Daily Dose of DTP 5. Elements: Not Just for Science Geeks

Any logo, greeting card, photo collage, newsletter, or book cover that might be created using desktop publishing techniques is composed of a combination of specific elements. They are the individual building blocks that all come together to make what we instantly recognize as the About logo with its red ball, the cover of PC World magazine, or our own face rendered as a caricature.

People go to college and take hours and hours of classes to learn all about the elements of design and how to use them but you’re going to get a crash course introduction in today’s daily dose – without stepping foot in a classroom.

Class Notes: This is not simply a word-a-day course. The lessons follow a specific order in roughly the following groupings: General concepts > Things you need > Font specifics > Image specifics > Prepress & Printing > Rules & Tutorials (bold indicates the stage in which this lesson falls)

Today’s Definition
Elements of Design
Can you draw a straight (or crooked) line, pick a color from a box of crayons, or put a square peg into a round hole?

Daily Dose of DTP 4. It’s a Print!

Printing is easy, right? You just push the print button in your software and a few minutes later that printer sitting next to your desk starts churning out the pages. But what if you need hundreds or thousands of copies? What if you need to use paper larger than your laser printer can handle? What if you want to use metallic inks or raised printing?

There are dozens of ways to go about printing the files you create doing desktop publishing. In today’s daily dose of DTP I’ll break it down into two main methods to give you a taste of how printing works beyond the print button.

Class Notes: This is not simply a word-a-day course. The lessons follow a specific order in roughly the following groupings: General concepts > Things you need > Font specifics > Image specifics > Prepress & Printing > Rules & Tutorials (bold indicates the stage in which this lesson falls)

Today’s Definition
Printing
If you’re doing desktop publishing, chances are you’re going to want to print your fabulous creations. Get a taste for what that really means.

Daily Dose of DTP – 3. Is Prepress Anything Like Permanent Press?

Prepress
Before you press, prepress

Daily Dose of DTP 2. Paging All Designers

It’s a verb. It’s a noun. It’s what we do and what is created when doing desktop publishing. Today we’re exploring the multiple meanings of page layout — the heart of desktop publishing.

Some business people consider a business plan an essential component of doing business. It gives them direction and focus. In desktop publishing we need a plan as well. Our page layout is that plan. It shows us where things go and how it all fits together. As with business plans, our page layout may change over time. We’ll move things around, add new pieces, take parts away depending on what we need to accomplish.

Class Notes: This is not simply a word-a-day course. The lessons follow a specific order in roughly the following groupings: General concepts > Things you need > Font specifics > Image specifics > Prepress & Printing > Rules & Tutorials (bold indicates the stage in which this lesson falls)

Today’s Definition
Page Layout
It also goes by names like page composition and document design. It’s at the heart of desktop publishing but it was around long before desktop publishing existed.

Daily Dose of DTP 1. What is Desktop Publishing?

Welcome to your Daily Dose of DTP. As you may have already known or realized, DTP is an acronym for desktop publishing — not a vaccination for diptheria, pertussis, tetanus (that’s DPT). Defining desktop publishing is the first step in learning desktop publishing.

Today’s daily dose is a triple-treat because desktop publishing, graphic design, and Web publishing are all so closely related that some people think they are all the same thing. But, as you’re about to discover, that isn’t exactly true.

Class Notes: This is not simply a word-a-day course. The lessons follow a specific order in roughly the following groupings: General concepts > Things you need > Font specifics > Image specifics > Prepress & Printing > Rules & Tutorials (bold indicates the stage in which this lesson falls)

Today’s Definitions
Desktop Publishing
It’s a process… and it’s a type of software. It’s also what we’re going to be exploring for the next several weeks so make this your first stop today.