Desktop Publishing, involves the use of a computer and specialized software to combine text and graphics to create a document that can be printed on a laser postscript printer, proofed on a IRIS proofer.Desktop publishing is a multiple-step process involving various types of software and equipment. The original text and illustrations are generally produced with software such as word processors and drawing and painting programs and with photograph-scanning equipment and digitizers.

The finished product is then transferred to a page-makeup program, which is the software most people think of as the actual desktop-publishing software. This type of program enables the user to lay out text and graphics on the screen and see what the results will be; for refining parts of the document, these programs often include word-processing and graphics features in addition to layout capabilities. As a final step, the finished document is proofed either on a laser printer or, for the best quality, by an IRIS proofer.