Before computers, text was set by hand, layouts were cut and pasted by hand, and every visual effect was done in the physical realm. Nowadays, computers have helped remove a lot of the tedium of design and layout. In a generic sense, computers help in the typesetting of text, the layout of pages, the editing of photographs, etc. In a more detailed sense, the precision of computers have allowed processes like letter-kerning and page flowing more automated (and perhaps less 'perfect'), and complex layouts and illustrations that would otherwise be impossible to create by hand.