Desktop Publishing : Importing

Desktop publishing packages will let you assemble work from a variety of other packages into one document. For example :

• Text stories can be written in a word processor.
• Illustrations can be produced in a graphics package.
• Charts and tables can be produced in a spreadsheet.

The work produced in each of these packages can be brought into the desktop publisher which is used to lay out the information on the page as you want it to appear. A user may choose to produce work in another package rather than directly using a desktop publisher as the other package may offer better features than the desktop publisher. For example a spreadsheet will probably be capable of producing better charts than a DTP program could.

The process of bringing work produced in another package into a DTP program is known as importing.

Importing can be achieved by either copying and pasting data from one package to another or loading a file produced by another package into the desktop publisher. Desktop publishers will usually import files produced by a wide variety of other packages.

Sometimes special standard file formats such as Rich Text Format (RTF) or JPEG graphic file formats are useful. Most packages can output information in one of these common formats. All desktop publishers will be able to import information in these formats.

Hardware devices such as a scanner or a digital camera are often used to transfer pictures onto a computer for use in desktop published documents.

GCSE ICT Companion 04 - (C) P Meakin 2004