Do-it-yourself publishing.

These days, everyone is trying to save a buck. A few years ago, one budget buster was the unavoidable cost of publishing - in-house newsletters, sales brochures or annual reports. Companies used to spend exorbitant amounts annually to print business materials. But not anymore. Desktop publishing is taking business to a new level - and leaving some money in the till besides.

Desktop publishing software first became popular in 1986 as an application for the revolutionary Apple Macintosh. Now corporate heads are turning to the flexibility, speed and quality output of PCs loaded with software.

Then and now, leading the pack of designer layout programs are Aldus Pagemaker by Los Angeles-based Aldus Corp. and QuarkXPress by Denver-based Quark Corp. Yet it was the overwhelming success of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corp.'s Windows application that prompted vendors to bring out Windows-based desktop publishers for IBM compatibles.

It's no surprise that Quark and Aldus have developed enhanced Windows versions of their popular desktop programs. in response to the growing demand for Windows color capability, (QuarkXPress for Windows offers 20 new features. Not to be outdone, Pagemaker for Windows has added enhancements for generating process color separations.

Currently,there are about a dozen desktop software programs trying to tap into the "do-it-yourself" market. These programs are targeted at educators, students and professionals who want to produce materials as expertly as a full-fledged print house.

The Right Choice

You should assess two factors when considering what software is right for you: How sophisticated is what you want to publish? And how many hours are you willing to spend doing it yourself? Top-of-the-line programs, such as QuarkXPress and Aldus PageMaker are costly, retailing around $900. And they are marketed as designer tools for graphic artists who work with page layouts day in and day out. Still, more and more corporate workgroups are using high-end desktop programs to produce company publications, policy manuals, technical user guides and marketing materials.

A favored program for layout-intensive publishing, PageMaker 5.0, lists for $895. Chief among its enhancements, its control palette allows you to fine-tune the appearance of text and graphic elements - you can manipulate words and pictures within increments of 1/100th of a degree.

PageMaker lets you scan color and black-and-white images directly into the program. Using Aldus Photostyler and the new Eastman Kodak Photo CD format, you can also import compact disks images into PageMaker. Other new and improved features include faster printing speeds and the ability to print nonconsecutive pages. The latter is available from Quark, but only as an optional extension package.

On PageMaker 5.0, you may open many documents at once, and move any element from one into another. You can work on a multiple number of documents at one time, depending on system resources (whereas QuarkXPress has a seven document limit).

If you're among the millions of computer users hooked on Windows, you'll thank PageMaker for letting you share files between any Windows applications. And both PageMaker and (QuarkXPress support OLE (Object Linking and Embedding), another piece of software that imports text and graphics.

PageMaker also allows for opening a file on one platform that was created on a different platform. This is a definite plus for professionals working in both Macintosh and IBM-compatible computer environments.

Presently, QuarkXPress 3.1 (also $895) doesn't support such file translation, so you won't be able to bring up a Windows file in a Macintosh program yet. Later this year, however, a new Macintosh version of QuarkXPress will.

Other functions common to PageMaker and other high-end programs include built-in color separation and automatic kerning (for adjusting the spacing between letters). Also, most high-end programs enable you to create documents as extensive as college textbooks.

The leading software programs for generating such lengthy documents are FrameMaker from Frame Technology Corp., San Jose, Calif., and Ventura Publisher 4.1 from Ventura Software Inc., San Diego. At $795 each,they are available in Macintosh 3.0 and Windows versions.

Both let you produce more than one version of the same document. What's so special about that? Such a feature comes in handy when creating a corporate handbook, for example: one version for managers, another for support staff. On FrameMaker you can design electronic publications, then view them on-line as well.

When it comes to image manipulation, Ventura Picturepro 1.1 for Windows is every graphic artist's dream. This program offers such features as an image editor, color corrector, photo and illustrator retoucher and image restyler. At $795, it also has advanced drawing, painting and scanning features.

Not-so Rich Packages

As appealing as the high-end packages might be,the low-end, low-priced desktop publishing software programs are ideal for home-based businesses. And the market is loaded with them. These programs are great for producing small scale documents such as organizational newsletters, fliers, business forms, stationery, resumes, invitations and much more.

Most of these low-end programs, such as Publish It! from Timeworks Inc. in Northbrook, Ill., sell for under $200. Designed for both business and home office use, these user-friendly programs require no previous graphics training to run them.

Low-end programs are frame-based, like most desktop publishing software. So, you can create frames for inserting graphics and text, and import a broad range of text and graphic files. Don't expect the same color support or advanced typographic capabilities as costlier high-end desktop programs, however.

Regardless, many low-end desktop publishers can produce high-resolution Postscript output. Thus, you can take advantage of laser-quality printing. Most of these programs are packaged with ready-to-use templates, drawing tools and clip art. Publish It!, for instance, is available in a CD-ROM version and contains over 3,000 clip art images and 300 sample page layouts. Publish It! (DOS and Windows) lists for $149.95; and Publish It Easy! for the Mac for $199.95.

Also popular among low-end desktop publishing software are Express Publisher for Windows (also available for DOS-based systems) from Cambridge, Mass.-based Spinnaker Software Inc., and Microsoft publisher. The packages retail for $99.95 and $199, respectively.

Microsoft Publisher gives new users a jump-start on creating publications with its Page Wizard, which automatically formats a page. Respond to a set of questions and Page Wizard creates a document outline based on your answers.

High-end or low-end, page layout programs give users flexibility and control. Most programs come with a built-in word processor and drawing tools. But users often combine them with outside programs, importing text and graphics created elsewhere into the page layout of a desktop publishing program.

There really isn't a middle ground between high-end and low-end desktop publishing packages. Word processors, however, are another option for "do-it-yourselfers." Used mostly for inputting text, word processors are not designed as layouttools.

But many do offer desktop capability for producing simple newsletters, resumes and fliers. Among the more popular programs are Word for Windows from Microsoft and Ami Professional from Lotus Development Corp., Cambridge, Mass.

The realm of desktop publishing is teeming with options. So, think before you buy. These software programs can have a steeper learning curve than many computer users anticipate. This especially applies to those who buy high-end packages when their needs can be met by a far cheaper - and easier - program.

TECH TIPS

In the creative excitement of starting a new business, accounting is probably the last thing on your mind. But every business, no matter how small needs some type of recording system to track finances. Entrepreneurs who fail to face that fact from the very beginning put themselves at a competitive disadvantage. You may not be ready for an accounting firm to handle your books. But armed with a personal computer, you can guide your company into smoother waters with various business management and accounting software programs.

Among these is the user-friendly Microsoft Profit retailing for $199. This program is from the world-renowned developer of Windows, Microsoft Corp., which recently enhanced its series of entry-level software for small and home-based businesses.

No previous accounting knowledge is required. Providing you with commonly used business forms (invoices, purchase orders, checks), the program follows standard accounting principles. You simply fill out the computerized documents, and Profit performs all accounting functions automatically.

In addition to an extensive card file, profit graphs/charts and custom reports, Microsoft Profit offers special features to save you steps and keep you on time. its convenient Page Wizard walks users through budgeting, check reconciliation and processing billing statements. And in its scheduling mode, Profit informs you when future transactions are due - for example, your next loan payment.

In case the idea of creating your own reports is daunting, Profit lets you choose from more than 30 predefined formats. You get your pick of cash flow, sales and inventory reports. Profit also will display information in charts and graphs.