This unit applies to individuals employed in a range of work environments who require well developed skills in desktop publishing. They may be individuals providing administrative support within an enterprise, or others responsible for the production of their own documents.

ELEMENT

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

1. Prepare to produce desktop published documents

1.1. Use safe work practices including addressing ergonomic requirements and using work organisation strategies

1.2. Use energy and resource conservation techniques

1.3. Identify document purpose, audience, presentation and final output requirements, and clarify with relevant personnel as required

1.4. Identify organisational and task requirements for desktop published documents to ensure consistency of style and image

2. Design desktop published documents

2.1. Design document to enhance readability and appearance, according to organisational and task requirements

2.2. Determine document type and assess production and design requirements

2.3. Set up and use master pages, templates and styles to ensure consistency of design and layout

2.4. Set up colour palettes according to organisational and task requirements

3. Create desktop published documents

3.1. Prepare, format and enter required text

3.2. Import text from other applications and resolve any formatting issues

3.3. Scan or import graphics from other applications and resolve any formatting issues

3.4. Use complex software functions to arrange text and graphics on page, according to organisational and task requirements

4. Finalise desktop published documents

4.1. Ensure pages. and combined graphics and text are composed correctly, to suit organisational and task requirements

4.2. Check that numerical sequencing and laydown of document is correct, to meet binding and finishing requirements

4.3. Incorporate bleed allowance in margins and borders

5. Produce desktop published documents

5.1. Review text for possible errors and omissions, and resolve any issues

5.2. Produce completed document in line with required final output

5.3. Name and store text documents, in accordance with organisational requirements and exit the application without information loss/damage

5.4. Prepare text documents within designated time lines and organisational requirements for speed and accuracy

5.5. Use manuals, user documentation and online help to overcome problems with document design and production

Required skills

communication skills to clarify requirements of documents

culturally appropriate communication skills to relate to people from diverse backgrounds and people with diverse abilities

editing and proofreading skills to check own work for accuracy against original

keyboarding skills to enter text and numerical data

literacy skills to read and understand organisation's procedures and to use models or exemplars to produce a range of documents

problem-solving skills to edit documents and to resolve issues of consistency of design.

Required knowledge

formatting styles and their effect on formatting, readability and appearance of documents

organisational requirements for ergonomics, work periods and breaks, and energy and resource conservation techniques

purposes, uses and functions of desktop publishing software

organisational style guide.

The Evidence Guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package.

Overview of assessment

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit

Evidence of the following is essential:

applying document design and layout principles

producing complex desktop published documents.

Context of and specific resources for assessment

Assessment must ensure:

access to office equipment and resources

access to samples of desktop published documents.

Method of assessment

A range of assessment methods should be used to assess practical skills and knowledge. The following examples are appropriate for this unit:

direct questioning combined with review of portfolios of evidence and third party workplace reports of on-the-job performance by the candidate

review of authenticated documents from the workplace or training environment

demonstration of techniques in a workplace or simulated environment

oral or written questioning to assess knowledge of desktop publishing software functions.

Guidance information for assessment

Holistic assessment with other units relevant to the industry sector, workplace and job role is recommended, for example:

other information and communications technologyunits.

The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included.

Ergonomic requirements may include:

avoiding radiation from computer screens

chair height, seat and back adjustment

document holder

footrest

keyboard and mouse position

lighting

noise minimisation

posture

screen position

workstation height and layout

Work organisation strategies may include:

exercise breaks

mix of repetitive and other activities

rest periods

Energy and resource conservation techniques may include:

double-sided paper use

recycling used and shredded paper

re-using paper for rough drafts (observing confidentiality requirements)

utilising power-save options for equipment

Document purpose may include using:

call outs

captions

concordance files

different odd and even pages

document protection

drawing

forms with fields

hyperlinks

long documents

linked or embedded objects

mail merge data documents

master documents

MS WordArt

multiple headers and footers

multiple sections

multiple users

primary mail merge documents

subdocuments

templates

Final output may include:

electronic publishing

printed document

professionally printed document

web services

Organisational and task requirements may include:

company colour scheme

company logo

consistent corporate image

content restrictions

established guidelines and procedures for document production

house styles

master pages

observing copyright legislation

organisation name, time, date, document title, filename or other fields in headers or footers

sheet size

style sheets

templates

Design may include:

balance

boxes

colour

columns

diversity

drawing

graphics

headings

letter and memo conventions

page layout

photographs

relative positioning of graphics and headings

simplicity

text flow

typeface

typography

white space

Consistency of design may include:

annotated references

borders

bullet/ number lists

captions

consistency with other business documents

footnotes and endnotes

indentations

kerning and leading

page numbers

spacings

typeface styles and point size

Complex software functions may include:

data transfer

display features

embedding

exporting

fields

form fields

formulae

importing

index

linking

macros

merge criteria

sort criteria

table of contents

templates

Naming and storing text documents may include:

authorised access

file or folder names which identify the operator, author, section, date

filing locations

file names according to organisational procedure

file names which are easily identifiable in relation to the content

organisational policy for backing up files storage in folders and sub-folders

organisational policy for filing hard copies of documents

security and password protection

storage on disk drives, CD-ROM, USBs, tape or server back-up

Designated time lines may include:

time line agreed with interna or external client

time line agreed with supervisor or person requiring document

organisational time line e.g. deadline requirements

Unit sector

Information and Communications Technology - IT Use

This unit contains employability skills.