Life's Little Adventures

Desktop Publishing

Up until now, most of my posts have been about the past. This is about now. About the enormous changes that home computers can bring to the once-complicated business of getting books into print.

Print-on-demand (POD) technology may have made it much simpler for unknown authors or for works for which there is a very real but limited market to actually get published, BUT there is still the very sticky problem of preparing the material for the printer. The author's original word-processing file (such as MS Word), along with illustrations submitted in such formats as Adobe Photoshop or CorelDraw, must be modified in a "desktop publishing" program, of which Quark Express, PageMaker or Adobe InDesign are good examples. These are complex, expensive programs — and require a long learning curve to master. Of course, they are extremely versatile and deliver excellent results. NOW, there is a simpler solution that anyone with a home computer can learn to use in a day or so. Not quite as versatile, perhaps, but still good enough for most applications, and a real bargain.

About two years ago I began using Serif's PagePlus 8 software to convert my Word, Photoshop, and CorelDraw files into book page layouts, resulting in a PDF file of the entire book that was completely ready for the printer. PagePlus is amazingly easy to use, if a bit "jumpy" at times. It has since been updated three times and is now in its 11th version, which I currently use. The latest one allows the editing of imported PDF text files; possibly an advantage to some. Anyway, the resulting books look quite professional and the POD printer had no trouble with the files. The latter were delivered on CD, although FTP Internet submission is equally good. Most conventional offset printers can also accept these files.

Serif is a rather odd software company that (as far as I can determine) only sells directly to the user via their website. Located in Nottingham, England, they also have a sales office in New Hampshire, U.S.A. Besides the desktop publishing program, PagePlus 11, they offer other easy-to-use graphic solutions including PhotoPlus 10 (similar to Adobe Photoshop Elements but a bit more sophisticated), and DrawPlus 8 (similar to CorelDraw) — along with a host of web and presentation programs. Serif programs are only for PCs; sorry, Mac users. They are friendly people to deal with, whose unusually informative website allows even critical comments from users around the world.

If you are an author considering POD publishing, going this route could save you a bundle over having the printer prepare your Word files for the press. It really gives you complete control of your work. And it's relatively cheap. Check out their website.

AND CHECK OUT MY PROPOSAL FOR ONLINE TRAVELGUIDES

FLASH! March 12 2007. I have just ordered Serif's new version, PagePlus X2, which is optimized for Windows Vista and has other improvements. When it arrives from England I'll test it and tell you all about it. Stay tuned.

Making the Maps

HOW THE MAPS WERE MADE:

Previously on this thread I discussed writing that first book. Now, Daytrips from London required maps, lots of maps. Over 50 of them. Today, of course, these would be created digitally, but back in the 1980s they had to be drawn with ink on poster boards, with graphics and lettering pasted in. Fortunately, Hastings House (a major publisher of graphics arts books at the time) was able to show me how this is done. Now you young 'uns might find this a really complicated way to draw a map, but pre-computers this was the procedure: First, photograph the appropriate part of a reference map using slide film. Then project the slide onto a white drawing board at least twice as big as it would be in the book, and lightly trace the image in pencil. The final drawing was made over this pencil trace, using "technical" pens of various widths filled with india ink. After this, the pencil image was erased, leaving only the inked lines. Tones were added by sticking down a thin film printed with tiny dots and cutting this with an X-acto knife, then peeling off the excess. Lettering was even more fun — I used rub-down Letraset letters and symbols, a really tedious process. You were always short one letter and had to run out to the art store! When completed, the map, then called a "mechanical," was photographed to its final reproduction size using "litho" film in a "process camera." The image was then burned onto the printing plate.

Oh, how computers have changed everything! All you need now is a draw program and a scanner. The whole procedure takes about an hour or so, depending on complexity. I won't tell you how because that's my secret, but smart folks like you can figure it out.

NEXT, the first book arrives and the publicity begins.