Desktop Publishing

• Author: Ray Young
• Pages: 198-201

Page 198

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The use of personal computers (PCs) has become so widespread that the traditional publishing process described earlier is obsolete—and rarely seen.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...