Desktop publishing refers to the use of a computer and software to create a visual display of information and ideas.
Originally, in the 1980s and 1990s, desktop publishing was used solely for print publications, but it later began to be used for designing various forms of online content, as well. Desktop publishing documents may be created for desktop or commercial printing, or for electronic distribution, including PDF formats, slideshows, email newsletters, electronic books, and the web.
The term was coined to refer to a specific type of software, and the use of that software to combine text and images to create digital files for print or for online viewing. Prior to the development of desktop publishing software, the only option available for most people for producing typed documents, as opposed to handwritten documents, was a typewriter. More complex print tasks were accomplished manually by people who specialized in graphic design, typesetting, and prepress operations.
Early desktop publishing platforms included the Apple LaserWriter printer in 1985 which, combined with the Aldus PageMaker desktop publishing software released for the Apple Macintosh that same year, offered the tools required for digital desktop publishing. However, the PageMaker-LaserWriter combination resulted in frequent crashes, the cramped display on Mac's tiny screen, and discrepancies between the screen display and the printed output didn't make for an easy task. It was a start, though. The Macintosh II proved more suitable for desktop publishing, and Mac-based systems dominated the desktop publishing market until the late 1980s when Ventura Publisher was introduced for the MS-DOS platform. Ventura Publisher automated the layout process through tags and style sheets and automatically generated indices, which was particularly suitable for longer documents.
Other early desktop publishing software packages included Professional Page for the Amiga, Publishing Partner for the Atari, Timeworks Publisher for the PC and Atari ST, and Calamus for the Atari TT030. Other programs were introduced for the Apple II and Commodore 64, including Home Publisher, The Newsroom, and geoPublish.
As more sophisticated applications were developed for professional publishing and for web design, desktop publishing developed the reputation of software developed for amateurs, as opposed to professionals.
Today, while desktop publishing software is available for virtually every operating system platform, Apple still dominates the publishing market.
Although several formats are supported, desktop publishing is used to produce two general types of documents: electronic pages and virtual paper documents made to be printed onto physical paper pages. All computerized documents are electronic, text or graphic, and are limited in size only by the available data storage space and/or computer memory. Virtual paper documents are designed to be printed onto paper, so they will require the use of parameters that correspond to standard paper sizes and formats. Some desktop publishing programs allow for custom sizes designed for large format printing needed in the creation of posters, billboards, and other uses. A web page is an example of an electronic page and is generally not constrained by virtual paper size parameters. Most electronic pages, today, are designed to be dynamically resized for display on various size monitor screens. This process is known as responsive design. Cascading style sheets may be used to provide global formatting functions for electronic documents.
Desktop publishing software includes the features necessary for print publishing, and modern word processors generally include publishing capabilities beyond those of early word processors, blurring the line between word processing and desktop publishing.
Likewise, the lines between desktop publishing and web design software may be blurred, in that most desktop publishing applications can produce documents for the web, except that web design software is unlikely to include all of the features required in virtual paper documents. Desktop publishing is primarily designed to produce static print or electronic media and is the focus of this guide. Although similar skills, processes, and terminology are used in web design, that is covered in another section of this directory.
The focus of this guide is on desktop publishing, desktop publishing software, and applications designed to be used in desktop publishing.
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Offered by CKSource, CKEditor 4 and CKEditor 5 are its flagship products, along with CKFinder, which extends CKEditor with image uploads, CKEditor Cloud Services, and Letters, which is a distraction-free, real-time collaborative text editor. CKEditor 4 is a WYSIWYG HTML editor, while CKEditor 5 is a modern JavaScript text editor with WYSIWYG UX for semantic content. Pricing, licensure information, case studies, documentation, and a blog are included.
https://ckeditor.com/
Compatible with all versions of Windows since Windows 7, Easy Flyer Creator is designed to be an intuitive desktop publishing application that can be used to create, design, print, and share brochures, certificates, door hangers, flyers, leaflets, photo frames, posters, signs, and tickets from built-in templates without the need of a graphics designer or publishing expert. Instructional videos are presented, along with an informational blog, and a license may be purchased online.
http://www.flyerscreator.com/
First released in 2009, iStudio Publisher is developed by iStudio Software. The page layout and desktop publishing program supports most versions of macOS and Mac OS X and can be used to create advertisements, booklets, brochures, essays, greeting cards, newsletters, posters, reports, and other documents and document types, including an option of spread editing facing pages. A 30-day trial version is available, and the program may be purchased online, with five options.
http://www.istudiopublisher.com/
Combining the power and flexibility of TeX/LaTeX with the ease of use of a graphical interface, LyX is a document processor that facilitates an approach to writing based on the structure of the document rather than its appearance. Available under a free and open-source license, LyX runs on Linux/Unix, Windows, and macOS. Its features are listed and shown in screenshots, a support wiki is available, along with online documentation, and the document processor may be downloaded.
https://www.lyx.org/
Originally known as Publishing Partner, PageStream is a desktop publishing application available for a variety of operating systems. First developed for the Atari St in 1986, its interface allows the user to interactively design pages as they will appear in the final product. Text, images, and drawings may be mixed to create something as small as a business card or as large as a billboard or a set of encyclopedias. Purchases and upgrades may be made online.
http://www.pagestream.org/
Hosted by Stacken, the open-source desktop publishing application was designed for the X Window System, common on Unix-like operating systems. Several types of image files may be imported into the editor, which supports text wrapping around the image or text frames, and it will print to PDF, PostScript, and EPS. Its features are set forth, along with screenshots, online documentation, development notes, and contacts. The program and source code may be downloaded.
http://www.stacken.kth.se/project/pptout/
The site allows users to create printable calendars that result in a perfectly formatted Microsoft Word document, ready to go, and also suitable for OpenOffice and LibreOffice. Several calendar templates are available to choose from. The user can choose to add US or Canadian holidays automatically and can add their own events, resize the calendar, add shading, choose another language, decide which day to begin the week with, and other options. Full access may be purchased.
http://www.printablecalendar.ca/
Available from Nova Development, Publisher Pro 3 is available in two editions, Publisher Pro 3 Gold and Publisher Pro 3 Platinum, each of which are available for purchase and download from the site, the chief difference between them, besides the price, is that the Gold edition does not import PDF files, and the amount of included templates and fonts available in the package. Both include graphics features, text handling, photo editing, and drawing, and are available for Windows.
http://usa.novadevelopment.com/publisherpro/
Released in 2003, Scribus is a free and open-source desktop publishing program available for most desktop platforms. Available under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License, the MIT License, the BSD License, or in the public domain, it is designed for layout, typesetting, and preparation of files for image-setting, as well as animated and interactive PDF presentations and forms. Projects created through Scribus is highlighted, and the last stable release may be downloaded.
https://www.scribus.net/
Created to facilitate the design and printing of business cards, flyers, postcards, letterheads, and labels, SpringPublisher is a desktop publishing application that includes templates, as well as an online template store, a multilayer editor, help files, and other features that are described here. Available for the Microsoft Windows operating system, a free and a Pro version are offered, the latter as a single-user license that may be installed on up to three devices.
http://www.springpublisher.com/
Developed by Belight, Swift Publisher is an all-purpose page layout and desktop publishing application for the Apple macOS platform, designed for the creation of brochures and flyers, business cards, discs, covers, labels, envelopes, and other purposes. It is packaged with more than five hundred professional templates, free clipart images and image masks, 2D and 3D heading presets, and several other features, which are described here, and shown through screenshots.
https://www.swiftpublisher.com/
