DTP

Note : This page has been translated into English from French by a machine translation tool

DTP or Desktop Publishing is the use of computer technology, typically a computer equipped with publishing software, to create and produce documents for printing or digital documents. This design software allows professionals to create brochures, sales brochures, advertising materials, technical drawings or more generally any type of document incorporating images or requiring design and intended for printing.

But it doesn’t stop there. This technique also contributes to the creation of blogs, websites, e-books or content for mobile devices, smartphones and tablets. DTP is an important vector of creativity for shaping a marketing strategy and communication campaigns. We can’t talk about DTP without making a link with the software used to edit and finalize projects. Thus, in DTP, it is possible to produce or edit two types of image for two different types of rendering. Each one has its own uses…

Raster-based image

The raster-based image is by far the most common type of image. The Photoshop software developed by Adobe (see our article Adobe Photoshop for more information), which is extremely well known to the general public, including the uninitiated, makes it possible to process, modify and export this type of image. A raster-based image is made up of an accumulation of what could be called dots, called pixels. These are monocolored squares that make up an image by their juxtaposition. Their color and number define what is represented and with what level of detail. It is thus on them that the software will intervene to replace them very concretely by changing their color, adding or removing some. This type of image, despite its great popularity, has a significant flaw : its limitation in terms of magnification and cropping. Indeed, trying to enlarge the print of such an image or to extract a part of it leads to a significant alteration of its quality. This has led to the development of a second type of image to correct this defect : the vector image.

Vector-based image

The vectorial image is composed of line and curve vectors whose drawing is recalculated by mathematical functions depending on the desired magnification. Thus, the image does not suffer any loss of quality because it is constantly reworked by the software as soon as one wishes to enlarge its display or print. It is possible to produce this type of image using software such as Illustrator (see our article Adobe Illustrator for more information), an application also developed by Adobe. However, this type of production is more complex, more time-consuming and heavier. It is therefore reserved for relatively light projects such as logos or illustrations for example.

But DTP is not only work on images, but also on documents to be produced that may contain text and are intended for printing. In order to get the best combination of the two, we will need layout software such as Adobe InDesign (see our Adobe InDesign article for more information). It allows you to meet the standards of the printing industry through specific export functions. InDesign will be the tool we will use for the layout of documents for websites or blogs. As previously mentioned, it is used to assemble graphic elements but not to modify them or create vectorial drawings. Most of the assembled elements will therefore be previously passed through Photoshop or Illustrator if it turns out that they need a specific treatment.