SBEC Standard #7

Desktop Publishing
The desktop publishing teacher has the knowledge and skills needed to teach the Foundations, Information Acquisition, Work in Solving Problems, Communication strands of the Technology Applications Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) in desktop publishing, in addition to the content described in Technology Applications Standards I-V.

Desktop publishing is the process of laying out and designing pages using your desktop computer. With software programs such as PageMaker, Publisher, and Quark Xpress, you can assemble anything from a one-page document to a full-length book. I found that understanding how the software works, however, is only the beginning, and often the easiest part of the whole process.

When I talk to someone face-to-face, I always know the level of understanding of the information I am communicating. I automatically adjust my discussion to be sure I communicate a specific message. In short, I change what I say because I know my audience.

Interestingly, many students don't make the same adjustments when they write to different audiences, usually because they don't take the time to think about who will be reading what they write. But to be sure that we communicate clearly in writing, we need to adjust our message--how we say it and what information we include--by recognizing that different readers can best understand different messages.

The layout of each page, the columns, and the graphics that are included make DTP an important form of communication to each individual reader. I learned that DTP is very different compared to web design. Attributes such as typeface, type size, and leading can be predefined, making the job of formatting my projects quick and easy. If, for example, the body text of your newsletter is laid out in Helvetica, you can change it to Times Roman with a single mouse click.

`

Artifact #6 / Artifact #7

Caption 6

Indicators: 7.1s, 7.2s, 7.3s, 7.6s, 7.9s, 7.13s, 7.14s, 7.15s, 7.16s, 7.17s, 7.18s, 7.20s, 7.28s, 7.29s, 7.30s, 7.31s, 7.32s, 7.33s, 7.34s, 7.35s, 7.36s, 7.37s, 7.39s, 7.40s, 7.41s, 7.42s, 7.43s, 7.44s, 7.45s, 7.47s, 8.30s, 8.31s, 8.32s, 8.36s, 8.37s, 8.41s, 8.42s, 8.45s

Artifact #6

Descriptors: Newsletter for Desktop Publishing

Title: Newsletter: Guide to page layouts for DTP

Course: DTP 104 Module 2: Design and Typography Considerations

Date Created: January 20, 2003

Source: The template was from Adobe PageMaker and the content from the information presented in the Interactive Guides and applying the content of the Interactive Guides to the design of the newsletter. DTP 104 Interactive Guide 1-2

Media: Newsletter created in PageMaker 7.0

Description: I created a three-page newsletter that would be a learning tool for the novice desktop publisher. I used the content presented in the Interactive Guides 1-2 and applying this content to the design of the newsletter.

I created a masthead (banner at the top like the newspapers) and imported several graphics and my logo into a template to be used for subsequent issues of this newsletter.

I placed the text, re-size the text boxes, and formatted the text with columns, pulling quotes, graphics, typefaces and other desktop publishing elements to make final document attractive, easy to read and meaningful.

The requirements for this assignment were:

  1. A skeleton template with graphic and caption areas (different file from the final actual content newsletter product)
  2. Imported text from Module 2 Interactive Guides for the final copy
  3. Attractive use of white space, proximity, repetition, and graphics to enhance the readability of the newsletter.
  4. A graphic Masthead
  5. Wise use of Typography, Headlines, pull quotes and columns to maximize print space.

Rationale: Desktop Publishing is fundamentally different from web design, and this exercise allowed me to explore the differences with this hands-on assignment. The key for both is to provide easy and clear communication. The DTP rule for good communication are similar to web design requiring a good foundation about lines, shapes, colors, proportions, unity and other wonderfully concrete elements that help our communication become the most effective tool we can imagine. But DTP is a fixed tool. It requires eye pleasing text and layout for consistent display without motion, video, or animated. The newsletter I created tries to display the high quality requirements for Desktop Publishing as outline by the state TA TEKS requirements and this TATC course.

Implications for future: I had to review how to chain the columns, use bullets and numbers, and indent. After chaining all my columns for the entire newsletter, I used copy and paste to set each column. Next time I will use PLACE to insert my text after placing the text in Word and modifying the change to text size and font before hand.

Reviewers Comments: Wow, I am impressed! Very professional newsletter--nice graphics and use of color. The overall look is clean and readable with elements working in harmony to "bring it all together" for the finished product.

Review Name: Kathleen D. Markwardt

Date Reviewed: January 21, 2003

Title: TATC Participant

Top of Page

Caption 7

Indicators: 7.1s, 7.2s, 7.3s, 7.6s, 7.9s, 7.13s, 7.14s, 7.15s, 7.16s, 7.17s, 7.18s, 7.20s, 7.28s, 7.29s, 7.30s, 7.31s, 7.32s, 7.33s, 7.34s, 7.35s, 7.36s, 7.37s, 7.39s, 7.40s, 7.41s, 7.42s, 7.43s, 7.44s, 7.45s, 7.47s, 8.30s, 8.31s, 8.32s, 8.36s, 8.37s, 8.41s, 8.42s, 8.45s

Artifact #7

Descriptors: Greeting using DTP

Title: The Audit Announcement

Course: DTP 104 Module 2: Design and Typography Considerations

Date Created: January 20, 2003

Source: The card was from Adobe PageMaker and the content from the information presented in the Interactive Guides and applying the content of the Interactive Guides to the design of the newsletter. DTP 104 Interactive Guide 1-2

Media: Newsletter created in PageMaker 7.0

Description: To create a greeting carding using the graphics and text boxes in a "create and fold" card. The graphics and the text had to be designed to match the corrected direction of the page with each image.

Rationale: DTP and this exercise allowed me to explore the creation of a text and graphical tool requiring the use of directional design with this hands-on assignment. The key was to provide easy and clear communication with the graphics and the text appearing the correct format for the layout as each section was folded to make the card. The DTP rules for good design and rules of thirds, create a foundation about lines, shapes, colors, proportions, unity and other wonderfully concrete elements that help our communication become the most effective tool we can imagine.

Implications for future: This is a great unit for announcements and invitation for students and teachers. The application of these tools force the use of the DTP tools and requires a great facilitator to lead the implementation of these skills for teachers and students.

Reviewer's Comments: "The design meet all of the requirements for the project. The graphics and the texts were excellent in the layout and the design."

Reviewer's Name: Steve Smiley

Date Reviewed: January 19, 2003

Title: Participant in TATC

Top of Page