as the window. If the job is very complicated, it is better
for you to let the publisher do that kind of preparation.
A good publisher will advise you on the best method of
preparing photographs for photo-offset printing,
Be sure to protect your paste-ups carefully. If they
are damaged—or if they get dirty — you may have to
start over. It is a good idea to cover them with a tissue
overlay and to protect them between layers of cardboard
when taking them from one place to another.
DESKTOP PUBLISHING
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Define desktop
publishing and explain its limitations and
capabilities.
In less than 10 years, desktop publishing has
surfaced as one of the predominant personal computing
applications. It has changed the way you, as a Navy
journalist, produce a wide array of publications, from
ship and station newspapers and familygrams, to
welcome aboard pamphlets and commissioning/
decommissioning brochures.
DEFINITION
Simply stated, desktop publishing is an application
that combines an economical personal computer system
with page layout software and a laser printer to produce
typeset-quality-printed products. This eliminates the
need to work with dummy layouts and galley proofs,
because the entire product is composed on a computer
screen.
Using computers to compose pages is not a new
concept. For many years, newspaper and magazine
publishers have used computers for all facets of page
layout and editing. However, the cost of their computer
systems and accompanying software was prohibitive,
and therefore, limited to national publications or those
in relatively large markets. Accordingly, the
manufacturers of customized computer publishing
systems were hesitant to produce cheaper versions of
their products. This changed in 1985 when desktop
publishing went mainstream.
TRADITIONAL VS. DESKTOP PUBLISHING
Desktop publishing allows you to throwaway your
drafting board, paste-up sheet, “T” square, rubber
cement and the rest of the printing and layout “tools of
the trade” mentioned earlier.
Consider, for example, you are a J03 tasked with
laying out and designing page 5 of your weekly funded
newspaper. Normally you would work with the
newspaper dummy where you indicate the arrangement
of the copy, headlines, photographs and cutlines. Your
main tools are a pencil, printer’s rule and eraser.
If you worked the same page on a typical desktop
publishing system (fig. 8-4), you will notice a
tremendous difference. You may lay out and design the
entire page on the computer screen using the computer
keyboard and a mouse. You could indicate the size and
kind of type and its page position with relative ease.
Using a seamer, you could insert illustrations and
photographs into the layout; then make modifications as
necessary. All the while you are working on-screen with
body copy that will result in typeset-quality text —
without the involvement of a military or civilian
publisher.
STRENGTHS
With the proper computer hardware and software in
place, you will enjoy the following attributes of desktop
publishing:
A cut in printing costs by as much as 75 percent.
Fast turnaround time.
Making corrections to spelling errors, omission
of words or entire lines of text and poor word
division at your office.
Making last-minute changes without a major
reworking of the paste-up.
Using less office space, a key consideration
especially aboard ship.
Eliminating the need to work with a publisher on
the initial paste-up of a product, as discussed
earlier.
Eliminating the need to work with the sub-
contractors of the publisher, such as typesetters,
proofreaders, and so forth.
WEAKNESSES
Any computer-literate JO can operate a desktop
publishing system with relative ease. However, there are
two common hazards you should recognize and avoid.
The old saying, “Familiarity breeds contempt;”
certainly applies to desktop publishing. Some novice
desktop publishers, convinced that the computer
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