Using DTP Applications to Publish Online
By Gary B. Smith
 DTP - commonly referred
to as Desktop Publishing - programs have until fairly recently been
associated with offline publishing and printing. However, the latest
versions of some of the top selling DTP programs now all provide the
ability to publish electronically in different formats. The ability
to export and publish online has become an intrinsic requirement for
the latest wave of DTP programs.
The ability to publish to the Web has become a common element in the
latest versions of top desktop publishing applications. Various software
companies are vying to include the most accessible and affordable
methods of electronic publishing in their programs. Each application
has the ability to publish online in differing ways and via various
formats. However, it is important to scrutinize the different functions
and abilities of each DTP program and the range and flexibility of
their Internet exports options.
Different DTP programs are aimed at different types of markets. Adobe
InDesign, for example, is aimed at the medium to professional designer
and is essentially an attempt to cover a wide range of requirements;
while a program like Adobe FrameMaker is aimed at a more specialist
market and is geared towards creating more complex and technical documents.
Each application should therefore be viewed in terms of its central
aims and abilities before any purchases are made. This is particularly
important when one bears in mind that some of these programs are extremely
expensive.
A few years ago DTP was associated with the process of creating text
documents in word processors and images in dedicated graphics programs
and exporting the results to a DTP program where the text and graphics
could be combined and manipulated into a final product destined for
the printed medium. Now most DTP programs have the ability to create
and compose all text and graphics within the same program and almost
all have some means of exporting the results for electronic publishing
and distribution.
If you already have experience in established DTP programs like QuarkXPress
or Adobe PageMaker you can use these programs to create and publish
in a variety of online formats including HTML, PDF and XML. This article
looks at some of the best selling DTP programs, focusing on their
electronic and online publishing possibilities.
The second question that may be asked is to what extent do DTP programs
translate accurately to the Web? This is a crucial issue and one that
can only be answered by a comprehensive view of each individual application.
Why use a DTP program for the Web?
Why should one use Desktop Publishing programs for online
publishing when there are excellent Web editing programs
available? The answer is simple. While even the best Web
editors such as Macromedia Dreamweaver and Adobe GoLive
provide basic design tools and integrated workflow with
related applications, they are not intended as fully-fledged
DTP programs and do not have nearly the same feature range
as a program like Adobe InDesign.
The reason for using a Desktop Publishing program to publish
to the Web is simply that DTP programs provide the widest
range of design options as well as progressive tools for
text and graphic layout and facilities for more complex
document options. Coupled with this is the fact that recently
it has become common for many DTP programs to be fully
integrated with other related applications. For example,
Adobe InDesign can integrate native files directly from
the award winning graphic editing program, Adobe Photoshop.
In effect, by using DTP programs one is harnessing the
power of these applications to produce documents that
can be published online via a format like PDF, which is
widely accepted and retains all the design elements for
online viewing.
|
|
Adobe and InDesign
Adobe has always been a leader in the Desktop Publishing field with
old favorites like PageMaker being a strong contender for one of the
best DTP programs around. However, the competition in this area has
been strong with Corel Ventura and QuarkXPress also providing intuitive
applications that already have a strong user-base. Due to this competition,
Adobe has attempted to bring out a program that covers all the necessary
requirements for a DTP application and which satisfies the needs of
online publishers as well. This, many claim, they have achieved in
the recent release of InDesign 2.0.
Adobe's InDesign, first released in 1999, was initially not seen to
be a major contender in the DTP world. However, Version 2 was released
in Spring of 2002 with new features, such as enhanced book publishing
facilities, table enhancements and especially the ability to deal
with XML. As well as this, InDesign has graphic capabilities which
are similar to Adobe Photoshop. The popularity of this program has
been accompanied by respect for its capabilities among many professional
graphic and Web designers, and several major publishers have also
migrated to the product. While it is targeted at design professionals
its interface is easy to use and the learning curve is not too steep
for the serious amateur. The program has an extensive set of tools
for creating magazines, newsletters, advertisements and other documents.
InDesign provides the requisite integration with other Adobe products
such as Illustrator and Photoshop and you can import native files
from these programs directly into InDesign. One of the major reasons
for using a DTP program in the first place is the professional design
versatility, and control and output options that can be exercised
over documents. The documents that are created via the versatility
of programs like Adobe Photoshop can then be integrated into the InDesign
project and exported as a PDF file for inclusion on a website. PDF
files are extremely useful when it comes to website creation, in that
they not only retain the design facilities that are available in professional
DTP programs but they are also cross-platform, which means they can
be viewed on almost any operating system and computer.
InDesign also includes a wide range of useful and important features.
Files from programs such as Excel and Word, as well as PDF and RTF
formats can be imported into the application. Imported Items can also
be easily placed within the document with input elements such as the
automatic flow of data across multiple pages.
|
Printer
Friendly Version