Desktop Publishing Software

Be able to create a publication to meet purpose and audience. 

AC 1.1:

• Templates: letterhead, business card, poster, newsletter), consider house style e.g. branding, publication guidelines, existing styles and schemes; refinements to styles and schemes.
• Local guidelines: templates, house style (branding), publication guidelines, existing styles and schemes; refinements to styles and schemes.

AC 1.2:

• Page design and layout: when it would be appropriate to design a new page layout instead of use an existing template to set publication size, white space, margins, apply layout grids/guides according to a design brief, headers and footers, create columns, create text areas/text frames, page set-up, page size and orientation (including non standard page size), gridlines/layout guides, set margins (left, right, top, bottom), text frames/areas, columns and space between columns, (gutter space), short-cuts and print preview e.g. in some software, the text frame properties must be set to zero to avoid additional space between columns.

AC 1.3:

• Save and retrieve documents in line with local guidelines and conventions where available: save, save as, save as, search, open, print, share, export, close, version control, file size, My Documents, local storage/external storage devices (hard drive, USB), remote storage (Dropbox, Google Drive).

Assessment Criteria

• 1.1

  Use appropriate templates to create a publication in line with local guidelines.

• 1.2

  Change page design and layout to suit purpose and audience. 

• 1.3

  Save and retrieve publication using local and remote storage methods. 

Be able to manipulate content to enhance publication. 

AC 2.1:

• Combine text and media: importing text from sources, use of layers in combining graphics and text, insert and format lines/boxes/arrows, group, ungroup, copy and move multiple items, for example, a shaded box, text and a graphic, borders, panels, shading, logos; import information produced using other software; reference external information, hyperlinks, object linking; embedding.
• Media (images/graphics): digital bitmap (bmp, jpg or png) or raster picture/vector graphics (svg, wmf, eps, ai), picture format (e.g. jpg andpsd) internet drawing display (png), graphic designs (svg).

AC 2.2:

• Edit: drag and drop, copy and paste, find, find and replace, undo, redo; position; use layout guides.
• Format text: understand the use and importance of consistent formatting of text (type face, size, alignment, emphasis) and ensure headings, subheadings and body text are formatted appropriately, text special effects, for example, dropped/raised capitals, reverse text, rotated text, word art, use existing styles and schemes for font, size, orientation, colour, alignment; create new styles and schemes for font, size, orientation, colour, alignment.
• Manipulate images and graphics: resize (maintain aspect ratio), crop, rotate, position, border.
• Control text flow: single/multiple columns and pages, around images and graphic elements.

Assessment Criteria

• 2.1

  Insert and combine text and media.

• 2.2

  Use editing and formatting tools to manipulate content. 

Be able to proof and print a publication. 

AC 3.1:

• Things to consider: does it read well on screen, is it clearly legible when printed, is the layout suitable, is the presentation appropriate, are text styles consistent, are images appropriately sized and positioned, are images/graphics/charts fit for purpose and clearly labelled, are tables clear and appropriate, has organisational house style been used (where applicable).
• Accuracy: spell check, grammar check, manual techniques (proof reading/peer review).
• Inconsistencies: font style and size, page layout, margins, space, line and page breaks, figures, times, dates, measurements, punctuation.

AC 3.2:

• Formats suitable for print publishing and those that are application specific and more common (rtf, eps, pdf), portrait/landscape, two-page, four-page document, double-sided, newspaper style, etc, use and set crop marks to print (the lines printed in the corners of a publication's sheet or sheets of paper to show the printer where to trim the paper, used by commercial printers for creating bleeds where an image or colour on the page needs to extend all the way to the edge of the paper).

Assessment Criteria

• 3.1

  Use tools to check publication for accuracy and consistency, making changes where necessary.

• 3.2

  Print publication in appropriate format.