Desktop Publishing

Desktop Publishing Lesson 1 — Working with Documents

Objectives • Plan a publication. • Create a new file. • Save, close, and reopen a document. • Change the document view. • Add and edit text. Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Objectives (continued) • Save changes to a file. • Insert a picture. • Check spelling. • Preview and print a document. Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Creating a Desktop Publishing Document • To create an attractive and successful publication, follow these steps: • Plan the document. • Create a design. • Drag and drop the text. • Place the graphics. • Prepare the document for publication. • Print the document. Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Plan Your Document Well • The planning phase of creating a document is very important. • What is the purpose of your document and who is your target audience? • In this phase, you make decisions about document layout, margins, page orientation, graphic and text positioning, and colors to be used. • Sketch a rough draft before you start to work on the computer to get an idea of how your final document will look. Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Create a Prototype A prototype serves the same purpose as a rough draft. It is an example of how the final document should appear. You can create it using software or by simply using a pencil and a piece of paper, but it is important to create one somehow. This figure shows a prototype of a postcard mailer document. Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Create a New File • InDesign opens with a dialog box. • Click the Document setting on the right side. • A dialog box will appear showing default values for page size, orientation, columns, margins, etc. • The File>New>Document from Template may allow you to choose from pre-defined templates for various types of documents. Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Templates • Templates are pre-defined formats for specific document types. • The figure at the right shows publication types available as templates for one desktop publishing program. • Templates have page sizes and layouts already defined and may have default font and color information as well. Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Save, Close, and Open Documents • Once you have created a document and entered text or graphics, be sure to save the file. • Create a folder or save it in a folder with similar documents to make it easy to find. • Save often while working in case your computer or network crashes. Every ten minutes is a good idea. • When finished working on the document, always be sure to close it. • After a file has been saved and closed, it can be reopened at any time using menu commands or toolbar buttons. Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

The Save As Dialog Box This figure shows the Save As dialog box. You can save a file in the default folder shown here or locate some other folder and drive to save it in. Assign a meaningful and descriptive name to make the document easy to find when you want to work on it again. Folder to save in File name to use File type Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Change the Document View • Desktop publishing programs usually allow you to look at your document in several different views. • You can see it as it will appear when printed with guides and grids hidden. • You can view it with guides and grids visible. • You can view it in multi-page format. • Views are changed from View>Screen Mode menu commands. • You can zoom in or zoom out to better see certain areas of the document or to see an overall view of all elements in the document. Use the zoom tool in the tool box. Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Typical Document Window This figure shows a typical document window. Note the rulers that are used to position objects, the gridlines used for the same purpose, a scratch area to store objects you are not ready to place, and page navigation buttons to move between pages. Rulers Scratch area Gridlines Page buttons Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Add Text to Your Document • Desktop publishing programs typically use text boxes or frames to contain text. • You usually create these by dragging an area in the document window to contain the text. • Text is then entered into the box using a Text tool. • You can type text directly into the text box. • You can drag and drop typed text into the text box. • Text boxes have borders that display when selected. • Many have sizing handles that appear around the border to resize the box if needed. Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Example of a Text Box This figure shows a typical text box. Note the non-printing border around the box that appears when you select the text box. The sizing handles are the small squares around the border. The insertion point is the vertical bar that shows where the next character will be typed. You can rotate this box by clicking on the free rotation tool in the tool box. Sizing handles Insertion point Text box border Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Use Undo and Redo Commands • Most desktop publishing programs have an Undo command that can be used to reverse one or more recent actions. • The Redo command can be used to reverse the result of a recent Undo operation. • These commands can be found on the Edit menu. • Control Z is the short cut command to Undo. Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Place Pictures in Your Document • InDesign makes it easy to place graphic images and clip art into your publication. • InDesign also has tools that allow you to draw shapes (rectangles, circles, polygons) in your document that can be used to frame text or a graphic. • Graphics, including clip art need to be saved as a jpeg file to use. • Use the rectangle frame tool to draw a graphic place frame. • Go to File>Place, find your image and click open. • To resize an image, right click, go to fitting and select your option. Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Check Your Spelling • Desktop publishing programs nearly all have some sort of spell checking program to find errors in your document. • Always run the spell checker when your document is finished. • InDesign go to Edit>Spelling>Check Spelling • Not all words flagged by a spell checker will be incorrect. It might just be a word that is not in the spell checker’s dictionary, for example. • While spell checkers can find some errors, they are not 100% foolproof. You MUST proofread your document to find misuse of words (threw instead of through, for example). Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Preview and Print Your Document • When you have added all text and images to your document InDesign has a Preview mode that will show how your document will look when printed. • Gridlines and guidelines are hidden, as well as any non-printing characters. • View>Screen Mode>Preview • Use this mode to be sure that your document is well laid out and that all information is clearly visible. • When you are satisfied that it looks correct, print a copy and examine it very closely, looking for any small errors that you may not have noticed in preview mode. Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Summary • It is a good idea to plan a publication before you create it using your desktop publishing program. • Desktop publishing programs are used to produce printed documents. • You can create a blank publication file or use built-in templates and designs to create a docu-ment that already includes formatting, text, and graphics. • When you save a file, you give it a name and select a storage location. Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Summary (continued) • In a desktop publishing file, text is inserted in a text box or frame. • You can place different types of pictures into a desktop publishing file. • Desktop publishing programs come with spell checkers that can help you locate and correct spelling errors. • You can preview and print a publication at any time. Lesson 1 – Working with Documents

Desktop Publishing