Joining us this month is Gavin Crawford, a seasoned graphic artist and designer. He'll be showcasing his mastery of Ovation Pro, the powerful desktop publishing software he uses to create a wide range of publications from full-colour printed books to digital PDFs and eBooks.

Get a behind-the-scenes look at his process, including a demonstration of his custom applets - add-ons he developed to streamline his workflow. He's not just here to show off though; Gavin will be sharing valuable tips and tricks for other Ovation Pro users, especially now that the software is freely available.

Gavin and his wife, Susan - a knitwear designer and fashion historian, run their company from the heart of the English Lake District, where they publish knitting books and patterns under the Susan Crawford Vintage imprint, and run their own dye-house, Assa Marra Wool Studio, to produce a range of hand-dyed knitting yarns.

Gavin's journey with publishing started long before modern DTP. With over 40 years of experience in printing and publishing, he began in his family's printing company in 1985, where artwork was still created by hand on a drawing board. His love for Acorn computers led him to introduce BBC Micros to the business to run the customer database and invoicing system he wrote. A few years later, this was to be updated to an A4000 but after seeing the powerful artistic potential of Draw, he claimed the machine for the art department, but soon after upgraded to a RiscPC 600. By the end of 1994, all artwork was created digitally using RISC OS.

This deep technical expertise has been a cornerstone of his career. From overseeing a 3600dpi imagesetter to configuring Xerox digital presses, Gavin has spent decades making sure that RISC OS machines could seamlessly communicate with high-end print equipment.

The usual arrangements

Meetings are free and everyone is welcome, no booking required, just turn up at the pub. Zoom attendees contact us for the link. (If you have attended any of our previous Zoom meetings, it is the same link)

The Duke of Sussex is easily accessible by public transport from in and around London and the south east, and serves a wide range of food and drinks. All meetings benefit from a large screen display, so everyone should have a great view.

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