Desktop Publishing

 

Activists are constantly producing fliers, advertisements, brochures, stickers, buttons, t-shirts, and all manner of other printed materials – not to mention web sites, to which many of the same principles apply. Too often, however, these materials are created using only the most familiar software and the most basic approaches, even though the right software and techniques can greatly elevate the quality of the finished product, with little or no additional cost in time or energy. The goal of this section is to instruct activists in the best ways of balancing time, effort, and cost, to consistently produce the highest quality printed materials possible for any situation.

 

 

Content Development

 

Design Basics

To create high-quality content, it’s useful to have at least a general knowledge of basic design principles. You’ll find a good overview of some basic elements, as well as tips on how to design specific types of documents, at this web site: www.allgraphicdesign.com

 

Quick Design Tips

 

• Immediately after viewing an image, the eye tends to scan BELOW the image, rather than to the side of it. Avoid placing important text to the left or right of an image.

• Always think about the flow of your ads or others visual materials. Where do the viewers eyes start? Where do they move next? Why? Your layouts should reflect a careful plan to lead the viewers’ eyes along a particular path, following a specific sequence of locations.

• If you choose to superimpose text on an image, do so sparingly. Note that the text must contrast well with the background in order to be legible. Areas with less color variation are the best places to add text.

• If you must use long bits of text (over 100 words): a) Break it up into as many short paragraphs as possible. Consider adding visual elements between sections to provide breaks from the text, but only if the flow is maintained. b) Consider using subheadings that can convey the general idea behind each section even if the viewer skips over the main text.

• Don't split headlines into different areas of a page: this disrupts their "flow", and can become confusing.

 

Working with Color

 

Color is a science unto itself. From the ways in which different colors are formed using different printing processes, to the psychological that various colors can trigger, there’s a lot to learn. Check out this link for some useful information: www.colorsontheweb.com

 

The Thirty-Second Guide to Color Psychology:

• Blue = Trust, Loyalty, Tranquility
• Red = Aggression, Energy, Passion
• Green = Relaxation, Nature, Wealth
• Yellow = Optimism, Concentration
• White = Sterility, Innocence
• Purple = Luxury, Sophistication
• Black = Authority, Power
• Brown = Genuineness

 

Next Steps

 

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the basics, you’ll want to start learning about the specific techniques that professional designers employ to create effective print advertising. It’s not as difficult as it sounds. The following link provides an amazing introduction to how design, imagery, and wording factor into successful print advertisements for social justice causes. All of the “tips” on the previous page are explained in detail, with many visual examples provided. The report, authored by Andy Goodman and entitled "Why Bad Ads Happen to Good Causes", also references many great books about advertising principles and theory. The concepts explored are key to effective print advertising, and we can't recommend it highly enough.
www.agoodmanonline.com/bad_ads_good_causes

 

Goodman's report actually inspired another one, specifically involving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Israel in the Age of Eminem” is written by Republican pollster-turned-anti-Palestinian-activism guru Frank Luntz. It’s a bit out of date now, but definitely worth reading:
www.acbp.net/pub/eminem.pdf

 

Thinking About the Final Product

 

It’s important to consider the logistics of output and printing when constructing your design. If you’re going to be using a word processing application to print copies of an image file (as described in the section on printing), you’ll want to set your image file to the appropriate dimensions: the image’s length and width should each be at least .5” less than the target paper size – so, if you’re printing on 8.5” x 11” paper, you’ll want to create an 8” x 10.5” image. Also, if your flier has text on it, you should set the resolution to at least 100 dpi (dots per inch). The text will be much easier to read this way.

 

Bear in mind whether or not you’ll be printing in color. It’s often wise to prepare both color and grayscale versions of the same document – the grayscale documents will be faster and easier to print, but you’ll have the color version on hand just in case you have a chance to use a color printer.

 

Applications

 

Microsoft Word

(Estimated Retail Price: $50 - $200)
http://office.microsoft.com/word
You’ll find MS Word on nearly every public PC you encounter, and for this reason it’s worth knowing how to use it. It is a part of Microsoft Office Suite, and available for both Windows and Mac OS operating systems. One of Word’s major weaknesses is the lack of flexibility it provides in arranging graphical elements, making it a poor choice for creating fliers and other graphically-intensive documents. However, it is capable of quickly churning out decent-looking, text-focused output. It’s also much easier to print from than many of the applications you may be using to create more graphically-intensive materials. Tips on printing from Word are found in elsewhere in the Desktop Publishing section, in the subsection titled “Printing”. For a comparison of Microsoft Office Suite and OpenOffice.org, see this article: www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/software/page4382.cfm.

 

GIMP

(Freeware)
www.gimp.org
“GIMP” stands for “GNU Image Manipulation Program”, and is essentially a free, open-source version of Photoshop. While it’s a bit more difficult to learn for most people, and isn’t quite as expandable (yet), it’s every bit as powerful. It’s not found on most public computers, which are much more likely to offer Photoshop, but it’s free to download and worth learning to use. Like many open-source applications, GIMP is well-supported and constantly being improved.

 

OpenOffice Writer

(Freeware)
www.openoffice.org/product/writer.html
OpenOffice.org is a free, open-source productivity suite that includes a set of applications similar to those offered in Microsoft Office. Writer is the suite’s word processing utility, which is similar to Microsoft Word both in feel and in functionality. An additional advantage is that Writer is capable of exporting documents to Adobe Acrobat format (.PDF) with no additional software required. You won’t find the OpenOffice suite on most public computers, but it’s free to download if you care to use it. For a comparison of OpenOffice.org and Microsoft Office, see this article:
www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/software/page4382.cfm

 

Adobe Photoshop

(Estimated Retail Price: $250 - $1000)
www.adobe.com/products/photoshop
Photoshop is an image-manipulation utility – and much, much more. It gives you nearly unlimited ways in which to edit and manipulate images, and a good variety of options for working with text as well, particularly in terms of producing effects. A massive library of plugins expands the possibilities even further. Photoshop is ideally-suited for fliers and other documents that are graphicallyintensive or feature unusual layouts.

 

Adobe PageMaker and InDesign

(Estimated Retail Price: $400 - $800)
www.adobe.com/products/pagemaker
www.adobe.com/products/indesign
PageMaker and InDesign belong to a class of applications that straddle the fence between word processing and image manipulation programs – a category that’s generally referred to as “desktop publishing” software, because it’s an all-in-one solution. They don’t offer the same degree of control over text or graphics as the preceding applications, but instead focus on making text and graphics flow together seamlessly in your documents. InDesign is essentially a higher-end version of PageMaker, providing more features and enabling users to produce more complicated layouts, but comes with a considerably sharper learning curve. Both of Adobe’s desktop publishing applications are best for producing shorter documents such as articles or posters. Longer documents, such as full-length magazines, manuals, and books, are best created in another application not discussed here, Quark XPress: (www.quark.com/products/xpress)

 

Scribus

(Freeware)
www.scribus.org.uk
Scribus is an open-source desktop publishing application. It’s more powerful than PageMaker, but not quite as robust as InDesign and Quark XPress. Due to legalities, it's also not able to read or write the same types of files used by those applications. It doesn't support right-to-left languages like Arabic or Hebrew, either. Considering the prices of commerical applications, though, it's still worth trying.

 

Printing

 

For most do-it-yourself print jobs, you’ll likely be using public or commercial printers and copiers. This subsection provides a brief overview of ways to print quickly, cheaply, and in large volume.

 

Printing Single-Sided Documents

Single-sided documents – ideally consisting of a single page, are the easiest to print. As discussed elsewhere in this section, most printers will allow margins of 0.25” or less on each side, so this is a good baseline figure to work from. Once you’ve inserted an 8” x 10.5” image into a Word document, you can quickly and easily print large numbers of copies.

 

Dealing with Printing Restrictions

 

Some public printers, especially in university computer labs, limit the number of copies a user can make of each document, and/or the page count of each print job. Clever activists have often gotten around such restrictions by:

• Copying and pasting the entire document into itself repeatedly, until the maximum page count is reached, then printing out as many copies of the resulting "metadocument" as permitted
• Constantly re-saving the document and printing it repeatedly under multiple names, so that filtering mechanisms designed to prevent more than x copies of a given document are circumvented (assuming these mechanisms work based on the file name, as most do)

 

Some institutions employ queuing systems that force users to swipe their ID through a card reader in order to send documents to the printer, after they’ve already “printed” them from the computer. The ID swiped must match the user account from which the print job was sent. There’s no easy way of getting around this, but if you have access to a valid university ID and associated account, it won’t likely be a problem. Most universities that employ this type of system don’t enforce additional restrictions.

 

Many commercial copy shops offer self-service machines that generate an itemized invoice once users indicate that they have finished making copies. This invoice is then brought to the cashier for payment. Unscrupulous customers sometimes split their work into multiple print jobs to generate several, smaller invoices – then discard or hide one or more of them before paying the cashier.

 

Paper Dimensions

 

There are three common paper sizes found in most commercial copying machines and printers in North America, most of which are similar to sizes used in Europe as well. Be aware that the proportions are slightly different on each, meaning it’s impossible to scale a full-page image up or down from one size to another and have it fit perfectly on the other type of paper. Regardless, it pays to be familiar with these formats and their applications:

 

8.5” x 11” (Letter)

 

This is the most common paper size around, and thus, frequently the most convenient to use. When you want to maximize quantity while minimizing cost, it’s probably your best bet. In addition to letters and other basic document types, it has several good specific uses:

 

Handbills

4.25” x 5.5” handbills printed four to a sheet on this type of paper are just small enough to fit into most pockets without folding, and just big enough to incorporate a reasonable amount of text and graphics — perfect for quick handouts to passersby, and extremely economical to boot.

 

Booklets

5.5” x 8.5” is a great size for a booklet, and that’s what you get when you fold a bunch of 8.5” x 11” sheets in half. One advantage of using this size has to do with packing: if you’re carrying a bunch of literature around in a box, two piles of booklets can be neatly stacked atop the pile of 8.5” x 11” documents you’ve likely got on the bottom.

 

Brochures 

This is a perfect size for making six-panel, tri-fold brochures, with each panel coming out around 3.66” x 8.5”. Such brochures are extremely common.

 

 

8.5” x 14” (Legal)

This size is no longer as common as it once was. It’s ok for fliers, but it’s
a slightly awkward shape. It’s best used for booklets, which come out nearly square at 7” x 8.5”, setting them apart rather well from the far more common 5.5” x 8.5” and 8.5” x 11” booklets. You’re most likely to find copiers and printers supporting this size in offices, as well as in retail copy shops such as FedEx Kinko’s or OfficeMax.

 

 

11” x 17” (Ledger)

This size is best for fliers, which, if well-designed, look amazing at this scale. The dimensions will also help it stand out in areas that are heavily covered with other fliers, most of which are probably 8.5” x 11”. When fliers of this size are grouped together in blocks, one can rapidly achieve an incredibly eye-catching, wallpaper-like effect.

 

 

Finding Graphics

 

Activists performing desktop publishing work have a constant need for graphics, and obtain them from a wide variety of sources. Before we discuss these, however, it’s important to take a look at the basics of American intellectual property law as it pertains to the use of copyrighted images.

Using Copyrighted Images

It’s not always possible to tell if an image falls under copyright protection, but if it comes from a commercial archive (see “Image Sources in the next section), odds are that it is protected. In the United States, the noncommercial use of copyrighted works is often allowable under the “fair use” exception, excepting cases in which the use adversely affects the copyright owner’s ability to derive profit from the original work. As such, activists have very little to worry about when using copyrighted images in fliers and other limited distribution, noncommercial documents. Most likely, the copyright owners will never even become aware of their use. However, it’s good idea for activists to have a general idea of what’s meant by the “fair use” exception, to avoid potential problems with the use of copyrighted images. Activists based outside the United States should check applicable laws in their respective jurisdictions.

 

The “fair use” clause is a part of the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107, excerpted here:

 

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, inclusding such use by reproduction in copies or  phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reportingm teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include-

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a
commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantially of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

 

Note that not all educational uses are protected, nor are all uses that may affect the “potential market” for the original work prohibited. For a more detailed look at what each set of considerations entails, see the article on fair use at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

A handy checklist-style guide to what specific conditions favor or disfavor a fair use exception was produced by Purdue University, and serves as an excellent resource: http://www.copyright.iupui.edu/checklist.pdf

 

 

Image Sources

 

Original photographs and illustrations

When scanning original images for use in print media, set the resolution to at least 300 dpi (dots per inch). TIFF (.TIF) is the best format for saving such images at maximum quality, but JPEG (.JPG or .JPEG) is compatible with a wider variety of applications.

 

Web Searches

Web searches are useful for quick image-hunting, provided that the content you’re seeking isn’t too obscure. Most of these sites allow you to search only by limited criteria, such as keyword, format, coloration, and file size. You usually won’t know the resolution until you save the image (though you can often guess based on the file size). Remember, print quality is best at higher resolutions. Most of the images you’ll find on the web will be 72 dpi, not 300, but they should be okay for most print uses, provided you don’t display the image at a larger size than it’s intended for, which can cause pixilation and other ugly effects.

 

Google Images: www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&q=
Alta Vista Image Search: www.altavista.com/image/default
PicSearch: www.picsearch.com/

 

Commercial Image Archives

Dedicated image archive sites offer a much greater variety of search options, including spatial orientation, image type (photo or illustration), and other criteria that are invaluable for finding the perfect image. Unlike web searches, which simply scour the web for publicly-available content, these sites facilitate access to large, privately-owned archives, containing everything from iconic historical images to general stock photos and clipart. Most of the time, you’ll need to register an account with the site in order to view (free of charge) “proof” images that don’t contain digitally added watermarks. The site administrators will usually ask for a company name, address, and phone number; however, this information generally isn’t verified. With a registered account, you can pay to download higher-resolution versions of the images you find, and to gain limited legal rights pertaining to reproducing the image – but those perks come with a rather hefty price tag.

 

Corbis: www.corbis.com
Getty Images: www.gettyimages.com

 

Other Web Sites

A number of other web sites have archives of Palestine-related images in particular. Their search engines are a little clumsier, but the specialization of the subject matter makes up for it.

Palestine Photo Bank: www.sabellaphoto.com (licensing fees apply)
Stop the Wall: www.stopthewall.org/news/photos.shtml
Palestine Today: www.palestinetoday.org