Desktop publishing

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Scribus, an open source desktop publishing application

Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal
("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also
assists in the creation of various forms of online content.[1]Desktop publishing software can generate
layouts and produce typographic-quality text and images comparable to
traditional typography and printing. Desktop publishing is also the main reference for digital
typography. This technology allows individuals, businesses, and other organizations to self-publish
a wide variety of content, from menus to magazines to books, without the expense of commercial
printing.[2]
Desktop publishing requires the use of a personal computer and WYSIWYG page layout software to
create documents for either large-scale publishing or small-scale local multifunction
peripheral output and distribution. Desktop publishing methods provide more control over design,
layout, and typography than word processing. However, word processing software has evolved to
include some, though by no means all, capabilities previously available only with professional
printing or desktop publishing.[3]
The same DTP skills and software used for common paper and book publishing are sometimes used
to create graphics for point of sale displays, promotional items, trade show exhibits, retail package
designs and outdoor signs.[citation needed] Although what is classified as "DTP software" is usually limited
to print and PDF publications, DTP isn't limited to print. The content produced by desktop publishers
may also be exported and used for electronic media. The job descriptions that include "DTP," such
as DTP artist, often require skills using software for producing e-books, web content, and web
pages, which may involve web design or user interface design for any graphical user interface.

Contents

 1History
 2Terminology
 3Comparisons
o 3.1With word processing
o 3.2With other electronic layout software
o 3.3With web design
 4Applications
o 4.1Web-based applications
 5File formats
 6See also
 7References

History[edit]
Desktop publishing was first developed at Xerox PARC in the 1970s.[4][5] A contradictory claim states
that desktop publishing began in 1983 with a program developed by James Davise at a community
newspaper in Philadelphia.[6] The program Type Processor One ran on a PC using a graphics
card for a WYSIWYG display and was offered commercially by Best info in
1984.[7] (Desktop typesetting with only limited page makeup facilities had arrived in 1978–1979 with
the introduction of TeX, and was extended in the early 1980s by LaTeX.)
The Macintosh computer platform was introduced by Apple with much fanfare in 1984, but at the
beginning, the Mac initially lacked DTP capabilities. The desktop publishing market took off in 1985
with the introduction in January of the Apple LaserWriter printer.[8] This momentum was kept up by
with the addition of PageMaker software from Aldus, which rapidly became the standard software
application for desktop publishing. With its advanced layout features, PageMaker immediately
relegated word processors like Microsoft Wordto the composition and editing of purely textual
documents. The term "desktop publishing" is attributed to Aldus founder Paul Brainerd,[9] who sought
a marketing catchphrase to describe the small size and relative affordability of this suite of products,
in contrast to the expensive commercial phototypesetting equipment of the day.
Before the advent of desktop publishing, the only option available to most people for producing typed
documents (as opposed to handwritten documents) was a typewriter, which offered only a handful of
typefaces (usually fixed-width) and one or two font sizes. Indeed, one popular desktop publishing
book was entitled The Mac is not a typewriter, and it had to actually explain how a Mac could do so
much more than a typewriter.[10] The ability to create WYSIWYG page layouts on screen and
then print pages containing text and graphical elements at crisp 300 dpi resolution was revolutionary
for both the typesetting industry and the personal computer industry; newspapers and other print
publications made the move to DTP-based programs from older layout systems such as Atex and
other programs in the early 1980s.
Early 1980s desktop publishing was a primitive affair. Users of the PageMaker-LaserWriter-
Macintosh 512K system endured frequent software crashes,[11] cramped display on the Mac's tiny
512 x 342 1-bit monochrome screen, the inability to control letter-spacing, kerning,[12] and
other typographic features, and discrepancies between the screen display and printed output.
However, it was a revolutionary combination at the time, and was received with considerable
acclaim.
Behind-the-scenes technologies developed by Adobe Systems set the foundation for professional
desktop publishing applications. The LaserWriter and LaserWriter Plus printers included high quality,
scalable Adobe PostScript fonts built into their ROM memory. The LaserWriter's PostScript capability
allowed publication designers to proof files on a local printer, then print the same file at DTP service
bureaus using optical resolution 600+ ppi PostScript printers such as those from Linotronic. Later,
the Macintosh II was released which was much more suitable for desktop publishing because of its
greater expandability, support for large color multi-monitor displays, and its SCSI storage interface
which allowed fast high-capacity hard drives to be attached to the system. Macintosh-based systems
continued to dominate the market into 1986, when the GEM-based Ventura Publisherwas introduced
for MS-DOS computers. PageMaker's pasteboard metaphor closely simulated the process of
creating layouts manually, but Ventura Publisher automated the layout process through its use of
tags and style sheets and automatically generated indices and other body matter. This made it
suitable for manuals and other long-format documents.
Desktop publishing moved into the home market in 1986 with Professional Page for
the Amiga, Publishing Partner (now PageStream) for the Atari ST, GST's Timeworks Publisheron the
PC and Atari ST, and Calamus for the Atari TT030. Software was published even for 8-bit computers
like the Apple II and Commodore 64: Home Publisher, The Newsroom, and geoPublish. During its
early years, desktop publishing acquired a bad reputation as a result of untrained users who created
poorly organized, unprofessional-looking "ransom note effect" layouts; similar criticism was leveled
again against early World Wide Web publishers a decade later. However, some desktop publishers
who mastered the programs were able to achieve truly professional results. Desktop publishing skills
were considered of primary importance in career advancement in the 1980s, but increased
accessibility to more user-friendly DTP software has made DTP a secondary skill to art
direction, graphic design, multimedia development, marketing communications, and administrative
careers. DTP skill levels range from what may be learned in a few hours (e.g., learning how to put
clip art in a word processor) to what requires a college education. The discipline of DTP skills range
from technical skills such as prepress production and programming to creative skills such
as communication design and graphic image development.
As of 2014 Apple computers remain dominant in publishing, even as the most popular software has
changed from QuarkXPress (an estimated 95% market share in the 1990s) to Adobe InDesign.
An Ars Technica writer claimed that year that "I've heard about Windows-based publishing
environments, but I've never actually seen one in my 20+ years in design and publishing".[13]

Terminology[edit]
There are two types of pages in desktop publishing: electronic pages and virtual paper pages to be
printed on physical paper pages. All computerized documents are technically electronic, which are
limited in size only by computer memory or computer data storage space. Virtual paper pages will
ultimately be printed and will therefore require paper parameters coinciding with standard physical
paper sizes such as "A4, " "letter, " etc. Alternatively, the virtual paper page may require a custom
size for later trimming. Some desktop publishing programs allow custom sizes designated for large
format printing used in posters, billboards and trade show displays. A virtual page for printing has a
predesignated size of virtual printing material and can be viewed on a monitor in WYSIWYG format.
Each page for printing has trim sizes (edge of paper) and a printable area if bleed printing is not
possible as is the case with most desktop printers. A web page is an example of an electronic page
that is not constrained by virtual paper parameters. Most electronic pages may be dynamically re-
sized, causing either the content to scale in size with the page or causing the content to re-flow.
Master pages are templates used to automatically copy or link elements and graphic design styles to
some or all the pages of a multipage document. Linked elements can be modified without having to
change each instance of an element on pages that use the same element. Master pages can also be
used to apply graphic design styles to automatic page numbering. Cascading Style Sheets can
provide the same global formatting functions for web pages that master pages provide for virtual
paper pages. Page layout is the process by which the elements are laid on the page orderly,
aesthetically, and precisely. Main types of components to be laid out on a page include text,
linked images that can only be modified as an external source, and embedded images that may be
modified with the layout application software. Some embedded images are rendered in the
application software, while others can be placed from an external source image file. Text may
be keyed into the layout, placed, or (with database publishing applications) linked to an external
source of text which allows multiple editors to develop a document at the same time. Graphic
design styles such as color, transparency, and filters, may also be applied to layout
elements. Typography styles may be applied to text automatically with style sheets. Some layout
programs include style sheets for images in addition to text. Graphic styles for images may be
border shapes, colors, transparency, filters, and a parameter designating the way text flows around
the object called "wraparound" or "runaround."

Comparisons[edit]
With word processing[edit]
As desktop publishing software still provides extensive features necessary for print publishing,
modern word processors now have publishing capabilities beyond those of many older DTP
applications, blurring the line between word processing and desktop publishing. In the early days
of graphical user interfaces in the early 1980s, DTP software was in a class of its own when
compared to the fairly spartan word processing applications of the time. Programs such
as WordPerfect and WordStar were still mainly text-based and offered little in the way of page
layout, other than perhaps margins and line spacing. On the other hand, word processing software
was necessary for features like indexing and spell checking, features that are common in many
applications today. As computers and operating systems have become more powerful, versatile, and
user-friendly in the 2010s, vendors have sought to provide users with a single application that can
meet almost all their publication needs.
With other electronic layout software[edit]
In modern usage, DTP does not usually include digital tools such as TeX or troff, though both can
easily be used on a modern desktop system and are standard with many Unix-likeoperating systems
and readily available for other systems. The key difference between electronic typesetting software
and DTP software is that DTP software is generally interactive and "What you see [onscreen] is what
you get" (WYSIWYG) in design, while other electronic typesetting software, such as TeX, LaTeX and
other variants, tend to operate in "batch mode", requiring the user to enter the processing
program's markup language (e.g. HTML) without immediate visualization of the finished product.
This kind of workflow is less user-friendly than WYSIWYG, but more suitable for conference
proceedings and scholarly articles as well as corporate newsletters or other applications where
consistent, automated layout is important. In the 2010s,[when?] interactive front-end components
of TeX, such as TeXworks or LyX have produced "what you see is what you mean" (WYSIWYM)
hybrids of DTP and batch processing. These hybrids are focused more on semantics than traditional
DTP. There is some overlap between desktop publishing and what is known
as hypermedia publishing (e.g. web design, kiosk, CD-ROM). Many graphical HTML editors such
as Microsoft FrontPage and Adobe Dreamweaver use a layout engine similar to a DTP program.
However, many web designers still prefer to write HTML without the assistance of a WYSIWYG
editor, for greater control and ability to fine-tune the appearance and functionality. Another reason
that some Web designers write in HTML is that WYSIWYG editors often result in excessive lines of
code, leading to code bloat that can make the pages hard to troubleshoot.
With web design[edit]
Desktop publishing produces primarily static print or electronic media, the focus of this article.
Similar skills, processes, and terminology are used in web design. Digital typography is the
specialization of typography for desktop publishing. Web typography addresses typography and the
use of fonts on the World Wide Web. Desktop style sheets apply formatting for print, web Cascading
Style Sheets (CSS) provide format control for web display. Web HTML font
families map website font usage to the fonts available on the user web browser or display device.

Applications[edit]
For a more comprehensive list, see List of desktop publishing software.

 Adobe FrameMaker
 Adobe Illustrator
 Adobe InDesign
 Adobe Muse
 Adobe PageMaker
 Adobe Photoshop
 Apple Pages 4.x
 Banner Mania
 Corel Ventura
 Coreldraw
 Fontographer
 GeoPublish
 Hyphen Studio
 IStudio Publisher
 LibreOffice Impress
 LibreOffice Writer
 Macromedia FreeHand
 Microsoft PowerPoint
 Microsoft Publisher
 Microsoft Word
 OpenOffice.org / LibreOffice
 PageStream (formerly "Publishing Partner")
 PTC Arbortext
 QuarkXPress
 Ready,Set,Go
 Scribus
 Serif PagePlus
 Xara Page & Layout Designer
Web-based applications[edit]

 365Layouts
 Canva
 Desygner
 Fatpaint
 Lucidpress

File formats[edit]
The design industry standard is PDF. The older EPS format is also used and supported by most
applications.

See also[edit]
 Comparison of desktop publishing software
 List of desktop publishing software
 Document processor
 Camera-ready
 Desktop video
 E-book
 Electronic publishing
 Web design
 DTP artist

References[edit]
1. ^ Bear, Jacci Howard. "What's Involved in Desktop Publishing?". Lifewire. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
2. ^ Ruiter, Maurice M. de (1988-04-29). Advances in Computer Graphics III. Springer Science &
Business Media. ISBN 9783540187882.
3. ^ Amanda Presley (2010-01-28). "What Distinguishes Desktop Publishing From Word
Processing?". Bright Hub. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
4. ^ Winograd, Terry (1996). Bringing Design to Software. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 978-0201854916.
5. ^ Jones, Steve (2002). Encyclopedia of New Media. SAGE Publications. p. 127. ISBN 978-
0761923824.
6. ^ "What You See Is Pretty Close to What You Get: New h&j, pagination program for IBM PC, "
Seybold Report on Publishing Systems, 13(10), February 13, 1984, pp. 21-2.
7. ^ "Type-X '85: Fulfilling the Promise of the PC, " Seybold Report on Publishing Systems, 15(2) pp. 4-
5.
8. ^ Casselman, Grace (November 2, 1992). "Desktop Publishing". Computer Dealer News. 8.22 – via
Gale Cengage Computer Database.
9. ^ Stiff, Paul (13 September 2006). "The Stafford papers". The optimism of modernity: recovering
modern reasoning in typography. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
10. ^ Robin Williams, The Mac is not a typewriter: A style manual for creating professional-level type on
your Macintosh (Berkeley: Peachpit Press, 1990), 11.
11. ^ Thompson, Keith (8 June 1987). "MacIntosh Layout Package Remarkably Fast,
Powerful". InfoWorld. 9 (23): 51. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
12. ^ the addition or removal of space between individual characters in a piece of typeset text to improve
its appearance or alter its fit
13. ^ Girard, Dave (2014-01-13). "How QuarkXPress became a mere afterthought in publishing". Ars
Technica.