Is your computer ready for desktop publishing? Whether upgrading your system or starting from scratch, here's how to get started in DTP - Desktop Publishing - Column

Home Office Computing, March, 1993 by Steve Morgenstern

Whether Upgrading Your System or Starting from Scratch, Hero's How to Get Started in DTP

This time out we'll grapple with one of the most basic questions asked by would-be desktop publishers: "What will it cost to get started?" After all, as much as I may run on about the business benefits of desktop publishing, it's all moot if you can't afford to proceed. You deserve a simple, straightforward, unequivocal answer. And I'll give you one.

Simply and unequivocally: It depends.

Actually, there is no "right" answer. The first factor to consider is: What kinds of projects will you tackle?

The second question is: What kind of equipment do you already own, and is it adequate to the task? Not ideal, mind you. Adequate.

Third What kind of computer equipment buyer are you? We all have both a strategy and a personality when it comes to buying stuff, and both come into play.

MAC OR PC?

Here's the situation today in a nutshell: You can produce identical desktop-published output today on a Macintosh or a PC. Given the fact that the end product is indistinguishable, how do you make up your mind? Consider three factors:

Ease of use. Macintosh is legendary for its ease of use. In fact, if it weren't so good, the Microsoft folks wouldn't have adhered so closely to Macintosh conventions when designing their Windows interface.

Without going into detail, Macintosh computers still maintain an ease of use advantage over PCs, even when they're outfitted with Windows. The commands used in Mac programs are more consistent from one program to the next, file sharing is easier, and it is generally simpler to add new peripherals (such as hard-disk drives, scanners, or CD-ROM drives) to a Macintosh. If you held a gun to my head and demanded I quantify the difference, I'd say the Macintosh is about 20 percent easier to use.

Software availability. Once a major issue, now a virtual dead heat. There are tons of fonts and clip art for both Windows and Mac systems, and illustration and page-layout programs are comparable, both for novices and sophisticates.

Price. Once marketed as a sports car, the Macintosh line now also includes a substantial number of family sedans, at prices roughly competitive with similarly powered PCs. The operative word here, though, is roughly. At any point along the price/performance continuum, you are going to pay a premium for a Macintosh computer. The premium is relatively small at the low end of the line, and grows into significant money as you look at more powerful models. Simply put, while there are dozens of reputable manufacturers of 386- and 486-based computers, there's only a single-supplier of Macintosh computers. In the wake of the price wars that raged in 1992, you will still pay less for comparable speed and features if you buy an IBM-compatible.

Boiling it down, if I were setting up a computer system from scratch and desktop publishing was my primary task, I'd try to scrape up the extra money and buy a Macintosh. If money was tight, though, I'd go with a fast PC (at least 25 MHz) and still be well-equipped to tackle any desktop-publishing project that arose. But if I already owned either kind of computer and was just moving into desktop publishing, I wouldn't switch platforms.

FIT YOUR SYSTEM TO YOUR PROJECTS

Desktop publishing is not a monolithic undertaking. This magazine is produced using desktop-publishing technology. So are the fliers I find stuffed under my windshield wiper at the supermarket parking lot. The requirements in terms of hardware and software vary widely within this broad spectrum.

Let's start with the simplest kinds of projects: Product price lists; simple fliers consisting mostly of type, with perhaps an illustration included; or a basic alltype newsletter, set in two columns, with a decorative banner at the top of the cover and articles that run newspaper-style from one column to the next.

If you already own a computer and a laser printer, you probably don't have to spend a dime to undertake these projects. In terms of software, a good DOS--or any Windows or Macintosh--word processor will let you run type in multiple columns on a page and insert graphics. Word processors don't offer the sophisticated type controls found in dedicated page-layout programs, but they're adequate for these three projects.

Even a low-end computer--a one-piece compact Macintosh with the screen built-in (like the Classic II) or an 286-based PC-compatible with an EGA display-can suffice at this level. Mind you, I wouldn't go out and buy a 286-based machine in today's market: Inexpensive and powerful 386SX and 386DX computers are effectively the low-end choice for PC-compatibles today. However, if you already own a 286 and it's good enough for your word-processing needs, it can be good enough for rudimentary desktop publishing.

The make-or-break component in even the simplest desktop publishing setup is the printer. Hook up the fastest, most sophisticated computer on the market to an old 9-pin dot-matrix printer and your printed pages are going to look pretty lame. On the other hand, by running WordPerfect on my six-year-old 286-based PC and hooking it up to a 300-dotper-inch laser printer, I can create some very respectable publications.