Desktop Publishing

CAPP-310

See Week 1 Group Assignments

Turn In & Participate:

Explore Internet Resources. Practice basic protocols. Survey Library resources.
Get Acquainted with fellow learners; post a bio-sketch to share with others
Complete the WebTycho tutorial and a review of course guidance.

Four basic principles of Design
Interaction between "type" and content
You could not do this with a typewriter
Content FIRST! See P98 page flow chart 320 - remember it.
Our tools - a DTP software program, graphics manipulation programs, text generators, a computer - perhaps even paper and pencil
P1 and P2 - an announcement and an advertisement
Publisher 98 basics

Find examples of each principle of design
Find examples of interaction of type and content.
One article/web site to share with the class

Small Group Work:

Discuss examples of each principle of design.
Discuss examples of interaction of type and content.

Topics:

More on type
The making of an editor
Text frames and formats in DTP programs
WordArt, Table and Drawing Tools
P3 and P4 - your rÈsumÈ and full-page flyer

Collect some sample rÈsumÈs.
Collect sample flyers.
Evaluate both résumés. and flyers.
One article/web site to share with the class

Evaluate examples of résumés. and flyers. Are they successful? How might you know?

This week I want you to explore other graphics, drawing, and paint programs - stand alone packages as well as the ones incorporated into MS Office. One does not have to be an artist to be able to work with graphics. Look for freeware, shareware, demo software (careful, often not worth it if you cannot save your work) and explore.

Topics:

More on Drawing
WordArt and Drawing Tools
P3 and P4 - your résumé and full-page flyer

Create simple graphics for your project(s).
One article/web site to share with the class

TBD

Review for the Midterm Exam.

Complete and turn-in midterm by deadline.

None

We return refreshed, I hope, with new ideas to implement in Project 4, our flyer. While you are working on that, we need to press on with a look at clip media and "OLE" - which is not quite what you would associate with flamingo dancers and bull fights. But the images might be useful.

Topics:

ClipArt - and its derivatives
Building a ClipMedia library
Working with scanner and digital camera images
Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
Getting down to business (forms, letterheads, mail merge, etc.)
P4 - your full-page flyer

Organize your own clip gallery
Add images to the standard gallery
One article/web site to share with the class

Share your skill with digital cameras and scanners. (Some of us have little experience with either of them.)

If the world is following electrons around, it is not surprising that DTP is interested in improving the appearance of Web Pages. This is not a course in Web Page design as such (but we can help you there in a different course), but we cannot ignore the need for good design principles to be incorporated into web pages and sites.
We cannot go into the reasons behind the initial lack of concern with web page appearance, but we will help you see how modern tools are making a difference in what we see on the web. And, yes, you can use Publisher 98 to create some very attractive web pages, but there is a catch which we will talk about in class.

Topics:

Creating standard Web pages
Attractive Web pages that deliver the goods
Special effects added at a cost
Web Authoring program options
Family Web Pages and security issues
Professional Web Sites that attract and inform
Brochures and Newsletters
P5 - your full-page multi-column newsletter or tri-fold brochure

Create a web page using your DTP program.
Create a similar web page using a web authoring program.
Compare the process.
One article/web site to share with the class

Discuss the process of moving DTP onto the WWW.
Discuss the merits of using the power of a DTP program to create complex web pages or sites.

You need to get the topic for Project 6 approved. Each student is to have a different topic, but the type of document may be similar to that being created by another student. The type of document must, however, be different from the five prior projects and it is not to be a web page or site. We will continue to focus on print media in this course.

After you have done the hard work, we let you in on an open secret - Microsoft loves Wizards! And Publisher 98 has Wizards! Moreover, Publisher has a Design Gallery with building blocks you can integrate into your document.

Almost inevitably, there are complications in DTP and we have saved two of them for last. One is color and we will discuss that issue this week.

Topics:

Wizards - a worker's best friend - sometimes
Publisher's Design Gallery
You too can make Templates
A world of color - each one different to the beholder
All colors are not alike - print vs. screen
Pick a standard
Brochures and Newsletters (continued)
Why are all catalogs not equal?
P6 - your masterpiece!

Explore the world of color in DTP and printing.
Find examples of good and not-so-good catalogs.
Find examples of good and not-so-good brochures and newsletters.
One article/web site to share with the class

Small Group Work:

TBD

You have your exquisite document ready to print. It looks great. There is, however, one final (ha!) problem with using a computer to compose a DTP document. It is getting all those little phosphor dots from the screen to fall properly on the page, keeping their intended shape, size, color, density, etc. Printing is easier today than in the past, but it still filled with technical detail some of which we need to run through this week.

Topics:

Printing at home
When is your printer not good enough
Things can get complicated
Software & hardware to the rescue
(Pssst! All it takes is money!)
Let George do it. He has a print plant.
P6 - your masterpiece!

One article/web site to share with the class

Explore the problems and benefits of printing DTP documents at home.

Explore the problems and benefits of sending DTP documents to a commercial printing service.