Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of Office 2003 XML is a Malay palm civet (Viverra tangalunga). These mammals are native to the Malay peninsula, including parts of Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, and Malaysia. Like other palm civets, the Malay is around 17-28 inches long with a tail length of 16-26 inches. It weighs from 3 to 10 pounds, and their its color ranges from gray to brown. The markings on its face resemble those of a raccoon. The civet has four anal glands that it uses to expel an extremely strong-smelling secretion that is used to discourage attackers. This musk was once used by perfume makers in their products. However, animal rights groups objected to the cruel harvesting process and most manufacturers now use synthetic alternatives to approximate the scent.

Civets are nocturnal and prefer wooded areas where they can sleep in trees during the day. At night, they hunt for small vertebrates, insects, fruits, and seeds, which they wash down with palm juice. This juice is called "toddy" by the natives, so civets are often referred to as "toddy cats." They are also extremely fond of coffee, and usually ingest the ripest and reddest coffee beans available. They eat only the outer covering of the bean; the rest of it passes through their digestive process unscathed. These excreted beans are then used to roast the world's most expensive and rarest coffee, Kopi Luwak. Philip Dangler was the production editor and proofreader, and Jane Ellin was the copyeditor for Office 2003 XML. Emily Quill and Darren Kelly provided quality control. Angela Howard wrote the index.

Emma Colby designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from Royal Natural History. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was converted by Joe Wizda to FrameMaker 5.5.6 with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Philip Dangler.

Whenever possible, our books use a durable and flexible lay-flat binding. If the page count exceeds this binding's limit, perfect binding is used.