Software used include such high end programs as Quark XPress and Adobe InDesign in conjunction with Photoshop. Others publish their journals with programs which are simpler and perhaps even out of date, including Pagemaker, Ready Set Go!, and Microsoft Publisher, while others make do with regular word processing programs such as Microsoft Word.
A few members still use old manual typewriters to type out their copy, and paste up their journals (sometimes with photographs), before heading for their local Kinkos or Kwik Kopy to do the actual production.
Some members enjoy controlling all facets of production, by running off the number of copies needed for the AAPA bundles themselves on color ink-jet printers or black and white laser printers. Others may have their own copiers, which they use after preparing masters on their computer and printer.
Some of our journals are rather simple in design. Others are designed with illustrations and careful attention to type selection, white space, and word spacing.
So our monthly bundles are a happy smorgasbord of personal journals, some with color and photographs, full of all sorts of prose (fiction and non-fiction), and poetry. And of course some are still published the old fashioned way with handset metal type and old hand and motorized presses. "Conversation in print" in the monthly bundles cause many of us to become better acquainted with fellow AAPA members than with our next door neighbors. Our hobby is unique, but we're just a friendly group having a good time writing, printing, and publishing — sharing our journals with other like-minded folks.
Go to the AAPA home page.
This page was last modified April 26, 2006
Initial version prepared by Les Boyer