More and more of the research, education, and communication we deal with involves photons and electrons flying around cyberspace. Yet, a surprising amount of that data still winds up in a physical format that was invented in China in the early second century-paper.

After all, you and others are still reading this magazine, not to mention the books, brochures, white papers, and other documents that grease the wheels of society.

The Birth of Desktop Publishing

Since the invention of desktop publishing in 1985 with Aldus Page-Maker (later Adobe PageMaker), which was first used with the Apple Macintosh computer and the Apple LaserWriter printer, PCs have greatly facilitated the process of putting words and pictures on paper.

As powerful as PCs are in making you look good in print, they can be equally powerful in making you look bad. Computer journalist and pundit Mitch Ratcliffe once remarked, "A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history-with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila."

Top high-end desktop publishing programs today include QuarkXPress (http://www.quark.com) and Adobe InDesign (http://www.adobe.com), while top consumer-level programs include Microsoft Publisher (http://office.microsoft.com/publisher) and Poster Software's very affordable Publish-it (http://www.postersw.com). They all feature document templates and sometimes also include page-creation wizards that can help get you started.

Today's top word processors, such as Microsoft Word (http://office.microsoft.com), Corel WordPerfect (http://www.corel.com), and StarOffice Writer (http://www.sun .com/software/star/staroffice), are richly endowed with design features, enabling you to use them for projects that once required a desktop publishing program. However, word processors are still not as convenient as dedicated desktop publishing programs.

No matter what software you use or how much design automation it provides, you still need a modicum of design sense to avoid taking a pratfall.

A Guide to Desktop Publishing

Many books have been written to help people minimize desktop publishing mistakes, but the bible is Looking Good in Print, which was first published 15 years ago and just celebrated its sixth edition. It's the baby of Roger C. Parker, who also does consulting, training, and speaking, with a special focus in design and marketing.

Parker doesn't talk to the press, according to his publicist. That's not a very good way of looking good in print, but he no doubt believes that his books speak for themselves, and, with six editions, he's probably right.

Looking Good in Print is both succinct and comprehensive, starting with the basics before drilling down into more advanced areas. Parker covers design concepts, grids, columns, headlines, pull quotes, fonts, white space, sidebars, photos, charts, and more for newsletters, newspapers, ads, brochures, catalogs, order forms, product sheets, menus, letterhead, business cards, fax cover sheets, resumes, business reports, coupons, and more.

Some Do's and Don'ts

My favorite chapter of Looking Good in Print is "Common Pitfalls." To help us avoid making the usual desktop publishing errors, Parker offers some advice:

* Don't create "whispering" headlines that fail to stand out. Headlines should be larger and bolder than the text they introduce or they'll lead to gray and boring-looking pages.

* Don't use too many typefaces. This is still one of the oldest but most common mistakes, and it can make a desktop published work look amateurish and confusing.

* Don't overuse underlining. Bold and italic typefaces are better able to emphasize important points and don't make a page look as if it came off a typewriter.

* Don't include too many rules or boxes. These design elements break up text and facilitate reading but using too many make a page look busy and interfere with reading.

* Don't use too many text special effects. Placing text over a darkly shaded or intricately designed pattern, overusing rotated text, and including too many irregularly shaped text blocks can make a page look frivolous and make reading difficult.

* Don't create same-size photos on a page. Make the most important photo larger or readers won't know where to look first.

* Don't cram too much information into a chart. Charts are supposed to communicate visually the most important information quickly. Pie charts with more than six slices and other charts with text squeezed in defeat their purposes.

* Don't jam-pack too much information onto a page. This can make information difficult to find.

* Don't create a hole of white space within a page. White space can prevent a page from looking busy and intimidating. However, if it's trapped inside other elements, it interrupts the flow of text and graphics.

* Don't over-indent new paragraphs. Default tab settings for desktop publishing programs and word processors create unsightly indents, particularly for narrower columns.

You can find more free tips, perhaps all the information you need, at Parker's Web site (http://www.newentrepreneur.com).