Desktop Publishing Lesson 5 — Enhancing Publications

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications2 Objectives  Work with color.  Enhance objects.  Enhance text.  Insert horizontal rules.  Apply border art.  Create a watermark.  Use design objects.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications3 Work with Color  Color, or hue, is often the first thing that a reader responds to.  Many publications use only two colors, black and white, while others add a third color for emphasis.  Other publications use a wide range of colors.  Options vary by program, but you can usually Select a color scheme and apply standard colors to text, fills, and strokes. Define custom colors.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications4 Understand Color Systems  The method used to display colors on a computer monitor is different than when they are printed. Monitors use an RGB color system.  Color is made by blending red, green, and blue. Commercial printers use a CMY or a CMYK color system.  Color is made by blending cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. These are called process colors. You can choose specific colors from a system such as Pantone.  These are called spot colors.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications5 Create Custom Colors  There are two basic methods for defining a custom color: Select a color from a color bar in a color dialog box.  This may not be available in all programs. Key the color system color values for the color into the color dialog box.  You can usually select the color system that you want to use.  RGB values are entered as values from 0 to 255. CMYK are usually entered as percentage values. Some programs allow you to save the custom color and add it to the color palette.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications6 A Color Dialog Box This figure shows a typical color dialog box. You can select a color in the color bar by dragging the pointer to a color that you want and then clicking OK. Select a color system here. Enter values for the desired color here. The new and the current color display here. You can set transparency values here.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications7 Custom Color Systems Many programs come with other color system libraries included. If you select one of those systems, a box similar to the one for the Pantone system will appear. It con- tains a series of numbered color chips defining specific colors. Select a chip to use that color.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications8 Enhance Objects  Most programs allow you to apply other formatting effects to objects, including Patterns Textures Gradients  These three are applied as fill or stroke effects. Shadows 3-D effects  These two are used to format entire objects.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications9 Apply Patterns, Textures, and Gradients  Patterns are repetitive designs.  Textures are bitmap graphics used as fills.  Gradients are a blend of colors that change in brightness or tint. Linear gradients blend colors horizontally. Radial gradients blend colors outward from a central point.  All of these effects are usually applied from a dialog box or effects panel.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications10 Examples of Texture, Patterns, and Gradients The figure on the left shows an object that has had a texture effect applied to it. At the right is the same object that has had both a gradient fill and a patterned line applied to it.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications11 Apply Shadows and 3-D Effects  A shadow adds shading to one side of the outer edge of an object to create an illusion of depth and highlights.  A 3-D effect adds or extends shapes along one or two sides of an object to create an illusion of depth.  Most programs have a toolbar button that you can click to select from a palette of styles.  You cannot usually apply both a shadow and a 3-D effect to the same object.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications12 Objects with Shadows and 3-D Effects Added This figure shows an object with a shadow applied to it. This figure shows an object with a 3-D effect applied to it.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications13 Enhance Text  Many programs have features for enhancing text, including Creating drop caps – A drop cap is a decorative effect where the first character in a paragraph is larger than the rest of the text. Create text art – Some programs allow you to turn text into graphic objects. Add text to a shape – Some programs allow you to add text to a shape object inserted into the document.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications14 Create a Dropped Capital  Drop caps are often used in the first paragraph of a chapter of a book.  You can usually specify whether the drop cap extends above the text or drops down into the paragraph.  The method of applying this varies by program. Some use a Drop-Cap dialog box. Others use a plug-in on the Utilities menu. Dropped Capital

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications15 Create Text Art  Some programs have a method for turning text into a graphic object. This adds flexibility in formatting and placing the object.  For programs that do not have this method, you can often create the object in another program and insert it into your program.  Once created, the object can be scaled, moved, rotated, or manipulated like any other graphic object.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications16 Add Text to Shapes  Some programs allow you to add text to shapes in a document.  You usually just select the shape and enter the text. The program inserts a text box constrained by the size of the shape being used. You can format the text using formatting tools as in any other text box.  Not all programs have this feature, but you may be able to create the same effect using layers if available.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications17 Text Art and Objects with Text This figure shows a WordArt text object inserted into the docu- ment window. This figure shows text that has been added to the 3-D effect object.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications18 Insert Horizontal Rules  Horizontal rules are printing lines that can be placed before or after paragraphs.  They are usually inserted from a dialog box, although it varies by program. In some programs, they are applied in a Paragraph dialog box. Other programs may use an option on the Format menu.  You can change the weight, style, and color of the rule to add emphasis when needed.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications19 Apply Border Art  Some programs come with an assortment of border patterns that you can apply to pages or to shapes within pages. They are usually applied to rectangles or squares and text boxes, but this also varies by program.  Methods for applying border art vary, but you usually open a dialog box and select from the available patterns. You must first select the object to receive the border. When you select the border that you want and click OK, it is applied to the selected object.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications20 Examples of Rules and Border Art This figure shows two horizontal rules applied to a section of text. This figure shows some border art applied to a text box.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications21 Create a Watermark  A watermark is a semitransparent image in the background of printed material. It can be used to verify authenticity or to make a document harder to forge.  They are usually created by inserting a picture into the document. You then adjust the transparency to the desired level. It is then sent to the back of the stack of layered objects so it is behind the text and other objects.  If you want it to appear on every page, insert it on the master page(s).

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications22 Example of a Watermark In this figure, the coffee cup and saucer logo has been inserted as a watermark. Note that the text paragraph in the lower right is still readable and is in front of the watermark.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications23 Use Design Objects  Some publishing programs come with features to automatically set up elements of a publication, such as Masthead – Information displayed across the top of a newspaper or newsletter. Table of contents – Tells the reader what is inside the publication and where to find it. Logo – A symbol that identifies the company or organization producing the publication.  The method for creating these features varies widely by program.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications24 Examples of Design Elements This figure shows some common design elements: Masthead Table of Contents Logo

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications25 Summary  The RGB color system is used to define color on monitors, and the CMYK color system is used to define color in print.  You can define custom colors by using a color bar or by keying a color system value.  You can add a gradient, pattern, or texture to a fill and a pattern to a stroke.  Shadows and 3-D effects create the illusion of depth on the page.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications26 Summary (continued)  A dropped capital is a decorative effect that makes the first letter in a paragraph stand out from the rest of the text.  Some programs have utilities that let you turn text into graphics objects, and some programs let you add text to shapes.  You can insert horizontal rules before and/or after a paragraph.

Lesson 5 – Enhancing Publications27 Summary (continued)  Some programs let you apply pictures as borders around rectangular objects.  You can insert a watermark in the background of any page in a publication.  Some programs come with objects already designed for use as logos, mastheads, and tables of contents.