132 Graphic Communications
copy. These include ink-jet and laser printers that
produce copies on paper, and imagesetter and
computer to plate equipment that outputs fi nal fi lm or
printing plates.
Monitors
As content is entered using a keyboard or other
input device, it is almost instantly processed by the
computer and displayed on a monitor. The software
used for word processing and page layout on computer
systems provides a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What
You Get) display on the monitor, Figure 7-8. Monitors
used for page layout are usually large enough (17″–
21″ diagonal measure) to display an entire page, or
even two page layouts.
In addition to display size, resolution and dot
pitch are important characteristics to consider when
choosing a monitor. The resolution is a monitor’s
ability to show fi ne detail and is stated in the number of
pixels lined up across and down the screen. A typical
high-resolution monitor has 1280 pixels horizontally
across the screen and 1024 pixels vertically; this is
expressed as 1280 × 1024. The resolution of monitors
used in graphic communications range from 1024 ×
768 to 1600 × 1280, or even higher. Dot pitch is a
measurement of the vertical distance between rows
of pixels on the monitor. The distance is expressed in
fractions of a millimeter (stated in decimal form), with
the image quality becoming crisper as the fraction
becomes smaller.
A color monitor uses the additive color
formation, based on the combination of red,
green, and blue (RGB) to form white light. This
creates a problem for the desktop publisher who is
trying to achieve a WYSIWYG color environment.
Since colors are displayed in RGB, it is diffi cult to
match the printed results of a subtractive color
environment. In the subtractive color formation,
cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) inks
are combined to produce the printed image. This
means that full-color representations of images on a
monitor and on a printed sheet are achieved through
different principles. To overcome this problem, a
color management system (CMS) is installed to
provide a monitor display that is closer to a CMYK
representation of the fi nal printed product. This
software provides a WYSIWYP (What You See Is
What You Print) display.
Printers
For proofi ng text, graphics, and page layouts, a
printer is used to produce a hard copy on paper. The
resolution of a printed image is measured in dots per inch
(dpi) and ranges from 300 dpi (or less) to 1200 dpi (or
higher), depending on the type and quality of printer.
In some cases, fi nal copy or page layouts can be
output by a high-resolution laser or ink-jet printer to
achieve quality suffi cient for short-run reproduction
by lithographic or xerographic methods.
Figure 7-7. A fl atbed scanner is commonly used to
convert photographs, pages of type, or other printed
materials into digital form. Optical Character
Recognition (OCR) software is used for typed or
printed originals.
Figure 7-8. The WYSIWYG monitor display provides
the user with a very close approximation of how
material will appear when printed out. The screen in
this fi gure is displaying an edited image. This image
can later be exported to a page layout program, where
it may be altered further, as needed.