Desktop publishing was one of the first innovations that put personal computers in the center of our business lives. Before we were able to turn out professional looking reports and newsletters at our desks, they had to be designed, or at least finished, by professionals, whether employees in the building or outside contractors. Now, we can do it all ourselves, even when we do not really want to.

Desktop publishing is the use of the computer and specialized software to create documents for desktop or commercial printing. Desktop publishing refers to the process of using the computer to produce documents such as newsletters, brochures, books, and other publications that were once created manually using a variety of non-computer techniques along with large complex phototypesetting machines. Today desktop publishing software does it all - almost. But before PageMaker and other desktop publishing software there were e-scales, paste-up, and other non-desktop computer ways of putting together a design for printing.

High-end programs like Pagemaker, QuarkXpress, and Corel Ventura are wonderfully versatile, but to some rather difficult and quite expensive. But lower-end programs, like Microsoft Publisher and Word, are easy to use and affordable, but may not offer enough features. We are prepared to help you with your desktop publishing needs, but if you want to take a stab at it yourself, then here is my suggestions.

While there are no hard and fast rules, there are guidelines, best practices, and tried and true methods of arranging a page and doing desktop publishing that result in attractive pages that effectively communicate the intended message. Below, you'll find my personal selection of 12 Rules of Desktop Publishing:

01- Use Only One Space After Punctuation
02- Don't Use Double-Hard Returns After Paragraphs
03- Use Fewer Fonts
04- Use Ragged-Right or Fully Justified Text Appropriately
05- Use Centered Text Sparingly
06- Balance Line Length with Type Size
07- Use All Caps with the Right Fonts
08- Use Proper Typographical Punctuation
09- Use Frames, Boxes, Borders with a Purpose
10- Use Less Clip Art

Please remember that we are here to help you. Even though we are a business and the goal is somewhat financial in nature, our top priority is to help people.

PS: If you need anything, please don't hesitate to contact me!
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or Call me at 931/231-0286