free desktop publishing software for nonprofits

If you've ever looked for a public-domain book, you are probably familiar with Project Gutenberg. By the late Middle Ages, commercial scriptoria in cities were competing with the small-shop cloisters and monasteries.įrom the story of illuminated manuscripts we can see the importance of advance planning in thoughtful layout design, and the inevitability of commercialization and mass production. The medieval publishers showed specialization in splitting the duties of the rubricators (who filled in the red text), illuminators (the illustrators-forerunners of today's graphic designers), and other scribes and artists. The work process of the manuscript creators sounds remarkably modern: they would plan the overall layout of the page, including the ornately decorated drop capital and the decorative border, then they would draw straight lines on the parchment or vellum where the text would go. When planning your business's layout design strategy, will you be ahead of the curve? Related: How visual stimulation improves client retention Illuminated manuscriptsĮarly examples of beautiful page layouts can be found in medieval illuminated manuscripts. However, the nuts and bolts of desktop publishing are undergoing a revolution on par with the changes precipitated by Gutenberg. The overarching goals of publishers haven't changed, though-to find an audience and communicate an important message. What was once the provenance of monasteries spread to the office, and later, personal computers. From its roots in the Middle Ages, layout design has evolved significantly.

Free desktop publishing software for nonprofits