I have to admit that I am one of those people for whom the boom in desktop publishing has been both a blessing and a curse. As a self-confessed lover of paper, office supplies and all things having to do with the “desk”—being able to print and process from a home computer is one of the things I love most about this modern life! I thought in the spirit of Traci’s article about experiencing joy in our home-based businesses, I might celebrate some of the pleasures and my appreciation of desktop publishing…
Being able to print and publish makes it possible for me to do my own invoices, stationery, booklets, brochures, etc. It doesn’t seem too long ago that if I needed any work done for an event or project; I would need to go through a professional printer. Now, I can save money and time printing table signs, programs, and other “published” items from my own home computer. Of course, it is still necessary to weigh the costs of paper, ink, time, etc. with what it would cost to have the same work done by a professional printing house. Fortunately, I am usually working on such a small scale that it makes sense for me to do it myself. That is doubly true when it comes to printing things off in color. Getting color copies printed professionally (or even at a Kinko’s) is far more expensive than printing them off on my own desktop printer.
Of course, just because we can all print and publish our own documents doesn’t mean we SHOULD. I once had a conversation with a graphic artist who said she thought each private citizen should be allowed only three different choices of “fonts” on their home computers until they proved they could use them well. Then, they would be granted one more at a time to keep them “out of trouble.” By this, she meant that just because we all have access to a hundred fonts, clip art and various borders, doesn’t mean we all know what we’re doing when it comes to design. I readily acknowledge that I’m not a designer and let clients know that if they want documents and packets that are professionally produced; they need to work with a graphic artist or designer. Simple stuff I can make look decent, fancy stuff, I surely can’t promise classy, professional results.
All in all, I love being able to have a little fun printing documents from my home computers. It’s one of those little joys and pleasures that sustain me when I’m plugging away at working from home!