I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I don’t plan these columns in advance. Most months, I receive an email from newspaper industry executive Jack Guza remi.... Read More

As I write this, I’ve just returned from a trip to Marysville, Kansas, where I worked with the staff of The Marysville Advocate on their new design, which went to the pr.... Read More

Excuse my repetition, but for those who didn't read my column last month titled, "Planning for Adobe Type 1 Conundrum in January," there is a storm brewing, and it's not comin.... Read More

In 1849, French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote, “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.” (The more things change, the more they stay the.... Read More

I’m not that old. Seriously, I’m not. But in my work with newspapers, I’ve worked with so many younger people that I sometimes feel like Yoda (for you Star W.... Read More

In all, these videos include 4.5 hours of training for everyone on your staff. Topics include: Designing (and redesigning) better pages Creating more effective ads to imp.... Read More

I had a great time last month, as I got out a little more to visit newspapers in multiple states. What I learned inspired, invigorated, and reminded me of much that is going w.... Read More

It’s late as I write this column, just around midnight. There’s nothing unusual about that. I tend to write my columns, stories, and books late in the evening. App.... Read More

Redesigns. They’ve been on my mind a lot lately. When Ed Henninger, the undisputed guru of newspaper and magazine design, decided to retire three years ago (I never rea.... Read More

In my end-of-year column last month, I mentioned that newspapers and magazines are uniquely positioned to utilize government grants to pay for on-site training. I first became.... Read More

Sometimes I'm in a quandary when it comes to deciding the topic for my column. So today, I took to Facebook - you've probably heard of it - and asked journalists to key in wit.... Read More

It’s been a while since I’ve answered questions from my inbox. Let’s take a look and see what’s on the mind of readers this month: From Sherry in Tennessee Hello Kevin, Is.... Read More

Definition: Underwriter "One who assumes financial responsibility for; guarantee against failure. To insure against losses." Hardly a day goes by that I don’t get a call or m.... Read More

My 13-year-old son received an iPod Touch for Christmas this year. I know my son. Probably as well as I’ve ever known anyone. And I knew, given time, he would lose his expensi.... Read More

They say that even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while ... My inbox was filled with notes from publishers across the states who were writing to congratulate me on cor.... Read More

It’s that time of year again. Fall means lots of road trips to conventions and training events. One of the things I really enjoy when speaking at a conference is the chance to.... Read More

It was with much fanfare that Adobe released the sixth version of Creative Suite. With new versions of InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop and more, newspaper designers and publi.... Read More

You’ve heard me say it time and time again. Julie, in Minnesota, even wrote to me a couple of years ago to thank me for “saving her life” after convincing her to add backup dr.... Read More

It’s been an interesting few weeks. In five out of six cities, chairs had to be added to the rooms to accommodate attendees. In New York, I received spontaneous applause when.... Read More

I haven’t pulled out the mail bag in a while. Let’s see what readers have on their minds these days: Let’s start with a text from Tammy in Minnesota Kevin, we need your.... Read More

Sept. 30, 2003 As Kramer, of Seinfield fame, would say,

Three of the top plug-in makers and one of the largest stock imagery companies have partnered together to create a unique bundle of products being marketed as The Big 4 Graphi.... Read More

Advanced Photoshop users, a group which includes a lot of newspaper designers, deal with the process of masking quite often. Masking is the process of selecting, then erasing,.... Read More

For those who have been patiently awaiting the long-anticipated release of the latest incarnation of QuarkXPress, there is good news and bad news. The good news, for Mac users.... Read More

There has been such a plethora of software hitting the shelves over the past few months that I haven

This has been quite a month for publishing software. My mailbox has been filled almost daily with new titles and new versions of popular software and hardware for newspaper de.... Read More

Morrison SoftDesign recently updated its signature product, FontDoctor, to version 5.5. FontDoctor is the industry standard software for font problem diagnosis and repair on t.... Read More

Over the years, I

Fourteen years ago, Kevin Slimp started working with a new technology being developed by Adobe Systems to create files which could be designed in one location, then sent to an.... Read More

Peachpit Press has released a new book for QuarkXPress users making the move to Adobe InDesign. While Quark is still the dominant player in our industry, InDesign is gaining p.... Read More