7. DESIGN... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are two things to consider when designing something for publication. The first is the idea that you are trying to convey. The second is the reader. If you understand what it is you are trying to convey and to whom, you will find it much easier to design a suitable publication. Consider the effect that design has on you as a reader. For example, when you read a newspaper, do you read everything? Probably not. You scan headlines and read articles that look interesting. What draws your eye to an article or advertisement? More often than not, it is an attractive layout, a striking illustration, or an interesting headline. On the printed page form and content are forever linked. When it comes to catching the eye of a reader the way the infornation is presented can be as vital as the informlation itself. Printed communication is a dialogue between the reader and the publisher, client, or author. The quality of the publication's design can affect the reader's choice as much as can their personal interests. An advedising agency spends most of its time creating a concept and a graphic design that makes their ad stand out from all others yet still convey a specific message. If you want a message to reach more readers, spend as much time on the presentation of the message as on the rnessage itself. This is not to suggest that you substitute design for content. Attractive typography and layout show respect for the reader's needs, it makes reading more pleasurable and productive, and this gives your client the best value for his or her money. This section discusses typography, page layout, and design from this perspective. As a desktop publisher, you want your documents to be read. By taking the time to improve your layout skills your creations will be more popular with your readers. This section begins with the basics of typography, and continues on to discuss effective page layout. TYPOGRAPHY ~~~~~~~~~~ In Professional Page, typography can be changed at any point in the body text. TYpography includes the typeface, size, style, kerning, line spacing, baseline shifts, hyphenation, and justification. All typography attributes can be set in Professional Page's text editor. Many of the attributes can also be set by embedding format codes in the word processor's text (see Appendix F: Formatting Text). Typography is used in the text editor in two ways: * In block mode: Once a block of text is marked (see "Text" in the Using Professional Page section), the typography of the first character in the block is reflected in the Type menu. Pull down theType menu and the typographical attributes are shown with checkmarks beside the chosen values. Should a list not have a sub-item with a checkmark beside it, call up the requester for that submenu, and the current value will be displayed in its text line. Although the attributes displayed in the Type menu reflect the first character of the block, changing the typographical attributes affects the entire block. * In Text mode: The text cursor can be postioned using the mouse or cursor keys. The Type menu will take on the typographical attributes of the character just before the text cursor position. Therefore, without changing the typography, the next character typed will look like the character before it. Changing these type attributes will affect the next character typed. However, should you move the cursor position before typing a character, the Type menu will reflect the typography at the new cursor location and any previous typographical changes made will affect the next character to be typed. NOTE: Be sure to set the attributes at the beginning of the box, since there is no previous character to set the attributes for the next typed character. Let's review type terminology ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Letterforms are composed of the following elements: (72 point "Type") Ascender X-Height Serif Baseline Descender Units of Measure ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Typeface sizes are measured in points. There are approximately 72 points in an inch. However, the 12 point pica has become a standard unit of measure. Units of measure (inches, picas, and centimeters) are selected in the Preferences/Layout Tools/Units of Measure sub-item. Rulers, Coordinates, and all other positioning tools use the current unit of measure. When using picas, the number before the decimal place is the number of picas, and the number after the decimal place is the number of points not the decimal fraction of the pica. Styles of Typeface ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Professional Page supports a variety of PostScript typefaces (see Appendix K: Fonts) which can be selected via the Type/Typeface menu item. If the desired typeface does not appear in the sub-item list, select New. This lists all the ypefaces known to Professional Page at the time. You can now pick the needed typeface from the list. Serif ~~~~~ Serifs are horizontal widenings or crosslines at the ends of the main strokes of a letter (this text is set with a serif typeface). A serif helps the horizontal flow in reading the text which makes serif typefaces more suitable for body copy. Sans Serif ~~~~~~~~~~ Sans serif typefaces have constant widths on the main strokes of the letters or characters. They have a cleaner, more "modern" appearance, but are harder to read in long passages. Roman ~~~~~ For most typefaces, the Roman version is the normal, balanced version of the typeface, such as you are reading now. A Roman style typeface with serifs on the characters has been shown to be more readable than sans serif or italics. Styles ~~~~~~ Bold, Italic, Underline, and outline styles are accessible through the Type menu. Novelty or Specialty ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you look through type catalogues, you will find many script and decorative letterforms mainly used for headlines and advertising display type since they are quite uncomfortable to read in longer passages. Type Size and Column Size ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Professional Page is capable of handling type sizes up to 127 points. Type Sizes are generally categorized as either Text or Display. Text type is usually fourteen points or smaller, and Display type is more than fourteen points. Your choice of typeface is very important for the reader. "8 point Eyestrain" is not only a description of a typeface, but a reminder that your typeface choice directly affects the reader. Column Width ~~~~~~~~~~~~ For easiest reading, body copy (the text of an article) should be set in at least a ten point typeface in columns no smaller than one alphabet wide (a-z). An optimum length is one and one-half alphabets. The alphabet is used to measure this because it has a balance of character widths. As a general rule, a column of text should be not wider than two alphabets. Another popular rule of thumb is that the length of line in picas should not exceed twice the point size. If you are using ten point type, then colunlns should be no more than twenty picas in length. A line should average nine to ten words. Kerning ~~~~~~~ Kerning is the fitting of pairs of letters closer together or farther apart to make the letter spacing more readable. This is becauge some letters naturally fit closer together. For example: letter pairs such as AT, Tu, Ve, Wo, Te, and To. Professional Page has automatic kerning, which can be turned on and off by selecting the Type/Kerning item. When kerning is selected, type will have a more compact, and consistent letter spacing. Manua] kerning is done by tracking two letters (see "Tracking" in this section). Line Spacing ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Line Spacing is the amount of space inserted between lines of text. Sufficient line spacing makes text more readable. There is no set rule for the amount of line spacing you should use, but there are severa] useful guldelines: * A sans serif typeface may need more line spacing than a serif typeface because it has less honzontal flow. * The longer the measure (the wider the colunn), the more line spacing is necessary in order for your eye to pick up the next line as you read down the page. * Small point sizes need proportionately more line spacing to spread out the type and make it easier to read. * "Fat" typefaces (those with large a x-height and short ascenders and descenders) need more line spacing than typefaces with a small X-height and long ascenders and descenders. Professional Page offers four kinds of line spacing: * Fixed * Relative * Leading * Paragraph Spacing. Line spacing in Professional Page is calculated from the top of a capital on one line to the top of a capital on the line below it. To set the line spacing, select Type/Line Spacing. A Line Spacing requester will appear. Select one of the Fixed, Relative, or Leading sub-items by clicking on the appropriate button. Enter the line spacing value desired into the appropriate text line. Fixed line spacing and Leading are defined in points (for example, 10 point text on 11 point body would insert one point of leading between each line). Relative line spacing is defined as a percentage of the largest text point size on the line. For example, 10 point text with relative line spacing of 110% would have one point of leading between lines. If "baseline shift" is active on the line, the program will automatically adjust inte-line spacing accordingly. Leading (pronounced "ledding") is the constant space between lines of text. It gets it name from the strips of lead that were once used to separate lines of type when typesetting was done using slugs of cast hot metal (lead) to form each line of type. The body text of this manual was set using 12 point type woth leading of 2 points. This could be defined: * fixed line spacing 14.00 (i.e. 14 points) * leading 2.00 (i.e. 2 points of leading in excess of the point size) * Relative 117% (i.e. 117% of the point size) Extra spacing between paragraphs is often useful in indicating paragraph divisions clearly. The Paragraph Spacing sub-item allows extra paragraph spacing to be set as a percentage of the current line spacing. The interparagraeh spacing between text paragraphs of this manual is set at 150% of line spacing (i.e. 150% of 14 points or 19 points total between paragraphs). Tracking ~~~~~~~~ Tracking is the adjustment of the horizontal spacing between characters by the insertion or deletion of space. Tracking is specified in terms of hundredths (or a percentage) of a em space. It can be performed on a marked block by either selecting the Type/Tracking menu-item or using the left and right cursor keys. Each press of these keys adjusts tracking by 2% of a em space. Baseline Shifts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In some cases, not all text in a column is set in uniformly straight lines (for example, when setting mechanical equasions, or using sub and superscripts). To allow you to control variations in the baseline of sections of text mark a block of text, and then move its baseline up and down. Select the Type/Baseline item and a Baseline Shift requester appears. Type the point size of the baseline shift into the text line for example: +5.000 to move up five points -5.000 to move down fie points and the marked block will be moved up or down. It can also be adjusted by using the up and down cursor keys. Each press will adjust the baseline by 1/2 point. Paragraph Indents and Tabs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tabs are specified on a box-by-box basis (see the Set Tabs gadget in the Box/Alter/Active item). When a tab position is entered in the requester the cursor skips to the next available location. The paragraph indent is also specified in the Set Tabs requester. The first line of a paragraph can be flush with the body of the paragraph, indented, or outdented ("hanging"). Paragraphs in the body ttxt of this manual are all "flush", and all items preceeded by "bullets" are an example of "hanging" indents. Justification ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Justification is the method of setting text so that itl lines up with the left, right, both, or neither margins of the box. Text can be: Flush justified. Text is flushed to both left and right margins. The spacing between words is adjusted so that both left and rigjht margins align. Left justified. Text is flushed left, leaving a ragged right edge to the paragraphs. This is sometimes referred to as "flush left/ragged right". Right justified. Text is flushed right, leaving a ragged left edge to the paragraphs. This is sometimes referred to as "flush right/ragged left". Centered. Text is centered on each line. This produces both left and right ragged margins. The justification of the line is determined by the justification setting for the first character of that line. Hyphenation ~~~~~~~~~~~ Hyphenation is the breaking of a word at the end of a line so that part of the word appears at the end of the line, and the rest of the word appears at the beginning of the following line. This allows you to create better proportioned word spacing, especially in narrow columns. Text is hyphenated in Professional Page in two ways. The program has a hyphenation algorithm and a built-in exception dictionary which look for where to break the word. Hyphenation can be turned on and off by selecting Type/Hyphenation. To not hyphenate a word, block the word and turn hyphenation off. To control the number of characters before and after a hyphen select Preferences/Hyphenation Control, and type the value you want (the default value is two). The larger the prefix and suffix value, the harder it is for the hyphenation program to break small words, but the less likely it is that you will see odd word breaks. The program also uses a user-defined hyphenation-exception dictionary containing a list of words with permissible word breaks specified. You can customize the dictionary by using the text editor of your choice to create a list of words with the prefenred breaks indicated by hyphens. If a word is not to be hyphenated enter the word without hyphens. To access the list in Professional Page, select the Preferences/Hyphenation Control item. You may now load your list in as the new exception dictionary or merge it with the existing one. An alternate means of hyphenation control is to use "discretionary hyphens" within the Professional Page text editor. While editing text, "soft" hyphens are inserted at preferred hyphenation point by typing "-" (hyphen) while holding down the CTRL-key. PAGE LAYOUT AND DESIGN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When you think a page needs a little variety in typeface, do not choose another typeface but instead vary the standard typeface with bold, italic, underline, outline, or a combination. Unless you want to emphasize a phrase or passage, body copy should not be set in bold or italic style. Setting text in all capital letters will emphasize a passage, but at the expense of reading speed. Limiting the Number of Typefaces ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A common mistake is using too many typefaces in a document. One typeface for the body copy may even be sufficient, though this runs the risk of being boring. A document should have no more than two typefaces for the body copy and no more than two for the headlines. Advertisements or special messages are exceptions to this rule. When the reader encounters a new typeface, particularly a novelty typeface, it is similar to coming into a dark room after being in the sun. The reader's eyes need a moment to adjust. Similar Typefaces in a Document ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do not mix similar typefaces. For example, Palatino and Garamond would give a very unpleasant look to your document if they were both used for setting body text on the same page. Typefaces in Professional Page ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Professional Page comes with metric tables (font width tables) for a variety of typefaces (see Appendix K: Fonts). If your laser printer or typesetting machine has these fonts available, you can choose from all of these fonts to design your document. A Professional Page Type Specimen Book ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Designers, typographers, and printers use a "specimen book" to choose typefaces. The specimen book shows a particular set of characters in every typeface available. This set of characters might be a complete alphabet, or just a characteristic sentence of your choice. It is worthwhile to make your own specimen book with the typefaces available in your laser printer. It should have examples in the typeface sizes you most often use. Creating a Consistent Style ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The layout of the page should let the reader get the most information in the least amount of time. Even if your document is a one-time thing, a consistent style helps the reader find infornlation. A consistent, recognizable style is even more vital if your document appears on a regular basis, since that style is the basis of how people recognize and judge the quality of your publication. Many things should be consistent in a professional publication. The typeface, the size of the margins, the way articles are composed, the way authors are given credit, and the size and weight of box borders should be all carefully chosen and maintained. If a document is published regularly, such as a monthly newsletter, a consistent style makes your job easier. The templates in Professional Page allow you to use the same basic page layouts from issue to issue. Functional Layout ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The physical layout of your pages influences the way information is presented. For example, newspapers are folded into quarters. on the newsstand or in a street corner newspaper box, only one corner of the entire sheet is visible. A newspaper layout artist keeps this in mind when designing a front page. Consider the ways in which a newspaper's physical shape affects its graphic layout. The most familiar parts of a front page are the name plate and the banner headline. The name plate displays the name of the newspaper in a particular typeface and style that does not vary from day to day. Very often the front page has an eye-catching picture in the upper-right corner, just above the fold. On the left edge of the front page, there is a summary of articles inside. Each item on the front page is carefully chosen and placed for the best effect on the prospective reader. If you are composing a newsletter, consider its physical layout and how it affects your graphic layout. Newsletters are often mailed to a reader. If the newsletter is printed on standard 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper it may be folded for mailing. This creates two faces that could be seen by the reader, one where their address is printed, and another blank side. To make a newsletter stand out, an eye-catching graphic or a headline on the outside face of the folded newsletter are excellent ideas. Grids and Templates ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The grid method is the most common way of organizing a page. With a grid, the page is divided into a pattem of rectangles that guide the placement of all elements on the page. The grid lines are not printed on the page, but only serve as placement guides. All elements of the page layout (such as pictures and columns of text) can be aligned with these grid lines. To lay out a grid on a page, use the Page/Create/From Default sub-item and specify a number of columns (see the Technical Reference section for more details). Once the page has been defined, it can be saved as a template using the Page/Make Template item, and called up later. Using grids and templates helps you lay out pages quickly and consistently. Organizing the Page ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before you place anything on a page, ask yourself some questions. First, how important is this element? If it is important, then it should be in a prominent place on the page, like the above-the-fold picture on the front page of a newsletter. What should this element line up with? Finally, how does the entire page look with the element in this position? The grid makes these decisions very easy. If your text boxes have a default width that is an even division of the page width, page composition is much easier. Each box should also have internal margins that maintain the proper spacing between columns. Design elements can cross grid lines. Consider a page wAth two pictures. The most important picture should be in a prominent place, illustrating the article directly below it. A less important photograph for this story can be tucked into a less prominent part of the page. The photographs are cropped to the edges of the internal margins. The left edge of the page has the ends of two articles from previous pages. (An article continued from a previous page is called a "jump".) It is possible to mix grid sizes on a page, although this should be done cautiously, and only if you wish to emphasize a division of the page into separate areas. For examlple, the top portion of a page could have five grid rectangles across, while the lower page, perhaps featurig an article by a different author or on another subject, could have only three grids across. Paragraph and Column Layout ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After you have selected a layout style, you will spend most of your time composing pages of the document. There are a few tricks that can speed the process. One common device is a dummy. This is a small model of the doculent. For a newspaper or newsletter, the dummy can be made from sheets of typing paper folded in half and nested together. The grid lines are marked on the dummy in advance. You can make these dummy sheets with Professional Page by making boxes with frames. Block out the elements of your layout that are are never moved, such as a name plate or a masthead. Then place the other articles on the dummy pages by measuring or estimating their length. Headlines ~~~~~~~~~ Headlines are commonly set in bold or bold italic. A common practice is to have the headlines in a sans serif typeface, and the text in a serif typeface. Headlines are most easily read when composed in mixed upper and lowercase, just like body copy. The largest headlines should be placed high on the page because they draw the eye to them. Never "butt" (position) two headlines horizontally. This is called a "tombstone." The reader may read both headlines as one. If butted headllnes are unavoidable, be sure to use diffeent typefaces to make them distinct. Gray and White Space ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ White and gray space are aesthetic terms for the overall appearance of a layout element. Body copy is gray space. Viewed from a distance, columns of text look gray. Margins are white space. A good layout artist seeks a balance between white and gray space because readers ignore large areas of gray space. Pictures and graphics are good for breaking up large gray spaces. Another easy way to break up gray columns of text is the quote box. Choose a particularly interesting quotation from the text. Make a small box to break up a long column of text, and give it a simple border. Place the quote in the box in a type size between body copy and headline size. The reader's eye is drawn to the quote, and it may induce them to read the story. Fit to Print ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fitting an article to available space is a valuable skill. There are several ways to stretch or shrink the length of an article. The crudest way is removing sentences or paragraphs from the article. Two other ways were mentioned above, the addition of pictures and the quote box. can also adjust spacings within the text itself. Spacing ~~~~~~~ Spacing within text can be adjusted both horizontally and vertically to fit the text into a specific area. Horizontal spacing acts on the space between characters and words. Vertical spacing acts on the spacing between lines. Horizontal Spacing: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Horizontal spacing within text can be adjusted by setting or re-setting any of the following type options: * Hyphenation. If ON, hyphenation shrinks the size of a column by increasing the number of characters which fit on each line, thus decreasing the number of lines (of depth) in each column. Hyphenation should always be ON in flush justified copy. * Inter-word spacing. The default inter-word spacing is preset to be proportionally correct for each typeface. Using other units of inter-word spacing (for example EM, EN, or Thin spaces) between words will adjust the number of words which fit on each line. (See Glossary section for definitions). * Tracking. Another form of horizontal spacing control which adjusts the constant space between all characters in a line or block (the default setting is zero). If you "track in", space is reduced between characters, while "tracking out" adds space between all characters on a line (or in a highlighted block). Tracking is adjustable in units of 1/100 of an EM. * Kerning. A vanation of tracking that operates on specific letter pairs. Kerning can be set to ON within an entire text block to automatically adjust all pairs set within the program, or can be controlled between individual letter pairs. Vertical spacing: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vertical spacing within a text block can be controlled by adjusting any of the following: * line spacing (or leading) to change the anaount of vertical spacing between each line of text. It is recommended that line spacing for all columns of text of the same point size and typeface sbould be consistent on any one page. * paragraph spacing. To fill (or reduce) the amount of text within any one column, adjust the amount of inter-paragraph spacing. * fixed spacing. The most aesthetically pleasing way to adjust the overall depth of text within a column is to adjust the anount of spacing above and below headings or sub-headings within the column. After the article is fitted into the space allotted, look for what are called "rivers of white". These can be eliminated by adjusting either the inter-character and inter-word spacing, or by manually hyphenating a word at the end of the line using the discretionary hyphen. Borders ~~~~~~~ Boxes and box frames highlight text. They should not dominate the page or overshadow the text inside. The border of a box should be achieved by adjusting the inner margins of the text boxes if required. Your choice of box should become part of the consistent layout style you use. Summary ~~~~~~~ The layout of your documnent affects whether your message effectively reaches the reader. By improving your layout, you improve the quality of your document as a form of communication. The simpler and more consistent your layout style, and the clearer the emphasis on the main ideas contained in the text, the better your documents will be.