While graphic design and professional desktop publishing focuses primarily on creating materials for business use, desktop publishing projects for personal use are generally considered creative printing or crafting no matter what types of documents are created.
Creative printing, computer crafting, home publishing, and consumer desktop publishing are some of the terms used to describe the use of desktop publishing software and graphics software to design items for personal, non-business use. However, crafts and creative printing projects are not just for party decorations and gifts to friends and relatives. Computer-generated crafts can be an income-producing business including selling creations online or at craft shows. Many creative printing projects can also be used as promotional items and giveaways by small businesses.
Designing Crafts and Creative Printing Projects
Unless you're creating computer crafts to sell, you're your own customer. You get to decide what you do and don't like. That doesn't mean totally abandoning the principles of design, though. But it does give you more freedom because you don't have to stick with prescribed corporate colors or fonts or worry about pleasing a committee that knows nothing about design or the creative process. Templates are often heavily utilized in computer crafting.Just a few of the items in the Crafts and Creative Printing category:
- Calendars make great gifts and promotional items for clubs and small businesses.
- Candy Wrappers cover or replace the wrapper on all kinds of candy bars turning them into unique birth announcements, party favors, and keepsakes.
- Greeting Cards can be for personal use or for resale.
- Invitations you make yourself, whether for a party or a wedding, can be personalized to fit specific themes and incorporate personal photos and sentiments.
- Envelopes provide that extra touch of personalization for greeting cards and invitations.
- Iron-on Transfer Crafts include more than just t-shirts. Put your designs on mousepads, puzzles, canvas bags, and hats.
- Party Decorations and Home Décor includes posters, fliers, decorative labels, and banners.
- Scrapbooks can be created with or without a computer but digital scrapbooking is very much like desktop publishing. Create scrapbooks for personal use or offer your digi-scrapping services to others.
Printing Crafts and Creative Print Projects
For low-volume, personal use most computer crafting utilizes a desktop printer, typically an inkjet printer. For larger volume and resale products it may be desirable to turn to a quick printer, such as your local copy shop .Software for Creative Printing
You can use professional desktop publishing software such as Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress but the price may be out of the range and the features overwhelming for casual users. Additionally, those high-end programs don't come with the variety of templates, graphics, and fonts that are typical of desktop publishing software specifically for creative printing projects. However, there are a wide range of other software options that are designed specifically for the non-business or home publishing market. Some are specialized apps for doing primarily just calendars or just iron-on crafts. Others have templates for a wide range of print projects for small business and personal use.- Home Publishing or Creative Printing Software for Personal Projects describes what distinguishes this class of software from professional desktop publishing or graphic design software.
- Specialty software:
Calendar Design Software: Mac | Windows
Greeting Card Software: Mac | Windows
T-Shirt Design Software: Mac | Windows
Scrapbooking Software: Mac | Windows
16 Categories of Design Specialization
For some, home publishing is all the desktop publishing they will ever do. For others, it's a stepping stone to a career in desktop publishing and design.- Annual Reports & Proposals
- Business Forms
- Catalogs, Menus, & Product Lists
- Collaterals (brochures, etc.)
- Crafts & Creative Printing (This Page)
- Identity Systems (logo, letterhead)
- Marketing Materials (ads, direct mail)
- Packaging
- Periodicals (newsletters, magazines)
- Presentation Graphics
- Publication Art
- The following sections are under revision and will be available by June 2012.
- Publications (books, manuals, booklets, etc.)
- Self-publishing
- Signage
- Web & Electronic Publishing
- Word Processing, Resumes
| Pick Your Path to Desktop Publishing | |
| Get Started: | Basic Guidelines and Requirements for Desktop Publishing |
| Choose Software: | Desktop Publishing and Design Software |
| Tips & Tutorials: | How to Do Desktop Publishing |
| Training, Education, Jobs: | Careers in Desktop Publishing |
| In the Classroom: | Back to School With Desktop Publishing |
| Make Something: | Things to Make Using Desktop Publishing |
| Use Templates: | Templates for Print and Web Publishing |
