What Software Do You Need to Publish a Book?

Once upon a time, publishing a book took a lot of people with a lot of skills. From the writer to the editor, from the typesetter to the printer, many people and a lot of equipment were involved. Today, anyone can write, edit, design and publish a book from the desktop with the right computer and software and some basic knowledge.

History

When personal computers first appeared in the mid-1970s, the basic uses were word processing and math. On the Apple II computer, the application software that really made the computer useful was VisiCalc, a spreadsheet. The program made accounting and budgeting easier and faster. On the Apple Macintosh computer, PageMaker was introduced in the mid-1980s by Aldus Corp. It took the concept of publication design and reduced it into one clean software package. This one piece of software revolutionized publishing at all levels, not just at home.

Significance

PageMaker has long since has been put to rest, largely because the makers refused to change it to modern standards. It was purchased by Adobe, but gradually phased out in favor of InDesign. Following in the wake of PageMaker's initial success, a variety of desktop publishing software appeared. These included Publish It!; Ready, Set, Go!; and QuarkXPress. Other higher-end packages, such as Interleaf Publisher and FrameMaker, were short-lived, largely because they were too complex and refused to yield to advances in the form. The two that emerged as the best were InDesign and QuarkXPress, the latter capturing the majority of the market.

Function

To publish a book, anyone or any business needs a few tools. The best system for desktop publishing remains the Apple Macintosh. It is far easier to use than the Windows-based PC and the software is far more elegant. For an intensive project like a book, you need at least an iMac. If you are going to do many books, a Mac Pro or a MacBook Pro is better. You need a lot of random access memory (RAM) and a fast processor to keep the work flow moving and avoid freezes.

Types

QuarkXPress, without a doubt, is the best desktop publishing software on the market. As of version 7.0, it allows multiple users to work on the same project, it has both low-end and high-end output that allows users to print themselves on nearly any printer or to create a file that can be printed by professional presses. It imports graphics and text from most other software packages and it outputs directly to portable document format (PDF) or encapsulate postscript files (EPS). QuarkXPress does have a learning curve, but without question is the best software to produce a professional-level book.

Benefits

Other software needed includes a good word processor. This can be Microsoft Word or Pages (part of Apple's iWork software suite). It is possible to write directly into QuarkXPress, but it isn't as smooth and most people are familiar with word processors. Also, the spell checker in QuarkXPress isn't the best available. Using a familiar word processor is smart and makes initial editing easier.

Potential

If the book needs illustrations or photographs, an additional software package is needed. For illustrations, the standard is Adobe Illustrator, but it really needs someone very well-versed and skilled to use it. It isn't something that can be picked up easily for the novice. Adobe Photoshop is much easier to use than Illustrator, at least for basic photo formatting and manipulation. It is the standard in publishing and allows files to be saved in a variety of formats, including tagged image file format (TIFF), which is the best photo format for most printing applications.