Desktop Options Out There

Five years ago, Sandra Fields launched a medical transcription company in Pasadena. But today, 75% of her business is desktop publishing projects such as designing resumes, brochures and greeting cards.

Fields started experimenting with desktop publishing to promote her own business, At Your Service Transcription. She printed fliers to advertise her new company and invitations to a grand-opening party. When admirers learned that she made them herself, they became clients.

Like Fields, many desktop publishers work independently. But others work at small companies or in the marketing and publishing departments of Fortune 500 companies. It’s a career that exists in almost every part of the economy and can accommodate almost any level of computer experience.

There is no reliable count of the number of desktop publishers. The National Assn. of Desktop Publishers in Topsfield, Mass., claims 35,000 members, but the total number is believed to run into the hundreds of thousands. And it continues to grow as new kinds of media, such as CD-ROMs and Web sites, are brought into the desktop publishing fold.

“They can do so much now,” said Marta Dils, senior editor of the Desktop Publishers Journal, which is produced by the trade association. “They can do newsletters, annual reports, create art, make logos, posters and all kinds of things for the Internet.”

A small desktop publishing business can generate annual revenue of $20,000 to $80,000 or more, while corporate America spends billions of dollars a year on desktop publishing products, according to industry experts.

Artists, writers, journalists, graphic designers and video editors are all drawn to desktop publishing, which relies more on creative skills than computer expertise. Getting into the game can be as inexpensive as purchasing a personal computer and a page layout program such as Microsoft Publisher, QuarkXpress or Adobe PageMaker for a total of less than $2,000. Useful accessories include a word processor for creating text and Adobe Illustrator for drawing pictures.

“It’s not that different from creating a plain product,” Fields said. “You add graphics, change the fonts and put in some clip art.”

For the most part, the software is easy to learn by “clicking around” and experimenting with different features. Sophisticated programs such as Adobe Photoshop, an image editor, are taught by private companies, community colleges and university extension programs. And scores of books are available to explain the ins and outs of the software.

The Internet is also becoming a powerful tool for desktop publishers. Text can be sent via e-mail. Content can be researched by visiting sites on the World Wide Web. Clip art and stock photos can be browsed courtesy of new services such as Publisher’s Depot (https://publishersdepot.com), a Web site where visitors can download images 24 hours a day and pay by credit card.

All of which makes it easier for newcomers to join the field.

“Just about anybody can do this,” Dils said.

* Karen Kaplan covers technology and careers for The Times. She can be reached via e-mail at karen.kaplan@latimes.com