Diploma in Desktop Publishing

Course details

The aim of this evening course is to give the course participants the advanced skills and knowledge required to work in a Desktop Publishing/Graphic Design environment. The structure of the course is practically orientated. The participants will be shown the techniques used to create and edit complex publications using industry standard software applications. They will also be shown how to prepare publications for submission to commercial printers.

The course content will involve the students working through pre-defined exercises that are designed to highlight a particular area or technique. The participants will be provided with exercise files for this purpose. They will be encouraged to bring their own work to the class and work on any particular project or assignment they are interested in during the course.

The course is aimed at people who are looking to develop their skills in the graphic design area for professional reasons. These people will wish to develop and extend their skills and knowledge for either their present work situations or with a view to moving into other areas. It is also aimed at people who wish to learn about graphic design for personal reasons. These people might be interested in learning the various graphic design packages for the purposes of starting out in a new career or extending their hobby in photography or digital printing.

Adobe Photoshop

This module will introduce the students to the Photoshop software package. This is the industry standard software application for photograph manipulation and editing. The module will cover an introduction to the basic tools and techniques used in this programme as well as introducing the more advanced tools used in photographic editing.

The main areas that will be covered include:

• Exporting Images
• Editing and Repairing Images
• Using the Photoshop Repair Tools
• Selecting objects in a photograph
• Using the various selection tools
• Using Advanced selection techniques
• Working with Colours and Colour Palettes
• Working with Gradients and patterns
• Working with Layers
• Using Layer Styles
• Introduction to Masks and Masking techniques
• Working with Adjustment Layers
• Creating and editing vector paths and masks
• Creating composite images
• Removing backgrounds from images
• Inserting Text in an Image
• Applying special effects to text using Layer Styles
• Working with the Photoshop Filters
• Creating actions, droplets and batch processing
• Using Photoshop with other DTP Packages
• Understanding file formats
• Creating a file for publication in Photoshop

Adobe Illustrator

This module introduces the students to the Adobe Illustrator work environment and to the concept of vector art and design. The module will cover the basic Illustrator tools and menu options. The students will be shown the similarities and differences between Illustrator and Photoshop and how to choose the correct package for a particular job.

The main areas that will be covered include:

• Changing the stacking order of shapes
• Working with the stroke and fill attributes
• Using the Pencil Tool
• Modifying lines using the Smooth and Erase Tools
• Introduction to using the Pen Tool
• Drawing straight lines with the Pen Tool
• Drawing curves with the Pen Tool
• Drawing complex shapes using the Pen Tool
• Working with Paths
• Working with Layers in Illustrator
• Working with Colour and Swatches
• Working with Pantone Colours
• Creating Gradient Swatches
• Using the Mesh Tool to create colour blends
• Applying 3D effects
• Working with Text in Illustrator
• Adjusting leading/kerning/tracking
• Importing Photoshop Images to Illustrator
• Using the Effects and Filters Menus
• Perspective Drawing
• Tracing raster images
• Using Live Trace and Live Paint
• Creating Slices for web graphics
• Using graphs
• Saving and Exporting Files

Adobe InDesign

This module covers the use of Adobe InDesign to create multi-page documents. The module covers the differences between InDesign and Photoshop and Illustrator. The students will be shown how to use InDesign to bring together work for the other applications to create a completed publication.

The main areas that will be covered include:

• Inserting Text Frames on a page
• Creating automated type styles
• Advanced Frame Techniques
• Methods of inserting text on a page
• Flowing text from frame to frame
• Formatting Text Frames
• Typography
• Typing on a Path
• Working with Character and Paragraph Styles
• Working with Images
• Inserting Images on a page
• Applying effects to objects on a page
• Working with Colours and Swatches
• Working with Pantone Colours
• Creating a gradient swatch
• Creating a Table
• Modifying a Table
• Formatting a Table
• Working with Tabs
• Using the Spellchecker
• Working with Books
• Pre-flight and Package
• Saving your documents
• Creating print ready files

Adobe Acrobat

This module covers the use of Adobe Acrobat as an editorial and proofreading tool. It covers the creation of pdf documents both from the other Adobe packages and also from Microsoft Office documents. It also covers the editing and collaboration features of Acrobat and how it can be used in a work environment.

The main areas that will be covered include:

• Creating a pdf document from multiple file formats
• Adding headers and Footers to a document
• Placing Watermarks on a document
• Adding Stamps to pages
• Colour management
• Printing colour separations
• Using the Acrobat Editorial Tools
• Adding comments to a document
• Direct editing of text
• Creating Bookmarks for a document
• Using the Articles Palette
• Inserting Hyperlinks
• Working with Forms
• Securing a document
• Formatting the appearance of a document
• Using Digital Signatures

Bring It All Together

In this module the students are given the opportunity to bring together everything they have covered during the course and work on actual documents. This part of the course focuses on deciding on which application to use for a particular task and then bringing each design element together in the finished publication.

The main areas that will be covered include:

• Integrating Photoshop and Illustrator files in an InDesign document
• Saving and exporting files in different formats
• Pre-flight and Package of finished documents
• Reviewing a final proof
• Making last minute changes to a document
• Printing instructions for a document

Overview Dublin:

Mature Students - If you are 23 years or over from the 1st January of this year, you can apply for this course directly using the College’s online application form. A member of the College’s admissions team will be in touch to discuss your course entry requirements. Under 23 Years - 5 Ordinary Level, Grade D3s or above in your Leaving Certificate (subjects to include Maths and a language) or equivalent exam taken. All applicants must be a user of Microsoft Office. The prerequisite to attending the Diploma level is that you have completed the Certificate in DeskTop Publishing course.