Typesetting Process : Where Does It All Fit In? – Episode #036

The black bars and grey boxes do a lot for the flick test.
I've been talking notes- thank you for the time and thought you are putting into these videos Dale.

Very nice Dale. I just found that my father had installed Adobe InDesign CS3 on my laptop. I'm gonna try it out and see how it works. Either way when the time comes I'm going to go with a professional and get it done. But thanks for the info! :D

Good grief, you have to choose how much space between letters and words? Now thats some in depth typesetting. No wonder your program is so long, loads of content to explain about.

Thanks for clarifying the details about typesetting Dale.

I'll keep that in mind because your little quote about details makes me think twice before I use a particular kind of layout for my book.

What fonts do you recommend if you were to write a book? I'm currently using Times New Roman size 12 for chapter content. For chapter titles I use size 16 and bold (same font). Is it allowed for me to do that?

About headers and footers: I noticed that in the novels I read, on one page there's the author's name, and on the other the book's title. What do you usually do when you have the book laid out?

One more thing: what programs do you use to write your book? Any suggestions? (I'm using RoughDraft now, when I'm not using Writer's Cafe 2 demo or Papel. )

I will appreciate it if you can answer my questions. Thank you for your time.

Thanks, Dale. Great 3 sessions on basics of typesetting. It answered so many of the niggling little things that were puzzling me.

Here's some typesetting/design definitions:

Kerning: also known as letter spacing is the measure of space between type characters and is more used to adjust the look of small bodies of type, i.e. headlines.

Tracking: also to do with letter spacing relates to the over all spacing between type characters. You may adjusts tracking when you have a type face that you feel looks loose, or when your have a widow at the end of a paragraph (one word that runs onto a new line a the end of a paragraph, Not good, waists space and research indicates that this word is generally skipped/not read. It is better to have at the very least two or more words on the last line of a paragraph.)

Leading: also known, as line space is the measure of the space between lines. Increasing the line spacing can dramatically increase the number of pages your copy consumes. One way to add space around your type that won't have as drastic an effect on your copy length is to add space at the end/beginning of a paragraph. The other way is to use a font with a smaller x height.

Justified text: relates to when a body of copy fits between a left and right margin. It text is automatically tracked to fit the same measure on each line, which can give the text a neat appearance. Be sure to watch for strange gaps/word spacing and loose text. It may look neat but when you try to read it, it can be difficult. Also keep an eye on Hyphenations, which can affect the way people read a word and be disruptive to the ease of reading.

San Serif Vs. Serif: relates to the generic description of a font/type face. Serifs are the little feet or kicks on letters i.e. Times Roman, Garamond, Palatino. San means without, there for, San Serif are fonts without the little feet, e.g. Helvetica, Futura, Frutiger or Arial. Traditionally San Serif fonts were used in signage or headlines as they were more legible and stand out, particularly on busy backgrounds. Serif fonts were used in large bodies of copy such as books, newspapers and magazines. This is not necessarily the rule of thumb these days, though Serif fonts are still favoured in publishing.

Point size: this relates to the size of a font and is important to the legibility of your copy. Make sure you keep in mind your end reader/target market. If the point size is too small, they won’t be able to read your book. Other aspects that affect this are the x height, ascenders and descenders. X height is, as it sounds, the height of a small case x. Ascenders are the measure of the letters that rises above the x, i.e. CAPITALS, b, d, f, h, k, l, t. Descenders are the measure of letters that drops below the x, i.e. g, j, p, q, y.
A font that has a small x height in relation to it ascenders/descenders doesn’t need as much leading/line spacing but reads as smaller font. Space saved on the leading may quickly be taken up by increasing the point size of the font. A font that has a large x height can also affect legibility and may need additional leading. Try a few and their legibility, make sure you are comfortable reading it. Remember type/copy is intended to be read and read comfortably without effort or strain. Type design should enhance the readability of type not hinder it.

PS, really enjoy the series Dale.

Sarah, Thanks for all this info. Really appreciate it. Dale

Thanks Dale, I'm looking forward to planning out my first non-fiction book. These episodes on typesetting have been a great help.

Thanks Karen. Talk soon, Dale

Great info. I always thought that typesetting came before proofreading. Thanks for clearing that up for me. :-)

i love this episode. It is great to be able to put typesetting into perspective. thanks a lot