Back to paragraphs
Some point in their careers, the best designers may have found
some difficulty in setting the body texts of their works. How do
you solve body texts problems?
1. Indents. Paragraphs need to be separated; if not, readers
will be faced with an endless block of text. Believe me, no
reader would want to be put in that kind of situation.
One common design device to separate paragraphs is to indent the
first line of the paragraph. Paragraphs following subheads or
headings do not need to be indented though. The contrast of the
heading to the paragraph text is enough to make it easy to read.
2. Paragraph Spacing. Another device to separate paragraphs is
to use one lead.
For example, if you are setting up a 10/12 type, you would place
a space of 12 points between the paragraphs. If you use
paragraph spacing, there is no reason to indent the first line.
Blocked paragraphs occurs when the first line of paragraphs are
not indented and there is no more extra space between paragraphs.
3. Font Size. Picking the right size can be subjective. One rule
of thumb is to use smaller type for smaller line widths and
large type for larger line widths.
If the line lengths are particularly long, you can make them
more legible with extra leading. 65 letters is normally a
comfortable line length for most readers. 9 to 14 points are
common sizes for text.
4. Reducing Hyphenation. Hyphenation slows down reading. Keep
hyphenated words to a minimum. Try to limit hyphenated lines to
no more than three consecutive lines.
5. Avoid Widows and Orphans. An orphan is when a paragraph
begins on the last line of a page.
A widow is when a paragraph ends on the first line of a page.
Most page layout programs allow you to avoid widows and orphans.
Using them can make readers lose the continuity of the text they
are reading.
6. Endings. Text is generally set ragged right or justified.
Ragged left and centered are better left for display type. These
styles are difficult to read. Justified text is considered
traditional or formal, but typesetting it can be tricky. On the
other hand, justified text actually lets you fit more text on
the page.
Ragged right is usually considered easier to read, but
controlling the rag can be problematic. It's a less formal look
that increases white space.
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