Desktop Publishing Essay Example

and cassette covers, catalogues, newsletters, books, proposals, and much more.

Some desktop publishers also perform word processing services for their clients, while some desktop publishers prepare almost any kind of graphic material, many specializing in one or more, such as newsletters. With as low as N50,000, one can acquire a fairly used computer, printer and with an umbrella, one can commence a desktop publishing by the roadside, a campus, a street corner, beside an office shade, in the market place etc. Just from typing and printing a page ranges from N40 - N100.

Some of the business operators confess of 100% turn over and daily profit ranging from N1,000 to N5,000 to small shops with very basic equipment to tens of thousand to those doing specialized service like graphic design, digital printing, website design, etc. Militating factors responsible for the fast growth of desktop publishing in our society today include: a. Advertisement, Rebranding, and Publicity employing Graphic design: The growth and completion among school, churches, and small scale enterprises among others has given the rise of increase of advertisement and publicity.

Desktop publishing communicates effectively the client's message in the design of logos, graphics, brochures, newsletters, posters, signs, and any other type of visual communication. b. Typography and layout in publishing: One good area is the more specialized field of typography, which is the design and use of typefaces from calligraphy to the ever-developing use of digital type. These allow the creation of letterforms or selects typefaces and arrange them on a page layout. This is a niche for those with a great eye for type details, overall page layout as well

as skills in proofreading and editing. c.

Fast and efficient service: Another breakthrough strategy for desktop publishing market is the ability of providing speedy turnaround time. Many clients need to have their materials (brochures, newsletters, etc. ) as quickly as possible. d. Low rates: Desktop publishing becomes a competitive option by offering a lower rate e. Small business specialist: Desktop publishing has relatively smaller budgets but have a large number of potential clients. f. Internet-related business: The Web has grown tremendously in the last few years, opening vast opportunities and creating new markets for desktop publishers.

You can design web sites, create graphics for the Web, and prepare Web-ready multimedia presentations. 2. How does the success of Desktop publishing business depend on the efficacy of equipment, assemblance of software and Proficiency of using them The success of your Desktop Publishing business depends in a large part to your equipment, arsenal of software and proficiency in using them to create the quality work that your client needs. a. The efficacy or efficiency of the equipment The basic equipment and supplies needed in a desktop publishing business include high-capacity computers, laser and colour printers, and scanner. You also need to have a disk back-up system, virus protection program, CD writer (CDR/CDW). * Prices of computers have steadily decreased in the past few years. However, the computer system that you will use for desktop publishing requires more sophistication than one configured only for word-processing or other basic tasks. You will need a system with large memory to load all your software and provide more data storage for large files.

The monitor must be high resolution

to display graphics properly; the printer must have a substantial amount of memory for downloading fonts and graphics. Hence, your computer system will be more expensive than the average computer with less capacity. b. Assemblance of software Another important factor necessary for the success of Desktop publishing business is the utilization of suitable graphic software, font software, and clip art. You must arm yourself with a variety of software (and be an expert in all of them! ).

The must-have software include: Adobe PageMaker, Quark Express or Corel Ventura for page layout and typesetting; Adobe Photoshop or Corel PhotoPaint for image editing; Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw for illustrating. You do not need to buy everything all at one time; the key, though, is to buy the tool most capable of meeting your needs now and in the future. It is recommended that you buy the most powerful program available in your chosen field to give yourself some growing room and provide the capabilities for future as well as present expertise. . Proficiency of using them A very important requisite for the success of anyone in desktop publishing business is technical expertise. Of what use is the superior computer system and arrays of powerful software if you lack the expertise in operating them? What makes you standout and strike a good bargain is your skills in the high-end aspects of desktop publishing services - manipulating complex graphics, preparing multi-media. With this, you can attract both regular business clients and other desktop publishers needing your expertise.

An operator of a desktop publishing business must possess these minimum set of skills: * You must arm

yourself with a variety of software (and be an expert in all of them! ). As one of the pioneers in desktop publishing told us, "If you can't do better than the clients can do themselves, they won't give you the business. " * Communications skills, in order to obtain and satisfy clients to get their work. Often clients have difficulty clearly articulating visual concepts, and so drawing out of them what their objectives are is an everyday part of what you do. Being patient and polite to your clients will go a long way.