DESKTOP BASICS OVERVIEW The minute one is confronted with the task of producing a flyer, brochure, business card, etc., the first inclination is to go directly to the computer and open a software application. Most often it is a data processing application such as Microsoft Word. These programs are alright to use if you are planning to reproduce the documents from your laserjet or inkjet printer and copier. The most widely used graphics programs for digital reproduction are Adobe CS6 InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Photoshop. Successful use of these programs requires instruction at an institution where the programs are taught. Unfortunately, even though you take the classes, you may not get all the necessary basics to get you through the digital printing process. Preparing copy for reproduction does not begin at the computer. It begins at the light table. (See Chapter 2. Tools, to find out what a Light Table looks like, and its usage.) The building of a house requires an architect to draw plans for that building. His drawings indicate where each room is to be placed, the size of each room, where windows and doors are to be placed, and where electrical outlets, heating and air conditioning vents are to be placed. His plans also include the kind of materials to be used for floors and walls. Without these plans, the contractor could not begin to build the house. The same is true for each graphic arts document. You must make a rough layout that indicates where headings, text, photographs, etc. are to be placed on the page. The layout sheet should also indicate where the page is to be folded and trimmed. Creating thumbnail sketches is a crucial part of the brainstorming aspect of the design work. Thumbnail sketches are pen or pencil rough drawings that allow the designer to try out several ideas and zero in on the most likely layouts before beginning a project. The layout is marked up to indicate the sizes and styles of type to be used and the amount of space to be allotted to the type. The amount of leading (pronounced ledding) has to be determined in order to fit the text type in the space allotted. Photographs are scaled for reduction and allotted a predetermined amount of space. In order to begin the layout, you need the proper tools with which to work, and learn the following topics that are covered in this book: Printers Measurements The Type Family Type Classifications The Anatomy of Type, Type Fonts Typesetting Formats Choosing the Right Typeface Designing a Page Making Master Layouts Kinds of Copy Copy Fitting Work and Turn Positioning Making Folding Dummies Working with Small Sheet Sizes Proofreading and Proofreaders Marks The above topics are probably not taught in the classes you take to learn how to get around in the graphics programs. As the result of putting into practice all you have learned in this book, you will become proficient in desktop publishing and have been supplied with all the tools you need to get from concept through bindery and finishing successfully. The initial stage of the prepress area of design and typesetting is now known as desktop publishing. No matter what new technology evolves in the printing area of communications, the basics of design and typesetting will never change. An 8-1/2" x 11" sheet of paper will always be the standard size used universally; inches will always be inches; picas will always be picas; A-B-Cs will always be the alphabet, and in arithmetic 2 + 2 will always be 4.