#14765
Online Help: Beyond Error Messages 
Knoth-Weber describes how her company developed an efficient means to collect customer feedback about system errors and publish solutions on their Web help page.
Knoth-Weber, Lieselotte. Intercom (2002). Design>Documentation>Help
#21435
Online-Dokumentation aus Anwendersicht
Benutzerinstruktion muß sein. In Form von Online-Documentation ist sie unmittelbarer Teil des Programms.
von Obert, Alexander. Techwriter.de (1998). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Help
#21908
Picking the right strength characteristics when you're buying paper can determine whether your job holds up on press, in the mail, or in your customers' hands.
Sidles, Constance J. Adobe Magazine (1997). Articles>Document Design>Prepress>Paper
#19211
Open Directory Project: Desktop Publishing
A directory of dozens of online resources in desktop publishing.
#25055
OpenType fonts act just like PostScript Type 1 or TrueType fonts in programs like Microsoft® Word or QuarkXPress, but Adobe® InDesign® can perform special tricks with them, such as replacing characters with swashes (fancy versions of a letter), or with ligatures for character pairs such as “ct” and “ffi.” InDesign ships with several OpenType fonts, including Adobe Garamond® Pro, Adobe CaslonTM Pro, Caflisch Pro, and Kozuka Mincho Pro (a Japanese typeface).
Kvern, Olav Martin and David Blatner. Adobe (2004). Design>Typography>Document Design>Adobe InDesign
#29933
Opening PDF Documents in Full Screen Mode
Adobe Acrobat allows users to configure the opening settings of PDF documents to display them in full screen mode. It's as effective as a PowerPoint display and very easy to accomplish. This tip explains how.
Shea, Dan. PlanetPDF (2007). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat
#23119
Thumbnails are minature representations of an image or page. They provide a convenient way to electronically "thumb" through many images/pages before retrieving the one you need. In this experiment, we measured subjects' recognition speed to thumbnails of five sizes.
SHORE (1997). Design>Document Design>Information Design
#18350
Optimize Adobe PDF Files for Palm OS Devices 
You can read any Adobe® PDF document on a Palm OS® device by simply dragging the file into the Adobe Acrobat Reader for Palm OS application window. But if you want to optimize the PDF file for the best possible display on a handheld device, combine the power of Adobe Acrobat® 5 with Microsoft® Office 2000 or later.
Adobe (2003). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat
#26340
An Overview of Desktop Publishing
The mission of Designorati:Desktop Publishing is to provide the knowledge, tips and tricks that can help you in your day to day work.
Bruno, Elisabetta. Designorati (2005). Design>Document Design
#21866
Acrobat lets you 'pack' fonts into a PDF in three basic ways: by fully embedding, subsetting, or not embedding them. Each method differently affects a PDF file's size, editability, and typographic fidelity.
Patrick, Teri and Tamis Nordling. Adobe Magazine (1998). Design>Document Design>Typography>Adobe Acrobat
#14768
Page Design: Directing the Reader's Eye
Sevilla discusses principles of effective page design and techniques that ensure consistent document layout.
Sevilla, Christine. Intercom (2002). Articles>Document Design>Visual Rhetoric
#28331
All Web pages should be structured for ease of comprehension. This includes putting items on the page in an order that reflects their relative importance. Designers should place important items consistently, usually toward the top and center of the page. All items should be appropriately aligned on the pages. It is usually a good idea to ensure that the pages show a moderate amount of white space—too much can require considerable scrolling, while too little may provide a display that looks too 'busy.' It is also important to ensure that page layout does not falsely convey the top or bottom of the page, such that users stop scrolling prematurely.
Usability.gov (2006). Design>Web Design>Document Design
#20164
Page Layout and Sample Designs in Full Color Manuals for Japanese Users
Compared to American users, Japanese users have a tendency to prefer visually intensive manuals. This is especially true for the fill-color manual of the color copier which I am responsible for, as can be seen from the many requests and comments regarding the presentation of examples, how color is used, and the layout, It is my intent to introduce the tastes of Japanese manual readers by explaining the improvements that have been made to the visual aspects of the fill-color manual for one of our color copiers.
Mizukami, Rieko. STC Proceedings (1997). Design>Documentation>Document Design>Japan
#22509
A collection of dozens of links to online resources in page layout and desktop publishing.
#21943
Opening somebody else's PageMaker publication? Here's an explorer's guide to the discoveries and dangers that may be lurking.
Kvern, Olav Martin. Adobe Magazine (1996). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe PageMaker
#18335
PageMaker Past, Present, and Future
For millennia, humans have struggled to communicate, first with grunts and sign language, then with speech. But it was when humans learned to write that civilization became possible. First we painted on cave walls, then chiseled in stone, then wrote on more practical and portable things, like wood, papyrus, and finally paper. Hand printing ink on paper was the state of the art for hundreds of years until mechanical inventing was invented, first with engraving and then with movable type. But setting type with metal was still slow, dangerous, and difficult work. This was not dramatically changed until the twentieth century with machines like the Mergenthaler and Linotype. In 1984, the state of the art was phototypesetting on large, complex machines that were expensive and where what you was was nothing like what you would get. Then three companies -- Apple Computer, Adobe Systems, and the Aldus Corporation -- changed everything.
Adams, Peter C.S. Makingpages.org (2002). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe PageMaker
#24733
PageMaker Scripting for Non-Programmers
Scripting is simply a method of automating complex or time-consuming tasks in PageMaker.
Haugen, Diane. Document Design (2001). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe PageMaker
#12950
A PageMaker to PDF: Converting Your PageMaker Files
A three-page manual for creating Acrobat PDF files from page-layout files.
Carpenter, Amy. TECHWR-L (2009). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe PageMaker
#26510
The Pantone Matching System: Always Show Your True Colours
It can be very frustrating to see the logo you worked hard to create look deep blue on the client's letterhead, blue-greenish on his business card, and light blue on his very expensive envelopes. A way to prevent this is by using a standardized color matching system, such as the Pantone Matching System.
Bruno, Elisabetta. Designorati (2005). Design>Document Design>Prepress>Color
#21937
Paper Fits (and What to Do About Them)
Save money by designing to fit standard printing-paper sizes.
Sidles, Constance J. Adobe Magazine (1996). Design>Document Design>Prepress>Paper
#22512
Paper Tips: Printing on Uncoated Stock
Uncoated paper has a soft finish and tactile quality not possible with most coated papers. But uncoated stock also interacts differently with ink than it coated cousins. Follow these tips to ensure the best results.
Creative Pro (2004). Design>Document Design>Prepress>Paper
#23132
PDF Printing, Preflighting, and Prepress
PDF is becoming the de facto standard for not only viewing documents onscreen but also for printing them on paper. Acrobat 6 Professional includes better printing and prepress tools than ever before. PDF pundit Ted Padova shows you how they work.
Padova, Ted. Creative Pro (2004). Design>Document Design>Prepress>Adobe Acrobat
#21027
Peaks and Pitfalls of Implementing a New Documentation Strategy
In 1993, Compaq Computer Corporation ventured into a totally different market--the consumer market. Once known primarily as a company that manufactured high quality, expensive business computers through its elaborate dealer network, Compaq was faced with selling its units to consumers through retail outlets. As a result, the PC Marketing Communications department concluded that its current documentation set was not giving the students; retirees; homemakers; and small business owners, who work out of their home offices, the kind of information they needed to be productive. This led the department to the challenge of creating a new documentation set that would meet the needs of these new customers.
Clifton, Deborah, Deborah R. Crockett, Diana Jaques and Sharon B. Jones. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design
#25151
Some pearls of file output wisdom collected over the years from friends who ride imagesetters everyday.
Johal, Jasper. Design, Typography and Graphics (2004). Design>Document Design>Prepress
#31666
No discussion of printing would be complete without mentioning the variety of binding styles available. Jobs have been destroyed in the bindery due to the lack of planning or because the binding process was taken for granted.
Copresco (2001). Articles>Document Design>Finishing>Binding
