Jacci's Desktop Publishing Blog March 2004 Archive

Good newsletter design boils down to three key areas: consistency, conservation or clutter-control, and contrast. A few ways to incorporate these design principles include using grids, fewer fonts, and adequate ... Read More

Shopping for CD labels a few days ago I was overwhelmed by the choices available - so many different packages for designing and applying labels directly to compact discs. But ... Read More

Don't be left holding the bag when a client bails in the middle of a project. Your time is valuable so require a deposit before staring any desktop publishing job. ... Read More

Ideally we (and our clients) would all hire professional copywriters to produce polished prose for our brochures and catalogs and sales-generating headlines for our ads and promotional postcards. But sometimes ... Read More

Many new computer users rely only on the fonts that install automatically with their software. If that describes you but now you've suddenly discovered a whole new world of fonts ... Read More

... or, Did you make it look that way on purpose?A. Posterization is an effect that uses a limited color palette or range of tones. A posterized image doesn't have ... Read More

Annie asks, "How exactly do you embed fonts into a document?" Share your expertise in the DTP Classroom

Now shipping: Adobe Creative Suite with the PageMaker Plug-in Pack for painless transition to InDesign CS. via Graphics.com Bug fix: InDesign 3.0.1 for InDesign CS. via Foreword (with comments on the ... Read More

Although I've got several articles on resolution, I never created a one-stop page where you could find "everything you need to know about resolution" until today. Dig into dots, samples, ... Read More

Although digital mechanicals are the norm these days, sometimes doing it the "old-fashioned" way is still desirable. But what sort of boards do you use for paste up? Forget the ... Read More

Annie writes, "I'm designing a tshirt and am kind of stuck on something. My client only wanted to use one color, and the tshirt will be black. So I chose ... Read More

Adobe is discontinuing the Mac version of Adobe FrameMaker. Some folks see this yet another instance of Adobe turning its back on the platform that launched desktop publishing pointing to ... Read More

RD asks, "Does Microsoft Publisher present a problem to "Commercial Digital Printers"?" Faith and Eggles chime in with some useful tips on Publisher and commercial printing including the difference in ... Read More

"Does anyone have any recommendations for software that gives the best, crisp, easy to read captures? " Hijaack, Corel Capture, SnagIt, Hypersnap and others have been recommended. What Screen Capture ... Read More

Not likely. But I do remember the talk of the "paperless office" and predictions that the advent of email and the Web would drastically cut down on the use of ... Read More

"Squares allow stories to be told in two different ways, ...They can show a linear progression or two separate moments." In this AdWeek article the trend toward boxes, split screens, ... Read More

I've been noticing for quite a while some interesting changes in the packaging design for generic and store brands. They're much snappier, eye-catching, and more interesting. Brand name products are ... Read More

Red, white, and blue are the most widely used color schemes for commercial airplanes. The least common is pink. So says John Gillie at Tribnet.com. Hmmm... Just for fun ... Read More

"WordPerfect Office is a productivity suite for the masses, specifically consumers and small businesses. ...good news for small businesses seeking an alternative to Microsoft Office."via Small Business Computing.com: "A 'Perfect' ... Read More

Submit your design work created for Neenah Paper's Environment® Papers brand for a chance to win a Trek Fuel 80 Mountain Bike. Open to designers and printers. Neenah Paper also ... Read More

"Between 1963 and 1970, John [Seybold] and his team at Rocappi essentially invented and put into commercial practice most of the concepts now used to create, edit, format, and manipulate ... Read More

Annie asks, "Is it unprofessional to use text effects [such as what are found in many Web graphics] in print? They're just so cool. However, I don't want to design ... Read More

Unless you're doing nothing but typesetting novels, most desktop publishing projects utilize images of some kind. But before you start reciting "a picture is worth a thousand words" as justification ... Read More

You've designed the perfect publication. You love it. The customer loves it. But when it comes time to print and finish you realize you've forgotten a critical step in the ... Read More

Political posters in South Africa recently got a thumbs down from top designers attending an international design convention in Cape Town. The posters were too generic and had no focus. Evidently ... Read More

A. The short answer is that in most cases, you can't. Most inks used in offset printing are translucent therefore a translucent white ink would not cover a dark color. ... Read More

Salli posts, "I'm looking for a software postscript RIP so that I can print proofs and comps on my desktop inkjet." Have any suggestions? And for those puzzling over what the ... Read More