swCHIP 1991 January/swCHIP_95-1.bin/dtp/dtptips/dtptips.txt

Internet Message Format | 1995-12-09 | 11KB

Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 01:31:33 -0500
From: Geoffrey William Peters <[e-mail]>
Subject: DTPTIPS.FAQ

Tips and Suggestions for Desktop Publishing in General
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These are a several postings lumped together that provide numerous tips
and suggestions in the art of Desktop Publishing. If you have anything
to add, please be sure to post it to the group and ask that it be added
to this file.

Geof.
[[e-mail]]


First Posting ------------------------------------------------------


Since many of you may never have heard of a magazine called Personal
Publishing, I thought it was worth sharing a couple of their tips on the
biggest Crimes a Desktop Publisher can make.

If you have heard of the magazine, and can get a copy, it's the May 1990
issue.  Here's some of the main points the magazines makes on improving your
documents!

Cindy Stone
  BITNET Mail:    STONEC@IUBACS
  INTERNET Mail:  [e-mail]


*       Novice desktop publishers think that fully justified type looks more
professional.  They're wrong -- the results are neither pretty nor professional.
Justified type causes ugly rivers of white, particularly on 3, 4 or more column
layouts.  The solution is use fewer columns or switch to rag right.  Many
studies say that rag right columns are easier on the eye.

*       Many novices tend to think that every item has to be set off from every
other item with a box around it or rules.  This creates cluttered designs.
The solution is to use boxes and rules sparingly and use white space and artwork
more often to separate things.  (They also suggest that we stop trying to cram
as much on a page as possible, and use more pages whenever we can.)

*       According to most professionals, the biggest failure of novice desktop
users is the failure to proofread.  They say the desktop publisher should
avoid proofreading their own copy -- we're too familiar with it and we'll miss
glaring mistakes, even in headlines!  Proofing words backward, by beginning at
the end of an article and reading one word at a time was suggested.  As this
eliminates comprehension and forces you to read only one word at a time for
spelling.

*       Just because the Adobe Library has 500 typefaces, doesn't mean you have
to use them all.  Limit each publication to just a few to avoid clutter.
Less is more, and many professionals say two typefaces are best per document.

*       Body text is often too big with novices.  Just because pagemaker's
default font is 12 point doesn't mean you have to use 12 pt for body text.
It's too big.  As a general rule body text can be set in 8, 9 or 10 pt
and you can devote the extra white space to larger leading or larger display
type -- e.g., use schoolbook or bookman instead of times as they are larger
types than times roman.

*       Never use underlining -- use italics instead.  In the old days a type-
writer couldn't do italics, so you had to underline.  Today there's no excuse
for using underlining.  So when you want to emphasize something, or it's a
title of a magazine, book etc. use italics.

*       Only typists use 2 space bars after a period.  Desktop publishers
should only use one.  Mac users who can't break the habit should try a free
utility called Onespace.  It can be downloaded from CompuServe's DTP forum.

*       Avoid using a great deal of reverse type.  Reverse adds tremendous "weig
ht"
to a page and will grab all the attention on that page.  Ask yourself if this
idea really deserves that much attention?

*       Crummy kerning is a major "faux pas" with novices.  PageMaker is con-
figured to not automatically kern any text that is 12 pts or smaller.  PM users
should modify this in the paragraph dialog box (control or command M).  Even
with the auto kerning on, PM may leave the bulk of your text unkerned.  Start
kerning headlines if nothing else!

*       Learn to use em dash and stop using two hyphens (--).  In PM, an emdash
is achieved by pressing Ctrl + Shift + = in the PC version simultaneously.  Mac
version is option + shift + hyphen.


Hope you enjoyed the article -- (I'd use an em dash on the VAX if I had one)
it isn't my suggestions, just the editor's of Personal Publishing. Many of them,
however, are good for those of us trying to get better looking stuff out
of PageMaker.



Second Posting ------------------------------------------------------

I recently came upon another tip list for desktop publishers. This list
was put out by Publish! and appears to be an annual event. The title to
the booklet is "101 Best Desktop Publishing Tips". I have included only
a few of these 101 tips in hopes that you will contact the company directly
for the entire booklet. There are many tips covering the entire design
process and citing tips for a large variety of programs.

Everything is a direct quote except for my own comments that are
delimited by [brackets].

Geoff Peters


Weight of Small Caps
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  Small caps created by reducing regular capital letters -- as most
  programs do -- appear much lighter than refular capitals. To
  compensate, use a heavier weight of your font for the small caps.

  [In a related tip, they suggest] When creating display type using
  very different point sizes of the same face, use a bolder version
  of the small letters to better match the weight of the larger type.
  Although the proportion varies from face to face, when the small
  type is about two-thirds the weight of the larger, a semibold used
  for the smaller type will generally match the weight of the larger.
  When the small type is about half the size of the larger characters,
  try using a full bold.

Numeric Kerning
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  In most fonts, the numerals 0 through 9 have equal widths so that
  they line up when you use them in tables or other vertical listings.
  The numeral 1 is much narrower than the others, however, and you
  might want to add some standard combinations that include 1 to your
  fonts' kerning tables -- when it appears next to other numerals, a
  period, a dollar sign, and so on. Just make sure you turn kerning
  off for all tabular matter to ensure correct alignment.

Ensuring a true center
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  To get an attractive rag in centered text, it's common practice
  to use carriage returns to break lines at desired points. This
  can leave you with lines that begin or end with word spaces that
  will make your lines appear off-center. After hand-breaking such
  lines, remove the unnecessary spaces for a better appearance.

True Ellipses
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  The dots of the ellipsis character found in most fonts (...) are
  much narrower than those in traditional ellipses. For a better
  looking ellipse, build your own. Use three periods (four if the
  ellipsis ends a sentence), and separate the periods by nonbreaking
  spaces [Ctrl/Comm-<space> in Pagemaker] to keep them together.

  [Dave Mandl suggests using en-spaces instead of full size spaces.
  Plus, the Macintosh has a built-in ellipse that may be adequate,
  accessible by pressing option-semicolon.]

Inches, Feet, Minutes and Seconds
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  The only proper primes (used to indicate feet, inches, minutes,
  and seconds) in PostScript fonts are found in the Symbol font.
  But you can easily create equally professional-looking primes
  just by using italic versions of the standard typewriter-style
  quotes on your keyboard.

Color and Small Lines
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  When applying colors to your designs, keep in mind that thin
  lines (.25 point or less) and delicate type at small point sizes
  should be composed of no more than two process colors. Most
  high-speed presses are not precise enough to exactly register
  all four plates on such thin elements.

Desktop Items
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  Like a real table surface, the desktop area (outside the page
  boundaries) is a great place for sticking scraps and pieces while
  working on a page. But when you go to output the page, Postscript
  processes those extra items internally even though they don't
  print. To speed printing, remove scraps from the desktop, either
  by deleting them or moving them to a blank page (just be sure to
  specify not to print that page). This becomes particularly
  important when you send the files to a service bureau. The extra
  items outside the page make the file much larger, drastically
  slowing a high-resolution imagesetter.

  [This is a good point, but I would say that unless you are having
  an inordinate amount of time for local printing or you are sending
  it to a service bureau, not to worry about it. See PMTIPS.FAQ,
  section III for more information regarding the desktop.]

Start-up Page in PostScript printers
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  Many people find that the start-up page printed by a PostScript
  laser printer each time it's turned on is a waste of both time
  and paper. You can disable this feature by sending a special
  PostScript message to the machine. Here's how:

  Type the following in any word processing program and save it as
  ASCII or text only:

       serverdict begin 0 exitserver
       statusdict begin
       false setdostartuppage
       end

  Using a PostScript download utility such as SendPS 2.0, download
  the file to the printer. To turn the start-up page back on,
  simple change the word "false" to "true" and download the code
  again.

Heavy Paper on Laser Printers
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  If you experience frequent paper jams when printing on cover-
  weight stock with a LaserWriter, you're probably using the wrong
  paper for that printer. Overcome this by smoothing the leading
  edge of each sheet with a burnishing tool or the smoothly curved
  plastic top of a ball-point pen.

  [hmm -- just don't yell at me if it still jams! ;) ]

True Black
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  For process printing, choosing 100 percent black often yields
  muddy results on the press. Many printers create richer blacks
  by combining several of the process colors (cyan, yellow, and
  magenta). For example, try 100 percent cyan and 100 percent
  black, and use this new color instead of the default black
  available in the application. Check with your print house for
  its recommendation, too.


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If you have a tip, post it to the group or let me know so that we can include
it in our listing!

Thanks! Geof.