Eighth in a series of articles on how to have a successful relationship with your Mac.
So, after reading last months article, you're still hanging in there and you still want to be a Desktop Publisher, eh? Well, I certainly admire your persistence - you're gonna need it in this crazy business. So toughen up, soon you might feel like shark bait because you're gonna be swimming in shark infested waters - but you'll have to wait an issue or two before I get into that.
If you want to be all you can be - join the army. But if you want to be a "Professional" Desktop Publisher, then pay attention. Luckily, this is something that comes with instructions - lots of them. (My apologies if you think I am repeating myself here - but I cannot stress enough the importance of a system that offers performance, speed, compatibility and reliability.)
But, first of all (and most importantly) you must have some of what is referred to as "natural ability." This basically means you should have a good sense of colour, balance (no, not on a tightrope), and some good, simple design sense. If you have a colour perception disability (ie: colour blind), you will not be able to accurately (or attractively) prepare full colour documents - unless you are a technical genius. So, if you have some basics, lets get on with it.
What kind of equipment will you need to to a good job? Obviously the foundation of your system will be your Macintosh CPU. Your best bet will be one of the new PowerPCs - ideally the 7100. It's very expandable and upgradeable and will give you years and years of excellent performance. It should have absolutely no less than 8MB of RAM - preferably 24MB or more. Your hard drive should have a capacity of at least 240MB - preferably a 1.2GB drive - or if you have a small hard drive - prepare to add a good removable hard drive such as an optical or tape cartridge. These are great for backing up your files (you do backup, don't you?) as well as file transfer media when sending your files for output to a service bureau or trade house. I'll won't get into the whys and wherefors here, but don't get a DAT drive unless you are prepared to read, understand and religiously follow the operation instructions manual to a T.
Unfortunately, I've seen too many cases of people using these devices the same way they use other removable drives and then the problems begin - the biggest one is loss of data. Mostly unrecoverable! Leave this device to the trade house professionals please (and even some of them have their problems with DAT). So, rule of thumb: get as much RAM and STORAGE (hard disk) as you can possibly afford. And remember that you can add to and upgrade these items any time your finances will let you. (Of course I'll talk about RAM doubling and disk doubling/compression utilities - another time - but for those of you can't wait - I'll tell you this much now - I don't like them!)
As for monitors, GET COLOUR and don't settle for less than a 17-inch screen. If you get one of those little pigmy screens, you will spend all day scrolling around your document looking at it piece by piece. If your Aunt Gertrude mentioned you in her will then get a 20-inch monitor - you'll never regret it! And for those of you who will want to do serious colour retouching in Photoshop, make sure you upgrade (if necessary) to 24-bit colour. If you can't see colour accurately on your screen, you won't be able to assess or process it accurately. (You should also look into calibration software, so that the colour space of your scanner, monitor and colour printer all look the same - nothing worse than have a great looking job on your monitor and having a bad looking job come out of your printer - or worse - final film - expensive!)
I'd be negligent if I didn't at least mention the keyboard and mouse - an extended keyboard and any comfortable mouse will be fine.
If you are going to buy a flatbed scanner you must understand their limitations. You cannot compare the quality to a traditional drum scanner. Obviously, you will want the highest true resolution you can afford (ie: 1200dpi). I have seen some very pleasing colour produced by these scanners - but it has always been produced by people with lots of colour experience. The average person can only hope to produce "acceptable" colour - not good enough in my book. However, they do a nice job of scanning art and logos as well as a pretty decent FOR POSITION ONLY picture for pre-film proofing. If you want really outstanding colour, have your trade house scan your pics on their high resolution drum scanner and supply you with a "low res" version for placement which will automatically swap with the high resolution version when they output your files to film.
Oh shooo! I ran out of space again and I didn't even touch on laser printers, modems or software. I promise - next issue - it's gonna be a juicy one - hopefully I can wangle a full page - or else you will be trying to read very small type!
So stay tuned to this column to learn more about your relationship with a Mac. Watch for these insightful articles: How to nurse a sick Mac back to healthCare and Feeding of the Macand more!
The Mac Lady is an independent web designer located in Vancouver, BC. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome and appreciated.
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