Editing Desktop publishing

{{Short description|Page layout using a personal computer}}
{{distinguish|Electronic publishing}}
{{Multiple issues|{{refimprove|date=May 2016}}
{{Original research|date=March 2023}}}}
[[File:Scribus 1.4.6 on Linux Mint 18.png|thumb|Scribus 1.4.6 desktop publishing software]]
'''Desktop publishing''' ('''DTP''') is the creation of documents using dedicated [[software]] on a personal ("desktop") [[personal computer|computer]]. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online content.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-desktop-publishing-1073862|title=What's Involved in Desktop Publishing?|last=Bear|first=Jacci Howard|website=Lifewire|language=en|access-date=2019-05-02}}</ref> Desktop publishing software can generate [[page layout]]s and produce text and image [[content (media)|content]] comparable to the simpler forms of traditional [[typography]] and [[printing]]. This technology allows individuals, businesses, and other organizations to self-publish a wide variety of content, from [[menu]]s to magazines to books, without the expense of commercial printing.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YlmafkntEqIC&q=desktop+publishing&pg=PA293|title=Advances in Computer Graphics III|last=Ruiter|first=Maurice M. de|date=1988-04-29|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9783540187882|language=en}}</ref>

Desktop publishing often requires the use of a [[personal computer]] and [[WYSIWYG]] page layout software to create [[document]]s for either [[Publishing|large-scale publishing]] or small-scale local printing and distribution{{snd}} although non-WYSIWYG systems such as [[TeX]] and [[LaTeX]] are also used, especially in [[Scientific literature|scientific publishing]]. Originally, desktop publishing methods provided more control over design, layout, and typography than [[word processor|word processing]] software but the latter has evolved to include most, if not all, capabilities previously available only with dedicated desktop publishing software.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/publishing/articles/62697.aspx|title=What Distinguishes Desktop Publishing From Word Processing?|last=Amanda Presley|date=2010-01-28|website=Bright Hub|language=en|access-date=2019-05-02}}</ref>

The same DTP skills and software used for common paper and book publishing are sometimes used to create graphics for [[point of sale display]]s, [[Presentation slide|presentations]], [[Infographic|infographics]], [[Brochure|brochures]], [[Business card|business cards]], [[Promotional merchandise|promotional items]], [[Trade show|trade show exhibits]], [[packaging and labeling|retail package designs]] and [[Out-of-home advertising|outdoor signs]].

== History ==
Desktop publishing was first developed at [[PARC (company)|Xerox PARC]] in the 1970s.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Winograd|first1=Terry|title=Bringing Design to Software|date=1996|publisher=Addison-Wesley|isbn=978-0201854916|url=https://archive.org/details/bringingdesignto00wino|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Steve|title=Encyclopedia of New Media|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofne00jone|url-access=registration|date=2002|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-0761923824|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofne00jone/page/127 127]}}</ref> A contradictory claim states that desktop publishing began in 1983 with a program developed by James Davise at a community newspaper in Philadelphia.<ref>"What You See Is Pretty Close to What You Get: New h&j, pagination program for IBM PC, " Seybold Report on Publishing Systems, 13(10), February 13, 1984, pp. 21-2.</ref> The program Type Processor One ran on a [[Personal computer|PC]] using a [[graphics card]] for a [[WYSIWYG]] display and was offered commercially by Best Info in 1984.<ref>"Type-X '85: Fulfilling the Promise of the PC, " Seybold Report on Publishing Systems, 15(2) pp. 4-5.</ref> Desktop ''[[typesetting]]'' with only limited page makeup facilities{{cn|date=March 2023}} arrived in 1978–1979 with the introduction of [[TeX]], and was extended in 1985 with the introduction of [[LaTeX]]. 

The desktop publishing market took off in 1985 with the introduction in January of the Apple [[LaserWriter]] laser printer for the year-old [[Mac (computer)|Apple Macintosh]] personal computer.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Casselman |first=Grace |date=November 2, 1992 |title=Desktop Publishing |work=Computer Dealer News |volume=8 |issue=22 |via=Gale Cengage Computer Database}}</ref>{{sfnp|Pfiffner|2003|p=45}} 
This momentum was kept up with the release that July of [[Adobe PageMaker|PageMaker]] software from [[Aldus Corporation|Aldus]], which rapidly became the standard software application for desktop publishing.{{sfnp|Pfiffner|2003|p=54}} With its advanced layout features, PageMaker immediately relegated [[word processor]]s like [[Microsoft Word]] to the composition and editing of purely textual documents.<ref name="Angell_Page_411">{{cite book |last1=Angell |first1=David |last2=Kent |first2=Peter |title=Word 2003 Bible |date=2003 |publisher=Wiley Publishing |location=Indianapolis |isbn=9780764555732 |page=411 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LNkrzGkKuYkC&pg=PA411 |access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref> Word did not begin to acquire desktop publishing features until a decade later, and by 2003, it was regarded only as "good" and not "great" at desktop publishing tasks.<ref name="Angell_Page_412">{{cite book |last1=Angell |first1=David |last2=Kent |first2=Peter |title=Word 2003 Bible |date=2003 |publisher=Wiley Publishing |location=Indianapolis |isbn=9780764555732 |page=412 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LNkrzGkKuYkC&pg=PA412 |access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref>  The term "desktop publishing" is attributed to Aldus founder [[Paul Brainerd]], who sought a marketing catchphrase to describe the small size and relative affordability of this suite of products, in contrast to the expensive commercial [[phototypesetting]] equipment of the day.{{sfnp|Pfiffner|2003|p=49}} 

Before the advent of desktop publishing, the only option available to most people for producing typed documents (as opposed to handwritten documents) was a [[typewriter]], which offered only a handful of typefaces (usually fixed-width) and one or two font sizes. Indeed, one popular desktop publishing book was titled ''The Mac is Not a Typewriter'', and it had to actually explain how a Mac could do so much more than a typewriter.<ref name="Williams">{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Robin |title=The Mac is Not a Typewriter: A Style Manual for Creating Professional-level Type on Your Macintosh |date=1990 |publisher=Peachpit Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=9780938151319 |page=11|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8I0IkhZnd9sC|author-link1=Robin Williams (writer)}}</ref> The ability to create [[WYSIWYG]] page layouts on screen and then [[printing|print]] pages containing text and graphical elements at 300 [[dots per inch|dpi]] resolution was a major development for the personal computer industry. The ability to do all this with industry standards like [[PostScript]] also radically changed the traditional publishing industry, which at the time was accustomed to buying end-to-end turnkey solutions for digital typesetting which came with their own proprietary hardware workstations.{{sfnp|Pfiffner|2003|p=55}} Newspapers and other print publications began to transition to DTP-based programs from older layout systems such as [[Atex (software)|Atex]] and other programs in the early 1980s.

Desktop publishing was still in its early stage in the early 1980s. Users of the PageMaker/LaserWriter/Macintosh 512K system endured frequent software crashes,<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0TAEAAAAMBAJ&q=%2Baldus+%22pagemaker%22+infoworld+review+1987&pg=PA50 | title=Macintosh Layout Package Remarkably Fast, Powerful | date=8 June 1987 | access-date=2011-04-15 | last=Thompson | first=Keith | journal=InfoWorld | volume=9 | issue=23 | pages=51}}</ref> Mac's low-resolution 512x342 1-bit [[monochrome]] screen, the inability to control [[letter spacing]], [[kerning]], and other [[typography|typographic features]], and the discrepancies between screen display and printed output. However, it was an unheard-of combination at the time, and was received with considerable acclaim.{{sfnp|Pfiffner|2003|p=54}}

Behind the scenes, technologies developed by [[Adobe Systems]] set the foundation for professional desktop publishing applications. The LaserWriter and LaserWriter Plus printers included scalable Adobe [[PostScript]] fonts built into their [[Read-only memory|ROM]] memory. The LaserWriter's PostScript capability allowed publication designers to proof files on a local printer, then print the same file at DTP [[service bureau]]s using [[optics|optical resolution]] 600+ ppi PostScript printers such as those from [[Linotronic]]. 

Later, the [[Macintosh II]] was released, which was considerably more suitable for desktop publishing due to its greater expandability, support for large color [[multi-monitor]] displays, and its [[SCSI]] storage interface (which allowed hard drives to be attached to the system). Macintosh-based systems continued to dominate the market into 1986, when the [[GEM (desktop environment)|GEM]]-based [[Corel Ventura|Ventura Publisher]] was introduced for [[MS-DOS]] computers. PageMaker's pasteboard metaphor closely simulated the process of creating layouts manually, but Ventura Publisher automated the layout process through its use of tags and [[style sheet (desktop publishing)|style sheets]] and automatically generated indices and other body matter. This made it particularly suitable for the creation of manuals and other long-format documents.

Desktop publishing moved into the home market in 1986 with Professional Page for the [[Amiga]], [[PageStream|Publishing Partner]] (now PageStream) for the [[Atari ST]], GST's [[Timeworks Publisher]] on the PC and Atari ST, and [[Calamus (DTP)|Calamus]] for the [[Atari TT030]]. Software was published even for 8-bit computers like the [[Apple II]] and [[Commodore 64]]: Home Publisher, The Newsroom, and [[geoPublish]]. 

During its early years, desktop publishing acquired a bad reputation as a result of untrained users who created poorly organized, unprofessional-looking "[[ransom note effect]]" layouts.<ref name="Angell_Page_411" />  (Similar criticism was leveled again against early [[World Wide Web]] publishers a decade later.) However, some desktop publishers who mastered the programs were able to achieve near professional results. Desktop publishing skills were considered of primary importance in career advancement in the 1980s, but increased accessibility to more user-friendly DTP software has made DTP a secondary skill to [[Art director|art direction]], [[graphic design]], [[multimedia]] development, [[marketing communications]], and [[Business administration|administrative careers]]. DTP skill levels range from what may be learned in a couple of hours (e.g., learning how to put clip art in a word processor), to what's typically required in a college education. The discipline of DTP skills range from technical skills such as [[prepress]] production and programming, to creative skills such as [[communication design]] and [[graphic image development]].

{{asof|2014}}, Apple computers remain dominant in publishing, even as the most popular software has changed from [[QuarkXPress]] – an estimated 95% market share in the 1990s – to [[Adobe InDesign]]. An [[Ars Technica]] writer said in an article: "I've heard about Windows-based publishing environments, but I've never actually seen one in my 20+ years in design and publishing".<ref name="girard20140113">{{Cite news |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/01/quarkxpress-the-demise-of-a-design-desk-darling/ |title=How QuarkXPress became a mere afterthought in publishing |last=Girard |first=Dave |date=2014-01-13 |work=Ars Technica}}</ref>

== Terminology ==
There are two types of pages in desktop publishing: [[digital page]]s and virtual paper pages to be printed on [[Page (paper)|physical paper pages]]. All computerized documents are technically digital, which are limited in size only by [[computer memory]] or [[computer data storage]] space. Virtual paper pages will ultimately be [[printing|printed]], and will therefore require paper parameters coinciding with [[paper size|standard physical paper sizes]] such as A4, letter paper and legal paper. Alternatively, the virtual paper page may require a custom size for later trimming. Some desktop publishing programs allow custom sizes designated for large format printing used in [[poster]]s, [[billboard]]s and [[trade show displays]]. A virtual page for printing has a predesignated size of virtual printing material and can be viewed on a monitor in [[WYSIWYG]] format. Each page for printing has trim sizes (edge of paper) and a printable area if [[bleed (printing)|bleed printing]] is not possible as is the case with most [[Printer (computing)|desktop printers]]. A [[web page]] is an example of a digital page that is not constrained by virtual paper parameters. Most digital pages may be dynamically re-sized, causing either the [[content (media and publishing)|content]] to scale in size with the page or the content to [[Reflowable document|re-flow]].

Master pages are templates used to automatically copy or link elements and graphic design styles to some or all the pages of a multipage document. Linked elements can be modified without having to change each instance of an element on pages that use the same element. Master pages can also be used to apply graphic design styles to automatic page numbering. [[Cascading Style Sheets]] can provide the same global formatting functions for web pages that master pages provide for virtual paper pages. [[Page layout]] is the process by which the elements are laid on the page orderly, aesthetically and precisely. The main types of components to be laid out on a page include [[wikt:text|text]], linked [[image]]s (that can only be modified as an external source), and embedded images (that may be modified with the layout application software). Some embedded images are [[Artistic rendering|rendered]] in the application software, while others can be placed from an external source image file. Text may be [[typing|keyed]] into the layout, placed, or – with [[database publishing]] applications – linked to an external source of text which allows multiple editors to develop a document at the same time.
[[Graphic design]] styles such as color, transparency and filters may also be applied to layout elements. [[Typography]] styles may be applied to text automatically with [[style sheet (desktop publishing)|style sheets]]. Some layout programs include style sheets for images in addition to text. Graphic styles for images may include border shapes, colors, transparency, filters, and a parameter designating the way text flows around the object (also known as "wraparound" or "runaround").

== Comparisons ==

=== With word processing ===
As desktop publishing software still provides extensive features necessary for print publishing, modern word processors now have publishing capabilities beyond those of many older DTP applications, blurring the line between [[Word processor|word processing]] and desktop publishing. 

In the early 1980s, the [[graphical user interface]] was still in its embryonic stage and DTP software was in a class of its own when compared to the leading word processing applications of the time. Programs such as [[WordPerfect]] and [[WordStar]] were still mainly text-based and offered little in the way of page layout, other than perhaps margins and line spacing. On the other hand, word processing software was necessary for features like indexing and spell checking – features that are common in many applications today. As computers and operating systems became more powerful, versatile, and user-friendly in the 2010s, vendors have sought to provide users with a single application that can meet almost all their publication needs.

=== With other digital layout software ===
In earlier modern-day usage, DTP usually did not include digital tools such as [[TeX]] or [[troff]], though both can easily be used on a modern desktop system, and are standard with many [[Unix-like]] operating systems and are readily available for other systems. The key difference between [[digital typesetting]] software and DTP software is that DTP software is generally interactive and "What you see [onscreen] is what you get" ([[WYSIWYG]]) in design, while other digital typesetting software, such as TeX, [[LaTeX]] and other variants, tend to operate in "[[batch mode]]", requiring the user to enter the processing program's [[markup language]] (e.g. [[HTML]]) without immediate visualization of the finished product. This kind of workflow is less user-friendly than WYSIWYG, but more suitable for conference proceedings and scholarly articles as well as corporate newsletters or other applications where consistent, automated layout is important. 

In the 2010s, interactive front-end components of TeX, such as [[TeXworks]] and [[LyX]], have produced "what you see is what you mean" ([[WYSIWYM]]) hybrids of DTP and batch processing.<ref>For more editors in the genre, see [[Comparison of TeX editors]] under the WYSIWYM / (partial) WYSIWYG editing style.</ref> These hybrids are focused more on the [[semantics]] than the traditional DTP. Furthermore, with the advent of TeX editors the line between desktop publishing and markup-based typesetting is becoming increasingly narrow as well; a software which separates itself from the TeX world and develops itself in the direction of WYSIWYG markup-based typesetting is [[GNU TeXmacs]].

On a different note, there is a slight overlap between desktop publishing and what is known as [[hypermedia]] publishing (e.g. [[web design]], kiosk, [[CD-ROM]]). Many graphical [[HTML editor]]s such as [[Microsoft FrontPage]] and [[Adobe Dreamweaver]] use a layout engine similar to that of a DTP program. However, many web designers still prefer to write HTML without the assistance of a WYSIWYG editor, for greater control and ability to fine-tune the appearance and functionality. Another reason that some Web designers write in HTML is that WYSIWYG editors often result in excessive lines of code, leading to [[code bloat]] that can make the pages hard to [[troubleshoot]].

=== With web design ===
Desktop publishing produces primarily static print or [[digital media]], the focus of this article. Similar skills, processes, and terminology are used in [[web design]]. Digital typography is the specialization of [[typography]] for desktop publishing. [[Web typography]] addresses typography and the use of fonts on the [[World Wide Web]]. [[style sheet (desktop publishing)|Desktop style sheets]] apply formatting for print, Web [[Cascading Style Sheets]] (CSS) provide format control for web display. Web [[font family (HTML)|HTML font families]] map [[website]] font usage to the [[computer font|fonts]] available on the user's [[web browser]] or display device.

== Software ==
{{Mainlist|List of desktop publishing software}}
A wide variety of DTP applications and websites are available and are listed separately.

== File formats ==
{{Mainlist|List of desktop publishing file formats}}
The design industry standard is [[PDF]]. The older [[Encapsulated PostScript|EPS]] format is also used and supported by most applications.

== See also ==

* {{Annotated link |Comparison of desktop publishing software}}
* {{Annotated link |List of desktop publishing software}}
* {{Annotated link |Document processor}}
* {{Annotated link |Camera-ready}}
* {{Annotated link |Desktop video}}
* {{Annotated link |DTP artist}}
* {{Annotated link |E-book}}
* {{Annotated link |Digital publishing}}
* {{Annotated link |Web design}}
* {{Annotated link |WYSIWYG}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |last1=Pfiffner |first1=Pamela |title=Inside the Publishing Revolution: The Adobe Story |date=2003 |publisher=Peachpit Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=0-321-11564-3 }}

{{refend}}

{{Library resources box|by=no|onlinebooks=no|about=yes|lcheading=desktop publishing}}

{{Desktop publishing software}}
{{Typography terms}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Desktop Publishing}}
[[Category:Typography]]
[[Category:Publishing]]
[[Category:Digital typography]]
[[Category:Communication design]]
[[Category:Desktop publishing software| ]]
[[Category:Typesetting]]
[[Category:News design]]