Daily Dose of DTP: 40. It's Not My Default

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Daily Dose of DTP 40. It's Not My Default From Jacci Howard Bear, your Guide to Desktop Publishing Much of what we've covered in the last 11 lessons can be considered graphic design and typography issues. When we use software to apply those rules it becomes a desktop publishing issue. Today, we're going to do just that - teach our software to play by the rules we covered up to this point. This is Rule #12 and the last desktop publishing rule in this class. Starting tomorrow we begin with the design, document setup, images, text, prepress, and printing tutorials. Class Notes: This is not simply a word-a-day course. The lessons follow a specific order in roughly the following groupings: General concepts > Things you need > Font specifics > Image specifics > Prepress & Printing > Rules & Tutorials (bold indicates the stage in which this lesson falls) Rule #12 of Desktop Publishing Reset Software Document Defaults While the default settings for documents are designed to help you get started faster, relying on them for the final look of your document is usually not a good idea. Today's Trivia Following the Rules "Right and wrong do not exist in graphic design. There is only effective and non-effective communication." You've probably seen that quote, oh, about a dozen times now. It appears on all 12 of the Rules of Desktop Publishing. Why? It's a reminder that while we call them "rules" they are really simply guidelines, suggestions, and best practices. There is no absolutely right or wrong way to do desktop publishing. There are simply methods that work better, are more effective than others. You've probably heard or read "rules are made to be broken" dozens of times. It applies easily to design and publishing. Rules can be broken. But first we need to learn the rules, understand why those rules were established in the first place. Then we'll know when breaking or bending the rules will work for a specific project. Preview of the Final Week The Desktop Document The next seven daily lessons pack in dozens of tutorials into just one week. Keep in mind that this is an introductory class. I don't expect you to read and absorb every single tutorial in each section. The primary goal of these seven lessons is to return to the six broad areas of desktop publishing introduced at the beginning of this class and show how those areas fit into the design and publishing of any one desktop publishing project. In fact, the tutorials (which are being added to regularly) will be part of a more in-depth email class later on. You may want to come back later for that class. After the next 7 classes will be the test - a 6-part final exam covering much of what we've introduced in this class. I hope you've been paying attention and actually reading each definition and lesson! This email is written by: Jacci Howard Bear Desktop Publishing Guide Email Me | My Blog | My Forum   Missing a lesson? Click here. About U. is our collection of free online courses designed to help you learn a new skill, solve a problem, get something done, or just learn more about your world. Sign up now, and we will email you lessons on a daily or weekly basis. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the About.com 'Daily Dose of DTP' email. If you wish to unsubscribe, please click here. About respects your privacy: Our Privacy Policy Contact Information: 249 West 17th Street New York, NY, 10011 © 2010 About.com   Advertisement