With regard to online DTP instruction, I'm surprised that noone has said it has already been done! For example, go to http://desktoppub.about.com/od/desktoppublishing/u/Basics_and_Beyond.htm and then check out the rest of the site. There are extensive tutorials. See http://desktoppub.about.com/od/desktoppublishing/u/Tasks_and_Techniques.htm
If you read the abundant material on the site (including a detailed section on newsletters) and then follow links you'll find there, I can't imagine that there would be a lot more to cover in a basic course. There are books aplenty about design, typography, and graphic design. I haven't kept up with what's become available in the last couple of years, but the books by Robin Williams have been around for years and are understandable by beginners. In fact, they're specifically geared to "nondesigners." Robin is a "she" and not the actor/comedian. What you don't get from these general online courses is a tie-in between the principles you are learning and Scribus. The principles have to come first. I always cringe when someone without the first idea of how to handle design and type assumes you can just pick up Scribus or some other DTP app and once you learn the basics of using the software, you can then inflict your horrid typography and ghastly design on the world.<g> When I was forced by my position as head of a small nonprofit organization to put out newsletters, booklets, pamphlets, flyers, posters, and press announcements, I realized almost immediately that I didn't know enough to do a decent job. So I signed up for a non-credit graphic design certificate program at a local community college. Though the program was quite basic, I knew a whole lot more when I finished than when I started. Not that one's education ends there. You can spend your whole life on this and still have more to learn. None of the courses in the graphic design program were program-specific. When you know the principles, you can apply them no matter what software you are using. I think an online course that assumed I knew design basics and concentrated on how to apply them using Scribus is a good idea. I probably wouldn't take it, though, because I'd rather just read online help and/or a book. It's always good to be able to ask questions and get feedback from instructors and fellow participants, but we do have this forum, so it seems like a bit of duplication. --Judy M. USA Registered Linux User #397786 Being productive with VectorLinux 6.0 SOHO
