Desktop Publishing - CiteSeerX

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Desktop Publishing:Things Gutenberg Never Taught You

Joel P. BowmanDebbie A. RenshawWestern Michigan University

This paper provides an overview of advantages and disadvantages of desktoppublishing, an introduction to the hardware and software required to produce docu-ments with desktop publishing, and a look into the near future of DTP. This paper alsoexamines such considerations as cost-effectiveness, conftdentiality, and credibility asthey relate to DTP systems and uses. Also considered are the possible impact DTPcould have on the amount of paper-based communication produced, an increase intraining in layout and design, and formal researching DTP strategies and effects.

’I] y now virtually everyone has heard the term, &dquo;desktop publishing,&dquo;which is the current buzz-word for producing documents with al-most typeset quality using equipment that can sit on a desktop. Whilethe term is a misnomer - the equipment does not really publishdesktops, nor does it actually &dquo;publish&dquo; from a desktop - documentsproduced by desktop publishing equipment appear to have been set intype and printed, and the equipment required will all fit on a typicalexecutive desk. Desktop publishing equipment provides anyone withaccess to it with the power to produce documents that appear&dquo;published,&dquo; providing anyone with access to his or her own printingpress.

Desktop publishing (DTP) systems use the principle known asWYSIWYG (pronounced whizzy-wig) - What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (Winkler, 1986). As the user keys text and graphics into the com-puter, he or she can see exactly how the output will appear on the pagebefore printing the final copy. A basic DTP system consists of amicrocomputer, a laser printer, and a specially designed software pack-age which allows the user to combine all of the elements of publication,including text, graphics, and layout designs. As prices drop, DTP usersare adding scanners to their systems that enable them to scanphotographs and other graphics, produce digitized images of thematerial scanned, and then combine that material with their own docu-ments. DTP systems also allow the user to have control over typog-raphy, illustrations, line drawings, halftones, and other types ofgraphics. Professional typographers have been using similar technol-

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ogy for several years with equipment that costs from about $80,000 tomore than $200,000 (Tilden, 1987); with the advent of the &dquo;super en-hanc3d microcomputer,&dquo; however, almost anyone can now use thissame technology to produce a wide variety of documents, from impor-tant inhouse publications to routine memos.

Although the equipment that makes desktop publishing possible isonly two or three years old, the dream it represents is at least as oldas Gutenberg- universal access tc the power of the press. The growthof desktop publishing has been phenomenal and essentially uncon-trolled. A recent study of Fortune 1000 sites identified desktop publish-ing as the fastest-growing stand-alone microcomputer application(Brown & Gralla, 1988, May). Virtually every department in every or-ganization with a large enough budget and enough document outputto justify the equipment has either already purchased desktop publish-ing equipment or has planned to purchase such equipment in the nearfuture.

INFORMATION AGE

Since Gutenberg, Western culture in particular has been movingsteadily toward what Naisbitt (1984) and others have called the &dquo;infor-mation age.&dquo; Both the amount of information and the number of chan-nels through which it is conveyed have increased greatly since theinvention of the printing press and development of moveable type.

. Increased Electronic Communication

In the 1960s industry watchers were focusing their attention on theadvent of electronic communication. They predicted that electronicmail would replace many telephone calls and interoffice memos andthat the computer and electronic storage systems would bring aboutthe &dquo;paperless office.&dquo; They were right about electronic mail and aboutthe importance of electronic storage systems - more information is nowstored in digital form and transmitted electronically than is containedin all the books in all the libraries in the world (Saffo, 1987, July). Theindustry watchers were wrong about the &dquo;paperless office,&dquo; however.Most offices now handle far more paper than they ever did, and this ison top of the increased volume of information being processed electroni-cally

Increased Paper Communication

Most of us do not need convincing that the volume of paper messageshas increased. A look in our own mailboxes - both at work and at home



59

- is all the proof we need that we are receiving more paper mail nowthan we did in the past. The U.S. Post Office confirms that our impres-sions are correct. Virtually every year since records have been keptshows an increase in the volume of mail over that of the previous year.Castro (1988) reports that the Post Office currently delivers more than500 million letters, publications, and packages every day and that thevolume of mail is growing by about 6 percent a year. While increasesin internal mail are more difficult to gauge, most authorities agree thatthe rate of increase for internal correspondence roughly parallels thatof external mail.

In addition to the paper handling within offices, the advent ofelectronic communication has afforded us the ability to draft, revise,edit, and send copies of documents not only from desk to desk, but alsofrom desk to production printer, from city to city, and from country tocountry. Now, more quickly and easily than ever thought possible, weare able to produce massive amounts of documentation virtuallyanywhere around the globe.

ADVANTAGES OF DESKTOP PUBLISHING

Desktop publishing is not the fastest growing computer applicationin business by accident. It provides both users and the businesses foot-ing the bill with a number of distinct advantages. In the hands of aknowledgeable user, DTP equipment and software can produce supe-rior looking documents at a far lower cost than would otherwise be pos-sible. It may also provide increased security over sensitive documentsand allow documents to be produced in far less time than would be pos-sible with traditional typesetting technology.

Appearance

The volume of mail and other printed documents alone does not tellthe full story of the importance of paper communication. Because papermessages convey more information than is presented in the words, theyhave always been used by effective communicators to define the imagethe company and writer wished to present. Before the invention of thetypewriter, savvy business people hired clerks with good handwriting.Once the typewriter had been invented, however, the clerks all had tolearn to type. Those of us old enough to remember manual typewritersmay recall that throughout the 1950s and 1960s, manual typewriterswere replaced by a series of electric and eventually electronic machinesthat greatly improved the appearance of documents.



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One of the reasons that businesses didn’t retain their manual

typewriters is that we all instinctively recognize that nearly every mes-sage we send must compete for attention with a number of other mes-sages. Appearance is one of the factors that determines how muchattention a particular message receives. The appearance of the docu-ment contains a metamessage about the competence of the sender andthe sender’s organization. The neacter the document, the more com-petent the sender seems to be. Other factors being equal, readers paycloser attention to - take more seriously - the document with the bet-ter appearance.

Business and business people simply cannot afford to appear lesscompetent than their competition. For this reason, any improvementin the appearance of documents being produced by one organizationquickly leads to a corresponding improvement in the appearance ofdocuments produced by others. This is true even for documents thatnever leave the organization. If the memos and reports produced byone department improve in appearance, the other departmentsscramble to catch up. Budgets rise and fall and proposals are acceptedand rejected at least in part on the basis of the physical appearance ofthe request. This, of course, is not new. Business communication in-structors and practitioners have been preaching the importance of ap-pearance for many years. DTP equipment, however, raises the stakes,making it both easier and more difficult to achieve a professional ap-pearance.

Research indicates that most people read typeset documents about27 percent faster than they read nontypeset documents (Tilden, 1987).They also tend to view typeset documents as more credible, more per-suasive, and more professional than nontypeset documents. Tilden(1987) reported that workers in a school-bond referendum in a NewJersey town used DTP equipment to produce their drafts and finaldocuments of educational materials, and their documents were viewedas more finished than documents opposing the school bond, which hadbeen prepared by typewriter and letter-quality computer printers. Thereferendum passed.

Readers seem to believe that typeset documents are more crediblethan nontypeset documents - perhaps because they think that, if thewriter actually spent the time and money to produce such a high-quality document, the information it contains must be important.Readers don’t, as yet, expect to see typeset quality in most documents,unless the documents are from a large, successful corporation. For thisreason, when readers to see typeset-quality documents coming from



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smaller companies and even from individuals, they are initially im-pressed by the appearance of the document itself.

This drive for superior appearance has been documented primarilyindirectly through the sales of business equipment. Businesses werequick to replace mimeograph equipment with photoduplicators whenthey became available and to replace dot-matrix printers withdaisywheel printers when they became available. Currently, the salesof laser printers clearly indicate that businesses consider the ap-pearance of documents produced by desktop publishing equipmentworth an investment. As Sussman (1988) has pointed out, laserprinters constitute the fastest-growing segment of the printer market,with an increase from 49,000 units sold in 1984 to 600,000 units soldin 1987 - this is in spite of list prices that begin at about $1,500 for of-fice-quality printers.

Readers may, of course, come to expect typeset appearance of alldocuments,just as they did during the 1970s when virtually every busi-ness was using high-quality electric typewriters. At that time, the im-portance of visual impact may lessen. In the meantime, we can expectindividuals and businesses to continue to compete to produce typeset-quality documents, and equipment now being developed will ensurethat the race to produce superior documents will continue for sometime to come.

Cost-Effectiveness

The payback period on DTP equipment varies according to the kindsof documents produced and the amount of outside help required. Ingeneral, DTP equipment is best used for newsletters, catalogs, andother documents produced on a regular basis, especially when color isnot an important factor (Arcellana, 1988, October, p. 107). A completeDTP system currently costs between $6,000-$8,000. The productioncost of typesetting a simple 8.5&dquo; x 11&dquo; newsletter containing simple linedrawings is approximately $75 a page. (This would be for the originalpages, which would then be used as masters for offset reproduction.)The cost of producing the same newsletter using a desktop publishingsystem is between $6-$9 a page (Plewa & Berkery, 1987). Simple cal-culation indicates than an $8,000 DTP system could pay for itself afterthe production of approximately 1,000 pages. The cost of offsetreproduction would remain the same regardless of how the master copywas produced.

Color and halftones, however, are still produced more economicallyby traditional publishing equipment. Arcellana (1988, October, p. 110)calculates than an events calendar 28 pages, 11&dquo; x 17&dquo; with an average



62

of 1 halftone per page and 1 spot color, would cost $3,854 if producedby traditional methods and $5,022 if produced by DTP equipment. Onthe other hand, a 20-page booklet on 8.5&dquo; x 11&dquo; paper with no halftonesand 1 spot color would cost $2,130 when produced by traditionalmethods and only $1,148 by DTP equipment. Likewise, a 72-pagecatalog consisting primarily of text on 8.5&dquo; x 11&dquo; paper would cost

$4,500 if produced by traditional methods and only $2,618 if producedby DTP equipment (p. 112). Companies have learned that they canproduce virtually any text-heavy document more economically withDTP equipment and usually meet reader expectations for documentquality at the same time (Arcellana, 1988, October, p. 112).

In addition to a savings in basic production costs, when time is animportant factor, the use of a DTP system can virtually eliminate rushcharges, which normally run anywhere from double to triple theoriginal production cost. DTP systems also provide users the ability tomake last minute changes in text or graphics at a fraction of the costand time required by a typesetter.

Another major cost advantage of DTP equipment is that it allowsthe user to test type sizes, fonts, graphics, and page layouts withoutadded expense, and the investment in time can be measured in minutesor hours compared to days or weeks with the typesetter. If an adver-tising agency wants to evaluate the relative effectiveness of twobrochures, one produced in a serif typeface and one in sans serif, it cando so quickly and easily without going to the expense of having twoversions set in type.

Security

Another advantage DTP provides users is the ability to maintainconfidentiality of information. Because a document can be produced -from draft through to final copy - inhouse with a DTP system, at leastone level of possible information leakage (the typesetter) can beeliminated from the document production process. The ability of or-ganizations to pass the idea of increased confidentiality along to theircustomers could possibly increase sales of services and products.New product information, advertising campaigns, proposed changes

in personnel programs, and a wide variety of other documents are bestkept confidential; and the more people who need to work with a docu-ment, the greater the risk of loss of security. DTP can help organiza-tions somewhat reduce the risk of loss of security.



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DISADVANTAGES OF DESKTOP PUBLISHING

Most of us would agree that the automobile offers many advantagesover the horse and buggy. When people were driving around town intheir buggies, however, very few were injured or killed in head-oncrashes. Advances in technology have their own costs, which need tobe recognized. The most obvious of these for DTP equipment is thatthe new equipment allows people to produce bad documents morequickly and distribute them more widely. This waste will reduce andmay eliminate the potential cost advantages of the equipment not onlyby creating the need to redo many documents but also by reducing thepsychological impact of each individual document.

Hidden Costs

DTP will provide many more people the necessary tools to producedocuments in even greater numbers, adding to the growing glut of in-formation. To make matters worse, many of the additional documentsthat will be produced may be weak in content, grammar, and layout.In the hands of the inexperienced user, a DTP system can become atool for creating garbage.When the novice takes a seat in front of a microcomputer which is

equipped with a powerful page layout software package full of fonts,type sizes, and graphics capabilities, creating an extremely garbleddocument cluttered with junk - lasercrud - becomes a possibility, andmany times a reality. To address this situation, organizations may bepressed to hire someone from outside the organization to train usersas to the subtleties of kerning, font widths, white space, and other fea-tures of page layout and design.

Loss of Professional Control

Gralla (1988, May, p. S/5) reports that the greatest technological bar-rier to the use of desktop publishing equipment in business is that mostDTP software is designed for a single user, &dquo;while publishing in the cor-porate world is often a cooperative effort.&dquo; The current software as-sumes that one person will write, design, and produce a document;whereas in most businesses, those tasks are usually handled by dif-ferent people.MIS departments in particular are concerned about the prolifera-

tion of DTP equipment, because it represents a loss of control. The MISdepartment has traditionally been responsible for maintaining stand-ards, maintenance, and support for computer hardware and software.DTP equipment, however, has often come into an organization through



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the back door - without official MIS sanction. As a result, DTP equip-ment represents general loss of control over the MIS function, as in-dividuals and departments learn to make what are essentially MISdecisions for themselves. This situation is an echo of the still recentmove from centralized computing services using large, mainframecomputers (which only the MIS staff knew how to use), to distributedcomputing using personal computers. MIS departments had barely es-tabli~hed standards and controls for personal computers, when thenew attack on their autonomy began.

In addition to the loss of control that accompanies all end-user com-puting systems, DTP systems add another source of loss of control -the ability for anyone within an organization to produce counterfeitcorporate documents. The principal difficulty with the loss of profes-sional control is not technological - it’s human. Individual users can-not always be trusted to use the technology appropriately. Anyone inthe company who has access to DTP technology can now produce aflyer, job announcement, or brochure that looks official. With the useof a scanner, a DTP user could reproduce corporate logos, letterheads,or other official identification, opening the door for document forgery.The intermediate steps between idea and document that were once re-quired could be bypassed by those who so desired. To control such&dquo;document cloning,&dquo; organizations may need to invest increasedamounts of time and money to police document production and toemploy specialized papers, seals, or other mechanical safegaurds tohelp prevent the forgery of official documents, just as governmentsneed to use special papers and engraving techniques to prevent theforgery of paper money.

Also relating to loss of MIS control is what Tilden (1987) calls therush-to-print syndrome. DTP can drastically reduce production time;linked to this decrease in production time, however, could come a has-tening of the production process - an elimination of proofreading steps.The DTP user may become so reliant on the software proofing features(spelling and grammar checkers) that silly and careless errors maybegin appearing in the final copy of documents.

Furthermore, in the rush to produce final copies of documents morequickly and efficiently, the DTP user (and those in management whoshould review documents before distribution) may feel so confident inthe document quality that she or he may bypass management approvalbefore distribution. Actions of this nature could cost an organizationmuch in reputation and money, especially when documents should bereviewed by an organization’s legal department before being released.



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Need for TrainingA DTP system provides the user with incredible power over the

layout of the printed page. Consequently, the novice DTP user has anincredibly enhanced ability to produce junky flyers, newsletters, andbrochures - giving an individual paints and brushes does not guaran-tee that art will result. An untrained user of a DTP system gives truemeaning to Pope’s dictum, &dquo;A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.&dquo;As Saffo (1987) has noted, lasercrud is proliferating at an alarmingrate (p. 77). In fact, Design Access, a desktop publishing service com-pany based in San Francisco, sponsors a &dquo;Bad Art&dquo; contest to draw at-tention to the lack of DTP standards (Briefcase, p. 12).

Producing a document with DTP equipment requires more thansimply knowing how to make subjects and verbs agree. In addition toconsidering such things as when to use active and passive voice, DTPusers must consider when to change fonts and type sizes, how frequent-ly to use bold print or italics, and where to use centered and flush leftheadings. They need to know the basics of page layout so when theyuse the power of a DTP system, they use that power in a constructiverather than a destructive way.

If a DTP system is to truly save an organization money and time,the user must be fully informed about the capabilities and limitationsof such a system. Also, now more than ever, control over the physicalappearance of a printed document is at the finger tips of the writer.Before a writer should attempt to produce a document containing acombination of text and any other information (line drawing, borders,fancy headings), he or she must be fully aware of the psychological im-pact layout can have on the reader.

To address this situation, potential DTP users should receive train-ing in the principles of page layout and design, color, and types andplacement of graphics within text. We must also provide users with thenecessary nomenclature of the typesetting world, so when the interac-tion between the user and the typesetter is necessary, the user will becapable of conversing in an informed fashion (Antonoff, 1987). Just aswhen an individual learns to write, he or she must develop a workingunderstanding of the jargon of English composition; an individual mustalso develop a working understanding of document design when delv-ing into the world of DTP (see Appendix for common terminology).

Print QualityIn spite of the fact that print quality is one of the most highly touted

advantages of DTP equipment, from some perspectives it is also a dis-



66

advantage. Typical laser printers employed in DTP applications havea print resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi). Those accustomed to tradi-tional typeset quality DTP (from 1,000 to 2,400 dpi resolution) considerlaser output draft quality at best.

For those who demand the highest quality output, however, DTPequipment can be used exactly that way - to produ(e drafts of docu-ments that indicate exactly what a typeset version will look like. Withthe proper software, a computer can transfer the file for an approveddocument directly to professional typesetting equipment for theproduction of the final copy.

DTP SYSTEMS

Basically two types of systems exist: the Apple Macintosh and MS-DOS (IBM and IBM compatibles). At present, the principal competi-tion in DTP systems will be among PageMaker (Aldus); Ready, Set, Go(Letraset); and Xpress (Quark) on the Mac and between Ventura(Xerox) and PageMaker for MS-DOS machines (Stromer, 1988a). Thenew operating system developed by Microsoft for IBM (OS/2) is not yetplaying an important role in DTP, and the new IBM computers will runMS-DOS. Each system offers its own set of advantages and disad-vantages. In general, the Mac-based systems are less expensive, areeasier to set up and use, and require less training. Companies thathave already invested heavily in IBM or compatible equipment, on theother hand, usually stick with that standard for their DTP applicationsin spite of the greater initial preparation and training required (An-tonoff & Bell, 1987, p. 95).

Mac-Based Systems

Most authorities agree that Apple’s Macintosh and LaserWriterform the premier DTP system. Antonoff and Bell (1987) state that &dquo;theMac printout looks cleaner, livelier, and more attractive to the eye thanthat for the AT&dquo; (p. 95). Most people using Macs for desktop publish-ing are using one of the two new models, the SE or the Mac II. Eithercomputer comes standard with enough memory and processing powerto be capable of handling DTP programs, although most users quicklyfind that they need to add to the standard 1 MB of RAM if they wishto produce large documents or need to work with more than one docu-ment at a time. Apple Computer also manufactures three laserprinters, each capable of 300 dpi print resolution.The principal advantage of using a Mac for DTP applications is the

Mac’s standardized graphic interface, which allows text and graphics



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to be included in one document with ease and allows text and graphicsto be cut and pasted from virtually any program to any other program.With a Mac and a LaserWriter and nearly any of the Macintosh wordprocessing programs, anybody can be producing documents of nearlytypeset quality within hours of removing the equipment from its boxes.

With a sophisticated word processor (such as Microsoft Word, Full-Write Professional, or WordPerfect) and a graphics program (Mac-Paint, MacDraw, Superpaint, FullPaint, and the like), one can achievealmost any effect typically used in brochures, company newsletters,flyers, and a wide variety of other documents. With a page makeupprogram (PageMaker; Ready, Set, Go; or Xpress), one can have virtual-ly full control over both text and graphics within one program.

MS-DOS SystemsIn the past two years, MS-DOS equipment (essentially IBM and

IBM compatibles) has greatly improved in ability to produce qualitydocuments. Antonoff ( 1987, October) reports that 37 desktop publish-ing programs - ranging in price from $99 to nearly $12,000 - now runin the MS-DOS environment (p. 129). Most MS-DOS applications stilluse a character interface, however, which limits their ability to showthe user what the document will look like before it is actually printed.According to William Gates, developer of MS-DOS and president ofMicrosoft Corporation (the company responsible for developing thenew DOS for IBM and IBM compatible equipment) a complete conver-sion from the character interface to the graphic interface will be com-plete by 1991 (Reed, 1987).MS-DOS equipment is also more difficult to set up and use than is

Macintosh equipment, so the training time is greater than that re-quired for Mac-based systems. Antonoff(1987) reports that &dquo;The majorrequirement in getting an MS-DOS based publishing system up andrunning isn’t memory or display or even a hard disk. It’s patience - youcan easily spend a dozen hours just getting all the elements of a sys-tem installed properly&dquo; (p. 86).The Hewlett-Packard LaserJet, which comes in a variety of models,

is the printer most often coupled with MS-DOS computers. Somemodels of the LaserJet come with 512K of on-board memory, enoughto produce a full page of text at 300 dpi, but only enough to printgraphics at 150 dpi (Antonoff, July, p. 79). New models of the LaserJetcome with 1MB of memory, enough for a full 300 dpi, and older modelscan be upgraded to include the additional memory.



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Page Makeup Programs

Page makeup programs play a major role in the effectiveness andefficiency of a DTP system. The page makeup program is used as afinishing tool for preparing final copy document text and graphics forpresentations and publications (Bove & Rhodes, 1987). The best timeto use a page makeup is acfter the creation of the text with a wordprocessing program and the creation of graphics with a graphicsprogram. These elements are then brought together with the aid of apage makeup program.The most powerful page makeup programs allow you to control kern-

ing (space between letters), leading (space between lines of type), com-bining of banners and multiple columns, and sizing and cropping ofgraphics. As software developers improve these page makeupprograms, features such as the ability to wrap text around irregularlyshaped graphics and the ability to simultaneously open multiple filesprovide even more control over production time. In addition, these fea-tures provide you more time for creativity by requiring you to spendless time on figuring out ways to perform such complicated functions.

PageMaker (Aldus Corporation) is currently the leading pagemakeup program for Macintosh systems. It is also available in an MS-DOS version. PageMaker works with a pull-down menu system anddialog boxes, as do other Macintosh compatible software programs.Ready, Set, Go; Quark Xpress; Scoop; and Ragtime are among the otherwell-known page makeup programs for the Mac. To a greater or lesserextent, all the Mac DTP programs provide a WYSIWYG view of thedocument being produced, and most employ the PostScript pagedescription language developed by Aldus.

Ventura (Xerox Corporation) is the leading page makeup programfor MS-DOS equipment. It is especially well designed for handling longdocuments with repetitive formats (such as journal articles and books).Ventura also provides the user with various templates for documentssuch as side-by-side columns, banner headings, and specific bordersand margins. Using the templates again eliminates some of the repeti-tive formatting task required in setting up a page layout. Antonoff(1987, November) provides a complete listing of page makeupprograms for both Macintosh and MS-DOS systems.

What the Future Holds

All forms of computer-based communication are changing rapidly.DTP is no exception. Most of the current DTP systems produce stand-ard 8&dquo; x 11&dquo; pages at 300 dpi at a rate of 6 to 8 pages a minute. At least



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one laser printer currently available is capable of 600 dpi resolution,and printers now being developed are rumored to be capable of 3,000dpi resolution - a degree of resolution superior to that offered by typi-cal professional-quality typesetting equipment. A number of manufac-turers are also rumored to be developing four-color laser printerscapable of extremely high resolution.As the hardware becomes more powerful, the software will become

increasingly sophisticated to take advantage of the additional speedand memory of the developing computer systems. No less an authoritythan William Gates predicts that the new equipment will enablesoftware to become essentially fully integrated (Reed, p. 77). We arealready seeing this happen with DTP programs. Many of the newerword processing programs, Macintosh based Microsoft Word and IBMbased WordPerfect, include graphics capabilities rivaling those of pagemakeup programs, and the new releases of the page makeup programsfrequently include many of the traditional supplemental features ofword processing applications, such as spelling checkers, hyphenationdictionaries, and global search and replace functions. Grygo (1988a)predicts that the recent agreement between Apple and DEC will makea variety of new and more powerful software possible and that desktoppublishing features will become as commonplace on word processorsas spelling checkers are today.

In addition to powerful DTP software packages, perhaps the basicDTP system of the 1990s should contain a scanner - a device whichreads hard copy documents into a computer. The inclusion of a scan-ner in a DTP system will again reduce the time required for the produc-tion of text and graphics by eliminating the need to recreate on onesystem materials already in print form. In the near future, composi-tion and distribution of all documents will be based on PDLs (pagedescription languages) and SCLs (scanner command languages) (Bove& Rhodes, 1987).

Brainerd (1988), President of Aldus Corporation, sees the future ofDTP heading toward the use of network DTP groups in the workplace,thereby, offering more control over production of group projects.Brainerd also believes that with the addition of control over color (ex-pected in the mid-1990s for $5,000 or less), DTP users may becomemuch more involved with graphic-based publications than they cur-rently are.

Dowsel (1988) of Letraset sees the DTP in the 1990s splitting intothree basic groups: (1) professional publications, (2) graphic artsproductions, and (3) general office. The professional publications groupwill use corporate style sheets and intelligent design basics. The



70

graphic arts production group will place heavy emphasis on selectingdisplay type, positioning of artwork, and developing true 4-colorprocesses. And the general office group will maintain heavy interest inoffice automation.

Such electronic composition and distribution of documents is

definitely on the horizon. The publishing process as we know it is rapid-ly moving away from the traditional method of production toward therapidly changing components of electronically based production. Astechnology improves and as written communication remains a staple,business communication specialists will need to be especially alert tothe ways in which new communication media influence the com-munication process.

RECOMMENDATIONS ANDSUGGESTIONS FOR RESEARCH

In spite of the millions of dollars spent on DTP equipment andsoftware over the past few years, very little formal research has beenconducted to determine its effectiveness or its influence on the com-munication process. Its value seems to have been accepted as self-evi-dent by those who make purchasing decisions in business. Businesseshave at least measured the return on investment that DTP systemscan provide by comparing the costs of producing documents by tradi-tional methods and by DTP. To the best of our knowledge, no formalstudies of reader response to DTP publications have been conducted.

Likewise, little research has been conducted on the effects of the useof DTP in education. In 1987, a study measuring the impact of DTP onHigher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) was conducted in the Detroitelementary school system. Compensatory 3rd, 4th, and 5th graderswere required to write and publish their own storybooks using a DTPsystem. The results showed that reading comprehension test scores forthe 4th and 5th graders using DTP were 50 percent higher than thecontrol group’s scores (McCarthy, p. 25).

A one-year study conducted on a small range of Midwestern elemen-tary, middle, and high school classes indicated that when studentscould write and publish on their own computers using both wordprocessing and DTP applications, their frequency of writing increased.In addition, the students who used DTP wrote longer, more complexsentences, and their writings contained fewer grammatical and spell-ing errors than did the writings of the students in the control group(McCarthy, p. 26).



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As business communication professionals, we should take a goodlook at the need for DTP research in our field. Just how cost-effectiveis DTP? We need to compare not only the costs involved in producingdocuments by typewriter, computer-driven letter-quality printers,DTP equipment, and typesetting equipment; but also the readerresponse. The assumptions that have been made about the appearanceof documents for the past half century need to be tested. Additionally,we need to begin studying the potential of DTP equipment as apedagogical aid. To best provide our students knowledge of and skillwith today’s technology, we must conduct research to determine theimpact DTP can have on our students. For example, we should test theeffect DTP knowledge and skill have on writing ability and the chan-ges in students’ attitudes toward writing while using DTP. At least onestudy indicates that students may spend more time editing their docu-ments when using microcomputers than they would spend otherwise(Varner & Grogg, 1988), but so far no study has examined the effectthe ability of DTP might have. Students may find the appearance ofDTP documents sufficiently motivating that they would spend moretime ensuring that the content of the document matched the quality ofthe appearance.

Kostelnick (1988) rightly says that, as business communicationpractitioners, researchers, and instructors &dquo;we have no system fordescribing, analyzing, or evaluating&dquo; the visual components of writtendocuments (p. 46). DTP equipment can make it possible for researchersto study such effects quickly, easily, and economically. Business com-munication instructors should also study the marketability of studentswho are well-versed in DTP. Also, we need to consider who should beteaching DTP. Should DTP be part of business communicationprograms, or should it be taught by graphic design specialists in print-ing management programs? If this area becomes as important as cur-rent indications suggest, this will be a critical economic issue for thoseteaching business communication and related courses. Because thecontent of a document and its design are so tightly bound togetherwhen DTP systems are used, those who use DTP hardware andsoftware to teach layout and design may well become responsible forteaching document content as well.

REFERENCES

Antonoff, M. & Bell, J. (1987, May). The verdict. Personal Computing, p. 95.Antonoff, M. (1987, July). Setting up for desktop publishing. Persvnal Computing, pp.

75-82.

Antonoff, M. (1987, May). Plug in, turn on, print out? Guess again. Personal Comput-ing, pp. 86-90.



72

Antonoff, M. (1987, November). Desktop publishing software. Personal Computing, pp.223-235.

Antonoff, M. (1987, October). Taking the pain out of document design. Personal Comput-ing, pp. 128-135.

Arcellana, J. E. (1988, October). Is desktop publishing worth it? Macworld, 5(10), 107-115.

Bell, J. (1987, May). I did it my way. Personal Computing, pp. 93-95.Bove, T. & Rhodes, C. (1987). Desktop Publishing With PageMaker. New York: John Wiley

& Sons.Brainerd, P. (1988, April). Keynote address at the Corporate Electronic Publishing Sys-

tems Show and Conference. Chicago.Briefcase. (1988, August). Office Management & Automation, 12.Brown, L. & Gralla, P. (1988, May 10). Sales figures show growing market. Desktop

Publishing: The Corporate Approach (supplement to PC Week), p. S/12.Castro, J. (1988, March 28). Charging more and delivering less. Time, p. 50.Davis, F. E. (1988, April), About face. MacUser, pp. 63-64.Dowsel, M. (1988, April). Keynote address at the Corporate Electronic Publishing Sys-

tems Show and Conference. Chicago.Gralla, P. (1988, May 10). The corporate approach. Desktop Publishing: The Corporate

Approach (supplement to PC Week), pp. S/5-S/13.Grygo, G. (1988a). E-pub universe expands. Digital Review, 5(5), 75, 79.Grygo, G. (1988b). Few agree on what electronic publishing is. Digital Review, 5(5), 77.Kostelnick, C. (1988). A systematic approach to visual language in business communica-

tion. The Journal of Business Communication, 25(3), 29-48.McCarthy, R. (1988, March). Stop the press! Electronic Learning, 7(6), 28.Naisbitt, J. (1984). Megatrends: Ten new directions transforming our lives. New York:

Warner Books.

Plewa, J. & Berkery, M. (1987). Desktop publishing saves money. National UnderwriterProperty & Casualty /Employee Benefits, pp. 52-53.

Reed, S. R. (1987, May). Bill Gates on: A platform for the next 10 years. Personal Com-puting, pp. 74-81.

Saffo, P. (1987, July). The paper revolution. Personal Computing, pp. 43-46.Saffo, P. (1987, May). Invasion of the laser crud. Personal Computing, pp. 57-60.Stromer, R. (1988a). No runaway winners in race to win top spot in desktop publishing.

PC Week, 5(13), 150.Stromer, R. (1988b). Proof of desktop packages’ success is in the figures. PC Week, 5(1),

122.

Sussman, A. (1988). Laser printers seized market impetus in 1987. PC Week, 5(9), 127.Tilden, S. (1987). Harnessing desktop publishing: How to let the new technology help you

do your job better. Pennington, NJ: Scott Tilden.University of Michigan Information Technical Division. (1988). Computer Kickoff’88 In-

formation Booklet, 11-13.Varner, I. & Grogg, P. M. (1988). Microcomputers and the writing process. The Journal

of Business Communication, 25(3), 69-78.Winkler, C. (1986) Desktop Publishing. Datamation, 3(4), 92-96.

NOTE: The following appendix was prepared by Bowman and Ren-shaw on their own &dquo;desktop publishing&dquo; equipment.



73

APPENDIX

The Vocabulary of DTP

!! esktop publishing is replete with jargon.~MBJ~~~ Because it combines computer jargon and

~~~~N~~ publishing jargon, the terminology of desktopM~~~S publishing can be confusing-especially because

those involved in desktop publishing don’t always!!!~M~~ use publishing terms correctly.

Vocabulary, however, very often holds the key to achieving theeffect because knowing the word may be essential to employing theconcept. The following terms are those used most often.

Ascender: The part of the character that extends above the x heightof the font, as in the lowercase &dquo;b.&dquo;

ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange, thedominant communications protocol for exchanging data betweencomputers. ASCII files usually contain text only without anyspecial formatting.

Artwork: Any material, such as drawings, paintings, or

photographs, prepared as illustrations for printed matter.Baseline: The imaginary line that the characters rest on in a line

of text. The distance from baseline to baseline is linespacing.Parts of characters that drop below the baseline are descenders.

Bit-Map: A method of depicting images as a matrix of black dots ofthe same density-shades of gray are achieved by having fewerdots in a given area.

Bleed: The part of illustrations that extend to the edges of the pageand are cut off when pages are trimmed for binding.

Bold: Type that is heavier and thicker than the rest of the typecontained on the page.

Buffer: Memory in either a computer or laser printer used to storedocuments about to be printed.



74

Camera-ready copy: Material in final form, ready to bephotographed for offset printing or for duplication by photocopier.

Caps and small caps: Two sizes of capital letters made in the samefont.

Clip art: Art work prepared by professionals ready for use in avariety of documents. Clip art for DTP applications is availableas bit-mapped images on computer disk.

Coated paper: Any paper with a smooth finish.Condensed: A typeface that is narrower in relation to its heightthan the standard form of that typeface.

Continuous tone: An image containing a range or gradation oftones, such as in a photograph.

Contrast: The gradation between shades in halftones.Copyfitting: Determining how much copy will fit in a given space,or adjusting copy through editing or formatting to fit a givenspace.

Crop: Cutting the edges of an illustration to fit a given space.Descender: A part of a character that descends below the baseline,as in the letter &dquo;y.&dquo;

Diacritic: Accent marks and other phonetic indicators, morecommon in European languages than in English.

Display face: Any typeface appropriate for headlines. Usually 18point or larger.

Drop-outs: Parts of master copies that do not reproduce (sometimesinserted intentionally).

Dummy: A rough layout of a page, document, or publication.Em: A unit of measurement equal to the point size of the currentface.Em dash: A dash one em wide-used like a comma or a colon.En: A unit of measurement equal to half an em.En dash: Longer than a hyphen, but shorter than an em dash. Used

for &dquo;through&dquo; or &dquo;to,&dquo; as in 9:00-10:00 a.m.Expanded: A typeface that is wider in relation to its heightcompared with the standard form of that typeface.

Flush: Aligned with a margin, without indentation flush right orflush left.

Folio: The number of each page or a sheet folded twice to make four

pages.Font: One size, one style, of one typeface. For example, 10-pointTimes Roman, and 12-point Times italic are different fonts.Desktop publishing software and literature may use font to meantypeface.



75

Footline: The bottom line of a page.Hairline: The thinnest rule the equipment being used is able toproduce.

Galley: Type set in column widths before the columns are made upinto pages. Used for proofing and copyfitting.

Gutter: The space near the spine (the left side of right pages, theright side of left pages) allowed for binding.

Gray scale: A range of gray tones, from white to black.Grid: A design template that divides a page with imaginaryhorizontal and vertical lines as an aid to aligning type andplacing graphic elements.

Halftone: A continuous tone image composed ,of very small dots.Imposition: The layout of pages as they will be printed,considering any required folding and cutting.

Initial: An opening character of a paragraph or section, often oflarger type than that used in the body of the paragraph or section.

Italic: A typeface variation in which letters slope forward. Trueitalic typefaces are designed. DTP italic typefaces may bemathematical variations of the standard font of a typeface.

Justification: Setting type so that both left and right margins areeven.

Kern: A part of a letter that extends beyond the body of a type, likethe ends of the italic letters, f and j. The space occupied by suchan extension.

Kerning: The process of adjusting space between letters.Lasercrud: Poorly designed pages produced by amateurs withlaser printers.

Leader: A row of dots used to separate items in tables.Leading: Space (traditionally with strips of lead) added between

lines of type to adjust linespacing.Linespacing: The distance from the baseline of one line to thebaseline of the line below it.

Measure: The width of a full line of type on a page.Monofont: A font in which all the characters occupy the samehorizontal space regardless of the actual width of the letters.Courier is a common monofont.

Opacity: A measure of how difficult it is to see through a piece ofpaper.

Optical Center: Approximately 1/3 below the top edge of a page.Ornaments: Decoration used in chapter headings.Orphan: A single line of type from the bottom of a paragraphappearing at the top of a column or page.



76

Page description language (PDL): A generic term used to describethe instructions computers use to communicate with a printerabout the appearance of the document on paper.

Pagination: Creating pages from text or graphics.Phototypesetter: A device that creates printmasters from camera-ready copy. Phototypesetters usually have print resolutiongreater than 1,000 dpi.

Pica: A unit of measure equal to 1/6th of an inch or 12 points.Point: A unit of measure equal to 1/72nd of an inch.Postscript: A page description language developed by AdobeSystems-currently the most commonly used PDL for DTPapplications.

Process colors: Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, and Black-the colorsused in four-color separations.

Proportional font: Any font in which the characters are not all thesame width. Proportional fonts are usually easier to read thanmonofonts.

Ragged: Unaligned type, as in ragged right, ragged left.River: A line or channel of white space in printed matter caused bythe spaces between words in several lines.

Rule: A line. Can vary in width from hairline to a wide, dark bar.Running head: Repeating text at the top of successive pages-oftena title or abbreviated title.

Scaling: Reducing or enlarging an image or piece of paper.Scanner: A device used to read printed images (including text)and convert them to digital form so that they can be manipulatedby computer.

Screen: A fine mesh used to create halftones.Serifs: Small strokes at the ends of letters in many typefaces.Sexed quotes: Beginning and ending quotation marks that pointtoward each other instead of being the same-a mark of goodDTP practice.

Signature: A sheet of paper folded so that, when cut, it will producea specific number of pages.

Small caps: A set of capital letters the size of lowercase letters.Trim size: The final size of an entire page, including all

margins, after trimming.Typeface: The general design of a group of characters. Examplesinclude Courier, Helvetica, Times, Palatino, and so on.

Typefaces are designed by artists, and the names of typefacesmay be trademarked.



77

T~pefamily: A specific typeface and all its associated typestylesand fonts.

Typestyle: An enhancement to a typeface, such as bold or italictypestyles.

Widow: A line of type from the top of a paragraph left alone at thebottom of a column or page.

Wrap: A section of text that runs around a graphic.X-height: The height of lowercase characters, such as the x in a

font, excluding ascenders and descenders.



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