Learn Desktop Publishing Skills in Less Than a Month

Learn desktop publishing for print and the web one article at a time with this desktop publishing (DTP) series. This online tutorial is designed to be read one day at a time for 28 days. Of course, you're free to read as many or as few lessons each day as you want.

This introductory look at desktop publishing is designed primarily for those with little or no experience or training in DTP and graphic design. It isn't a hands-on, how-to-do-desktop-publishing course. However, after you complete it, you will have a much better understanding of the desktop publishing process. This understanding will make future classes and other tutorials on the subject easier to understand.

General Concepts of DTP

The lessons in this section focus on defining desktop publishing and related terms. You'll find definitions, trivia, and articles that allow you to dig deeper into the subject if you want. Learn the difference between designing for print and designing for the web.

What Is Desktop Publishing? Topics include desktop publishing, graphic design for print, web design, and the modernization of DTP.
Tools of the Trade covers the supplies and equipment you need to get started in DTP.
Four Types of Software for Desktop Publishing is an overview of the types of software used for print and web design.
It's a Print! Learn the differences between designing for print and designing for webpages.

Fonts and How Best to Use Them

Fonts are the bread and butter of graphic designers and desktop publishers. Learn the lingo.

Be True to Your Type. Learn about OpenType, TrueType, and Postscript fonts.
Web-Safe Fonts. You don't want any surprises on the web.
It's Just Fonts, Right? covers history, choosing fonts, and composing text.
Web Typography 101 addresses basic terms and concepts as they apply to web design.

Design and Images

It doesn't matter whether you are designing for print or the web—images play a crucial role, and you want yours to have impact on everything you design.

The Art & Science of Graphics covers the elements of graphic design.
Pictures in Print covers working with TIFF files.
Pictures in Pixels covers the best image formats for each purpose.
Adding Images to Web Pages. Learn the HTML secret.

Prepress & Printing

The articles in this section cover concepts and tasks related to file preparation for print and the type of printing used in desktop publishing.

How Many Colors? Here's what you need to know about the CMYK color model.
How Many Separate Colors? Learn about color separations in commercial printing.
Here's the Proof covers the types of printing proofs and how they are used.
What Is a Commercial Printer? Find out why this is different from the printer across the room.

Rules & Tasks Part 1: Rules of Desktop Publishing

Yes, there are rules in desktop publishing. Mainly, they smooth the path to happy clients and standardize the processes of DTP for print and the web.

Rules of Desktop Publishing: Why they make a difference.
Use Fewer Fonts and follow the less-is-more principle in typographic design.
Smoothing Out the Ragged Edges explains the ins and outs of justified text.
STOP SHOUTING! When you want to use all caps, use the right fonts.

Rules & Tasks Part 2: How a Desktop Publishing Document Is Created

These articles revisit some things you learned previously but show how they are all connected and fit into the desktop publishing process when working on a specific document on a webpage. The main focus is on becoming familiar with the steps that are involved in the creative process.

Bring Out the Designer in You by learning the steps of the graphic design process
Basics of Web Design. How to make the site work for the viewers.
Where the Desktop Publishing Begins covers file preparation.
It's Not What You Say But How You Say It covers text compositions for both print and the web.
Getting Ready to Get It Printed covers prepress tasks and how to prep your digital files for print.
Getting It Printed discusses printing on sheet-fed presses vs. web presses and how they differ.

Looking Forward

By the time you make it this far, you'll be familiar with the basic concepts of desktop publishing as they apply to print and web design. Don't stop here. There are plenty of other training opportunities, online software tutorials, and publishing skills you can acquire.