Computing & Technology

Things to Make Using Desktop Publishing

Do you want to design and print your own business cards, send out custom greeting cards, or make a holiday or birthday gift? You can use desktop publishing to do that. But there's more. Find getting started tutorials, holiday project templates, and what you need to know to make ads, posters, brochures, newsletters, books, and just about anything you'd want to make using desktop publishing and graphic design.

Pick a Project
Valentine's Day
St. Patrick's Day
Easter
Halloween
Christmas

Other Holidays
Special Occasions
Templates for All Your Projects
Print Creativity Software
Pick Another Path to Explore

Pick a Project

Whether you are doing it for the boss, for a client, or for yourself almost anything that can be put into print (or on the Web) can be done better using desktop publishing software and basic skills. Of course, the better your design skills, the better the end product.

Valentine's Day

Say "Be My Valentine" or just spread a little love and some smiles with heart-themed Valentine projects.

St. Patrick's Day

Go green! Invite your friends over for green beer and Leprechaun cupcakes with DIY greeting cards and invitations made with official St. Patrick's Day green, Irish fonts, and free images of shamrocks, four-leaf clover, a pot of gold.

Easter

Help the Easter bunny out with some virtual egg painting. Make your own Easter cards or decorate a Web page with Easter-themed fonts and pretty pastel colors.

Halloween

Halloween is a big event on the Web. You can find animated bats, black and orange backgrounds, eerie sound clips, and electronic Halloween greeting cards at every turn. But I've tried to assemble for you here some useful materials for celebrating the holiday off the Web -- especially fonts, clip art, and templates to create printable Halloweeen craft projects such as cards and invitations, party decorations, costumes, trick or treat bags, and even coloring pages for kids. Get design tips and ideas for Halloween party invitations.

Christmas

Make the Winter Holidays extra special with cards, decorations, and gifts that you make yourself. From clip art for Christmas to templates for gift tags and greeting cards, find what you need for a very Merry Christmas and beyond.

Other Holidays

Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas aren't the only crafty holidays. Find projects ideas and templates for other holidays throughout the year.

Special Occasions

If you plan to make your own gifts but need some ideas, explore these ideas for using your computer and your desktop publishing skills to create one-of-a-kind, personalized, and customized gifts for friends and family. Explore these crafty ideas along with some recommended specialized software for creating each of these gifts for the holidays and other special occasions.

Templates for All Your Projects

Jumpstart your craft projects with a template. Find printable templates to download, personalize, and print or incorporate into other projects.

Print Creativity Software

Creative printing and home desktop publishing programs are suitable for many craft projects.

The main tool you'll need for computer crafts is the right software. You can use any desktop publishing or graphics software or try specialized print creativity software that combines page layout and image editing with lots of fun templates, clip art, photos, and fonts.

Pick Another Path to Explore

Go beyond computer crafts and learn the ins and outs of desktop publishing from design to layout to prepress and printing. Discover if a career in desktop publishing is for you.

Desktop Publishing

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