Logging on for desktop publishing

Nation's Business, Feb, 1998 by Stephen Blakely

I will be starting a typesetting and desktop publishing business out of my home. Where can I find out what I need to know about this venture? K.C., Cincinnati

A good magazine covering this field is Desktop Publisher's Journal, published by Business Media Group in Topsfield, Mass. It tracks current desktop publishing developments and reviews new technologies and techniques.

Business Media Group took over the publishing of the magazine last year from the National Association of Desktop Publishers, which ceased operations because of a lack of revenue, according to Heather Surface, technical editor for the magazine. A yearly subscription is $36, but professional desktop publishers can qualify to receive the magazine for free. For more information, call 1-800-492-1014.

Desktop publishing, also known as DTP, is a computer-driven revolution in printing design and production that started in the 1980s and has made it easier and cheaper to create publications. For less than $10,000, a person can buy a computer, photo scanner, and printer that are powerful and sophisticated enough to produce full-color, professional-quality pages and graphics.

In recent years, an industry of DTP consultants and free-lancers has emerged. They produce everything from brochures, newsletters, and reports to posters, magazines, and books.

This development has changed the way many companies produce their publications, allowing them to hire outside firms to take on many design and prepress functions previously done in-house.

More recently, the growth of the Internet has led many people with DTP skills into electronic publishing on the World Wide Web, where they can incorporate video, sound, and other multimedia elements along with text.

Surface says that Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh computers used to be the overwhelming favorite among desktop publishers because of their superior ability to handle memory-intensive photographs, color, and graphics. While the Macintosh is still dominant in DTP, the use of IBM-compatible personal computers is growing rapidly as their graphics capabilities improve.

Surface notes that many software programs are available to meet specific publishing needs. Some of the most popular DTP packages, she says, are PageMaker from Adobe Systems, QuarkXpress from Quark Inc., and CorelDraw from Corel Corp.

One of the major expenses and challenges for small-business people in DTP is keeping up with new software and the greater computer power needed to run it. In many cases, independent designers or desktop publishers can get clients to purchase software required for a particular project.

According to Surface, a slowly growing trend in DTP is electronic transfer of entire documents: A DTP designer or technician in one location uses a computer, telephone line, and modem to transfer camera-ready documents directly to a printer's computer across town or across the country. This development is increasing competitive pressure and technical requirements for commercial printers as they seek to handle all major DTP software programs and maintain state-of-the-art equipment.