How often in the past have you needed to put together an eye-catching piece of advertising or newsletter and wished that you had a graphic arts department in your firm? Well, the latest craze in the computer application world is called “Desktop Publishing” and the claim is being made that it can make you look as if your art department is extensive.

As we have discovered in previous columns, typing and word processing on personal computers has been available for many years. Likewise programs that allow the user to prepare and produce graphics are becoming commonplace. The problem, up to now, has been combining words and graphics in one program. It seems that computers have a tough time working with these two very different types of information at the same time. It has taken a long time to develop programs that are capable of manipulating text and graphics in a manner that we have come to recognize as attractive and appealing.

In The Beginning

It all began in July of ‘85. That’s when some “Power Users” started using Apple’s Macintosh computer, the Apple LaserWriter printer, and a program called PageMaker from the Aldus Corporation. Using these three products together in an integrated fashion, it became possible to create, design, prepare, and produce nearly typeset quality, highly stylized, pages combining many different styles and sizes of text as well as graphic images. The document that would have taken a number of days, several people, and lots of money to produce became possible in several hours, from one person, and at a tremendous savings.

Before long people that needed to prepare monthly newsletters, advertisements, and reports began to hear about the new way of producing these documents without all the time, money, and trouble. There was really not much promotion being given to this type of use, but it began growing by leaps and bounds from word of mouth.

Finally during the middle of 1986, the computer establishment (if you can call it that) began to see the potential that Desktop Publishing represented. What followed, and continues, was an explosion of products to capitalize on the “new” use being made of computers.

The IBM Problem

When Desktop Publishing was first getting started back in 1985, the only system available to do this type of work was, as I mentioned, the Apple Macintosh with an Apple LaserWriter printer. This presented a big problem to the business world because of the tremendous installed base of IBM PCs. Because of the feeling within the IBM community that serious computing didn’t include graphics, the PC, when it initially came out, was not capable of doing any type of graphic representation on the screen. Even after the release of the Color Graphic Adapter and Color Monitor, the graphics possible on the PC didn’t even come close to that possible on the Apple Macintosh. Also the LaserWriter printer was light years ahead of anything available from IBM or anyone else. Because of these problems, Desktop Publishing was mainly an Apple dominated world until late in 1986.

The Opportunity

With such exposure being given to the Macintosh and its capabilities, it was a sure bet that it wouldn’t be long before someone figured out a way to get IBM PC’s into the Desktop Publishing business. Sure enough by the end of 1986 several companies had begun development of Desktop Publishing systems utilizing the EGA (Enhanced Graphic Adapter), and the Laser printers that were coming onto the market. Of course every company is claiming to have the best system and it is still very much up in the air which ones will be able to become established in an already cutthroat industry.

What It All Means to You And Me

By now you’re probably saying “Big Deal, but what does it mean to me?” The answer is not completely clear, but it does seem possible that in the near future you could have the capability of producing most of your graphic art work “in house” without having to wait AND PAY for it to be sent out. Also, since those LA’s who are currently utilizing a CADD system have most of the necessary hardware, adding this capability would not require a heavy additional investment.