author of the novelThe Greenhouse Effect, published by Little, Brown &Company, as well as numerous pieces of short fiction. He has also completed a set of 35

essays on the lives of composers of classical music for the LaserLight CDplusROM label.Mr. Swanson is a graduate of Yale University and the Juilliard School of Music.

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The following is a sample excerpt from a study unit converted into the Adobe Acrobat format.A sample online exam is available for this excerpt.

Get ready for one of the greatest learning adventures youll ever experience. In Desktop Publish-

ing: An Introduction,youll discover the incredible opportunities that exist for a creative, energeticdesktop publisher. This study unit includes a glimpse back at the history of publishing and a look atthe ever-expanding horizon of the desktop publishing industry.

Before getting carried away by all the possibilities ahead, lets make sure that you understand a fewbasic ideas. Its great to get excited over a new career opportunity, but what exactly is desktop pub-lishing? According toRandom House Dictionary of the English Language, desktop publishing is the

process of using a computer to write, design, and assemble publications. In other words, a desktoppublishing system allows you to produce attractive, professional-looking documents with your per-sonal computer easily and at a relatively low cost.

What is a professional-looking document? Think for a moment about all the printed material you seeevery day. Youre more than likely to come across some sort of documentbe it a letter, brochure,newsletter, poster, printed form, newspaper, or magazine. The list goes on and on.

Technology now allows just about any properly trained individual to create eye-catching documentson a personal computer. Combine this technology with the unending need for printed materials andyou have a huge market just waiting to be tapped. Soon, youll be ready to take advantage of thegrowing demand for professional-quality material.

After reading through the following material, feel free to take the sample exambased on thisexcerpt.

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WHAT IS DESKTO P PUBLISHING ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

A D iffe re n t Kind of D esk top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Look in Your M a ilbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

You re onto Som e th ing Re a lly Big ! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

O NLINE EXA M INA TIO N

Contents

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WHA T IS DESKTO P PUBLISHING ?

The desktop publishing revolution was launched in the early 1980s with

the introduction of full-featured software programs. Desktop publishingprograms gave personal computer users the tools they needed to com-

bine text and graphics on a page. Before that time, the capacity to designinteresting, eye-catching, or persuasive printed materials was the soleprovince of highly trained professionals. The equipment needed to createsuch documents was often quite expensive and complicated to operate.

All that changed with the advent of affordable personal computers,high-quality printers, and easy-to-use software. Affordable, high-qualityhardware and software have fueled the expansion of desktop publishing(Figure 1).Advances in computer and software design continue to ex-pand the potential of desktop publishing. Recent years have witnessed adramatic growth in the field of electronic publishing.Electronic publishinguses traditional desktop publishing techniques to create documents to be

viewed on a computer screen rather than read from a printed document.

Desktop Publishing: An Introduction

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Many electronic documents combine text and graphics with video, sound,and computer-generated animation. The combination of various visual,

textual, and audible elements is known asmultimedia. Multimedia docu-ments can be stored on various types of computer disks, or distributedacross a computer network. If you work in an office, you may alreadyknow that anetworkis made up of two or more computers connected toeach other through cables and other types of hardware. Computers at-tached to the same network can exchange files and other information, aswell as share devices such as printers.

A D iffe re n t Kind o f D e sk to p

Simply put, the termdesktop publishingrefers to the process of using apersonal computer to create and produce high-quality electronic documentsthat combine text, graphics, and other elements. At first glance, the field

of desktop publishing may seem complicated. Lets take a moment tolook at some of the essential terms used to describe desktop publishing.

Desktop. This term can be a little misleading, since you probably wontbe using an actual desk, other than the one your computer sits on. (Yourcomputer may even be a tower model, which wont necessarily sit onyour desk at all.) As far as desktop publishing is concerned, the desktop

is your computer screen. Instead of having to grope around for glue, ex-acto knives, and drawing pencils, all the tools you need are representedby small pictures, calledicons.

Personal computer. The personal computer, designed to be used by oneperson at a time, is the heart of any desktop publishing system. With apersonal computer, an individual desktop publisher can perform tasks

that only a decade ago required heavy equipment and years of technicaltraining. The personal computer makes it possible for individuals andsmall businesses to compete in the desktop publishing marketplace. Withthe aid of desktop publishing software and a quality printer, any personalcomputer user can design effective, professional-quality documents.

Create and produce. Desktop publishing is a creative process that involvesattractively arranging individual elements, such as text, illustrations,

photos, and artwork on a page. The termproducemeans that there will besome sort ofoutput,or finished product, at the end of the desktop pub-lishing process. This output is generally referred to as adocument.Indesktop publishing terms, a document can be anything from a one-pageflier to a thousand-page novel. As youll see a little later on, documentsdont even have to be printed on paper!

2 Desktop Publishing: An Introduction

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Electronic. Technically speaking, any document created on a personalcomputer is an electronic document. Desktop publishing allows publish-

ers to combine text and graphics on a computer screen instead of usingtraditional cut-and-paste methods to manually create documents. Forthis reason, the termdesktop publishingis often used interchangeably withelectronic publishing. More specifically, though, the growing appeal ofmultimedia and network communications has contributed to the devel-opment of a wide range of paperless documents (that is, documents thatare intended primarily for on-screen viewing). Throughout this course,

youll see the termselectronic publishinganddesktop publishingusedinterchangeably.

Text and graphics. In some ways, a document is like a song, whichusually contains both music and lyrics. In the case of a document, thelyrics are the verbal part of the messagethat is, the words used tocommunicate a specific idea. Graphics, which can include photos, illus-trations, and other artwork, are a documents music. They supportand enhance the verbal message in a direct, often emotional, manner.Together, text and graphics are the basic building blocks of a publisheddocument(Figure 2).

Other elements. Features such as video, sound, and animation can becombined in documents specifically designed for on-screen viewing.These special effects serve to hold the viewers attention for a longer pe-

riod of time than an ordinary paper document might. Special effects canbe especially useful if a lot of information has to be communicated, or ifthe ideas are somewhat complex.

Another way to look at desktop publishing may be by considering itsresults. As mentioned earlier, desktop publishing allows users to createelegant, eye-catching documents. For example, you could type out a

plain, simple-looking memo using a word processing program (Figure 3),oryou could publish it, adding emphasis, style, and a sense of urgency orimportance(Figure 4).

Even though the message in both documents is the same, the documentcreated using desktop publishing is easier to understand and more pleasantto read. Different effects, such as bolding, italics, and raised paragraph head-ings, guide readers through the document. Graphical flourishes, such aslines, arrows, or business logos, can be creatively employed to build asense of anticipation. Such creativity can also be used to compel prompt,professional consideration.

As you can see by comparing these two memos, the style of a documentis just as important as the content. Desktop publishing can influenceh d i l h h A bi h

Desktop Publishing: An Introduction 3

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Lo o k in Yo ur M a ilb o x

How extensive is the desktop publishing industry? You probably see atleast one electronically produced document every day without even be-ing aware of it. Just take a look at what you find in your mailbox on atypical day.

Perhaps the first thing you see is an envelope full of coupons from local

businesses. Some people refer to this type of item as junk mail. Localmerchantsfrom your hairdresser to your real estate brokersee thingsa little differently. They understand that coupons represent one of the

best ways to attract consumer attention and increase business. Usingdesktop publishing, these items can be attractively produced at a relativelylow cost.


FIGURE 3 This m e m o w a s c re a ted using ve ry b a sicwo rd proc e ssing fe a ture s.

D.A.S. Enterprises

Oak Industrial Park

Scranton, PA 18500

(570) 555-8034

TO: Research & Development Staff

FROM: Deborah Kane

DATE: July 15, 20__

RE: New Electronic Publishing Specialist

On August 1, Lesley Stanton will join our staff

as our newest Electronic Publishing Specialist.

Lesley has completed an intense correspondence

course in desktop publishing and is currently

pursuing her bachelors degree at City College.

Lesleys wide variety of publishing experiencemakes her an excellent addition to our staff.

Please make her feel welcome.

cc: N. Barnes

cc: L. Dempsey

cc: D. Silvestrini

FIG U RE 4 Th e sa m e m e m o c re a te d th ro ug h d e sk to p publish ing co m m a nds the rea de rs a ttent ion.

D.A.S. EnterprisesOak Industrial ParkScranton, PA 18500(570) 555-8034

TO: Research & Development Staff

FROM: Deborah Kane

DATE: July 15, 20

RE: New Electronic Publishing Specialist

On August 1, Lesley Stanton will join our staff as our newestElectronic Publishing Specialist. Lesley has completed an in-tense correspondence course in desktop publishing and is cur-rently pursuing her bachelors degree at City College.

Lesleys wide variety of publishing experience makes her anexcellent addition to our staff. Please make her feel welcome.

cc: N. Barnescc: L. Dempseycc: D. Silvestrini

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BRIG H TPO W ER & LIG H TC O M PA N Y Y o u r C u s t o m e r N u m b e r

1 32 4 53 21 00

Ele c tricService

Use w h e n c a llin g o r w ritin g

Prior Billing

Total from Last Bill $142.00

For:J ames J ones214 Elm StreetLakeville, NY 27665

Payment Received Sep 12Thank You $142.00Balance asof September24 $0.00

C u rre n t C h a rg e s $135.64

Basic Service $138.22

Custom e r Serv ic e

P.O. Box 766

Waynesburg, NY27555

Tax Adjustment 0.29Energy Charge 2.29

ChargesforElectric Service $135.64

Pa y Th is A m o u nt N o La te r Th a n O c to b e r 1 4

Guess whosnew and wrapped

in blue?

Thomas Carlson

Weight: 7 lb., 14 oz.

Length: 21 inches

Date: October 15

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As you go through the rest of your mail, youll probably find billingstatements, newsletters, magazines, and fliers announcing sales or com-

munity events. More than likely, each and every one was createdthrough desktop publishing(Figure 6).Essentially, theres no limit to thekind of documents that can be produced on a desktop publishing system.

Obviously, all this material doesnt magically appear in your mailbox.Every piece was designed by creative, enterprising individuals. Whetheryou choose to operate out of your own home, or work in the desktoppublishing center of a large corporation, opportunities abound for you to

build a desktop publishing career. Youll have many exciting opportuni-ties to serve the rapidly expanding publishing needs of organizationsand businesses of all sizes.

Yo u re o n to So m e th in g Re a lly Big !

Since the early 1980s, desktop publishing has transformed the publishingindustry. Documents that once required hours of labor and specializedequipment can now be created much more quickly on a personal com-puter. Todays personal computers and desktop publishing software

Enable desktop publishers to produce professional-qualitydocuments in a cost-effective way

Allow rapid preview of a finished product

Surpass even the impressive power of word processing software inthe creation of more vivid and effective documents

Offer cutting-edge tools to express ideas through text, graphics,sound, and animation

Desktop publishing is changing the way people think about communica-tion. Todays computers and desktop publishing software packages en-able users to convey their message with startling effectiveness. As youlldiscover in the next section, desktop publishing is used by many indus-tries and organizations to inform, inspire, and instruct people in a varietyof ways.

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