Desktop Publishing Tips

Online publishing is not so difficult. You can just make a Blogger or Wordpress account and suddenly become a self-published author or you can use software like FrontPage to create a nice web page or you might as well start publishing a periodical newsletter. It's your call. The more you surf the Web and collect ideas from other sites, the more skilled you become.

However, it comes a point in time when you want to promote your business and your skills via traditional printed publications (business cards, brochures, fliers or newsletters). And you'll probably be tempted in self-publishing again. Although online things are simple, there are other factors you should consider offline: quality of the paper, image resolution and quality of the graphics, pagination, distribution and so on. If you are serious about your business, you'll make sure all the above factors are executed at the highest standards. And how?

• Choose a professional desktop publisher. That's not so difficult. Desktop publishers are usually designers skilled in working with different publishing software (PageMaker, Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress etc) or different publishing systems (combining computer, software and high-tech printers). You might get a lower quote if you employ a student from a local design school.

• Team up with your desktop publisher. He (or she) doesn't know what your goals are and you cannot demand him/her to meet your expectations if you don't provide backup. So start organizing your data: texts, photographs, graphics and branding guidelines. Give your publisher a complete and comprehensive folder. Write a plan and include what you need in your publication. Clearly define your goals and your targeted segment of readers.

• You'll need to explain the pictures and the graphics, especially when the designer is not experienced in your field of expertise and doesn't know your products. You'll need to write proper captions for each picture, especially when you want to include enhance a story with it. And you'll also need to specify how exactly is a certain picture relevant to the content and where it should be included. Don't expect your publisher to guess or to know things that are not related with his/her job. Provide good quality pictures (at least 300 dpi - for printing).

• Proofread the publication prior to printing. Ask a third person to proofread it too. Sometimes small mistakes might escape even the most trained eye. That's also the right time to decide whether you want some changes or not. Then give it back to your publisher for the final touch.

• Print your publication with a professional printing house. No serious printing house will publish your document without proofing the quality of the layout and graphics first. This is what they can see in a flash, so there you'll have no problems. The content though. that's another story. So once again: make sure you have no grammar/spelling errors and you'll be fine.

Follow these simple steps and you will have a professional publication. Remember: desktop publishing is not always for the do-it-yourselfer!