Desktop Publishing: Separating Dreams from Reality (1989)

Five years ago, software exploded onto the business scene. While the market is chock-full of products designed to allow microcomputer users to develop an idea into ready-to-print materials, are they really the answer for public relations professionals who must meet the needs of their clients and employers? Desktop (DTP) is an important tool, perhaps the most important to come our way since the introduction of word processing, says Ronald D. Solberg, APR, principal of the Chicagobased Doron Alliance, a firm specializing in achieving productive communication through technology. However, it should be introduced into a firm or organization carefully and with some study. Intentions and expectations might be different from the reality. might not provide the quality or the speed that they %%,ant. Too many organizations get into it for the wrong reasons, then end up selling their equipment at bargain basement prices because it wasn't what they wanted. term desktop publishing itself is a misnomer that contributes to the confusion, Desktop or desktop page might be more accurate. With DTP systems, you can write, lay out and typeset a piece. But many choose to add in photos and complex graphics via traditional means because they feel that the technology is not equal to the task of producing quality artwork. And you can't actually publish a document, unless you want to print the copies you want to distribute one at a time. The term is catchy, notes Solberg, also president of Chicago-based EasyCom Inc., a marketing public relations firm. It makes a nice abbreviation. But you still have to take your material elsewhere to be printed. logical route first software was introduced in 1985 for the Apple Macintosh microcomputer. Since then, the number of page layout software packages has multiplied. Sales of these packages will more than double over the next five years. Choosing among these many options often comes down to personal preference, and requires careful thought. Deciding that the time has come to evaluate them is easier. Desktop is the logical to go, contends Carl Thompson, president, Carl Thompson Associates, in Boulder, Colorado. Much like the advent of the facsimile machine, it's inevitable. allows us to control the typesetting process in-house, which gives us faster turnaround time for our clients' projects, and still allows us to have very good quality for the price. He decided almost a year ago to buy a package. At the St. Louis office of Aaron D. Cushman & Associates, Inc., the first move was to get computers for word processing to become more efficient, according to Thomas L. Amberg, APR, executive vice president and general manager. We got into the production of publications and materials with DTP because of client demand and because the cost of doing it in-house ,Ams dramatically lower than the cost of doing it outside. Amberg made the purchase about four years ago. Lots of ink, less action Articles and ads about DTP, including new product announcements and product upgrade information, abound in the business press. But how widespread is use of DTP in public relations? 1988 annual survey of computer use by the PRSA Counselors Academy found that 2 percent of the 225 responding firms (from a mading to 975 member firms) bought their computers for and presentation graphics such as slides, overheads and charts. In comparison, 80 percent reported using their computers exclusively for word processing. On the other hand, a 1988 survey of 1,500 PRJ subscribers found that 35.9 percent had used, bought or recommended DTP software within the past year Not many practitioners are actually publishers, comments Solberg. That makes sense when you realize that it takes a combination of skins. …