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Gene Gable

Gene Gable has spent a lifetime in publishing and the graphic arts and is currently a technology consultant and writer. After a decade in commercial typesetting and design services, he chronicled the desktop-publishing revolution from his post as publisher and president of Publish magazine. With nine international editions, Publishbecame the leading global resource on the use of digital technology for print and Web production. Gable served on the operational boards of International Data Group's PCWorld and PC Games magazines and was earlier publisher of Sporting Times magazine.


During his tenure at Ziff-Davis Gable was on the executive team responsible for major business events such as Comdex, Networld+Interop and JavaOne. As president of Seybold Seminars and publisher of The Seybold Report from 1999 to 2002, Gable managed a global slate of conferences, trade shows and other graphic-arts educational products. During his leadership Seybold events featured prominent speakers such as Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of the New York Times, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer, Christie Hefner, president of Playboy Enterprises, Bruce Chizen, CEO of Adobe Systems, and Daniel Carp, CEO of Eastman Kodak.


Gable has spoken at events around the world and currently serves as chair for the automated-publishing track at the Gilbane Conference on Content Management. Gable has written extensively on graphic design, intellectual-property rights, and publishing production in books and for magazines such as Print, U&lc, ID, Macworld, Graphic Exchange, AGI, and The Seybold Report. Gable's interest in graphic design history and letterpress printing has resulted in his columns Heavy Metal Madness and Scanning Around with Gene here on CreativePro.com.

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Scanning Around With Gene: A Thanksgiving Day Parade of Images

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on November 25, 2008

Perhaps more a meal than a real holiday, Thanksgiving is a unique American tradition. And now we all get to sit at the adult table!

Scanning Around with Gene: A Normal Day in Dallas Turns Tragic

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on November 20, 2008

It was 45 years ago November 22 that an assassin's bullet brought America to a standstill. For those who lived through that event, the images are both stark and unforgettable.

Scanning Around With Gene: Oodles and Oodles of White-House Poodles

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on November 13, 2008

The First Family’s search for a hypoallergenic dog could lead to America’s first Poodle-in-Chief. Not a pretty thought.

Scanning Around With Gene: Lasting Love

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on November 7, 2008

How does a World War II-era scrapbook relate to present-day California legislation?

Scanning Around With Gene: Vote Like Your Life Depends on It!

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on October 31, 2008

Of all the liberties this country is founded on, none have been more contested or more valued than the right to vote. Here’s a quick look back on some images in the struggle for voting rights.

Review: Adobe InDesign CS4

Reviews: Written by Gene Gable on October 30, 2008

Of all the major components in Adobe’s latest Creative Suite, InDesign may have the fewest whiz-bang changes on the surface. But look deeper and you'll see that Adobe has once again set the stage for how publishing can evolve.

Scanning Around with Gene: And Leave the Driving to Us!

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on October 24, 2008

Economic bad times may force some of us to take a second look at traveling by bus, a transportation alternative that once enjoyed a considerably better image than it does today.

Scanning Around with Gene: Let’s All Pile in the Station Wagon!

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on October 17, 2008

Before mini-vans and SUVs, the preferred method of family transportation was the station wagon, complete with folding way-back seats, domed roofs, and cool names.

Scanning Around With Gene: Kitchen-Table Wisdom

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on October 10, 2008

Kitchen tables are the hub of many family homes, especially during tough times. But not only the tables have changed -- so have the discussions around them.

Scanning Around With Gene: Our Love/Hate Relationship with the Atom

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on October 3, 2008

For the generations that grew up in the 1950s and '60s, the threat of nuclear annihilation was tempered by the promise of the atom as a new best friend.

Scanning Around With Gene: In Debates, the Tie Makes the Man

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on September 26, 2008

Presidential debates are one of the few remaining places where, at least for the men, neckties are not considered optional. Does the choice of tie say anything about a candidate?

Scanning Around With Gene: Occasional Oddball Image Roundup

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on September 19, 2008

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a bunch of strange, odd, unusual, dated, or otherwise worth-looking-at images with no particular theme.

Scanning Around With Gene: The Dead Letterhead Department

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on September 12, 2008

It doesn’t seem that long ago that the single most important piece of collateral in company branding was the letterhead. Now it’s mostly a ceremonial item dragged out on special occasions only, like that black dress or suit you wear to funerals.

Scanning Around With Gene: Conventional Badges of Honor

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on September 4, 2008

Whether political, religious or commercial, there's one thing about conventions that hasn't changed over the years: Everyone gets a badge.

Scanning Around with Gene: Dinner Time Is TV Time

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on September 1, 2008

Easy-to-prepare meals, folding tables, and the television converged to move Americans away from the dinner table and into the living room.

Scanning Around with Gene: The Best Type Book with No Typesetting

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on August 21, 2008

The 1927 edition of Studio Handbook by Samuel Welo is 233 pages of beautiful type and timeless design advice. Only this book comes with a twist – every page was hand-lettered by Welo.

Scanning Around with Gene: Three Cheers for Good Old Dad!

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on August 14, 2008

The discovery of a small envelope full of cherished memories can provide important clues to someone's life. Especially if they were saved by your father.

Review: QuarkXPress 8

Reviews: Written by Gene Gable on August 8, 2008

QuarkXPress users will welcome many of the changes in XPress 8, and may even delight in a few of them.

Scanning Around With Gene: How to Look Like a Real Photographer

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on August 5, 2008

There was a time not so long ago when taking a picture meant holding the camera in front of your face, not at arm's length.

Scanning Around With Gene: The Almost-Lost Art of Decal Printing

Blog: Written by Gene Gable on July 31, 2008

Still active on the North Side of Chicago, Duro Art Supply has a rich graphic history dating back to the early 1940s, when its all-lacquer transfer decals were state-of-the-art.