Friday, March 2, 2012

Tips and Tricks - Type Handling


If you’ve ever looked at a beautifully designed page and thought how professional it appeared, chances are that good type handling was a big part of the layout’s success. Here are three type tricks to help improve the look of your pages and projects.

Justified Type and Period Spacing
One of the easiest ways to improve the look of your type is to use justified type very sparingly. Reserve it for wide columns of text. White space holes will appear in your type if you use full justification for narrow columns. And if you DO use justified type, be sure to put only one space at the end of each sentence. Two spaces will make the white space holes or rivers even more noticeable.


Line Spacing
Another easy improvement to your journaling or storybook text is to give your lines extra space between them. We may comment that it is “cramped” or “crowded,” and we know it is less attractive than text with “room to breathe” even though we may have no formal design training.



Room around the Edges
While you’re giving your lines room to breathe, think about your block of type as a shape and add some room around the edges. Just as a picture looks better in a matted frame, type looks better if it is matted appropriately as well.

More Resources
To see what good type looks like, check out the text in high end magazines and see how it has been handled. You can also download the recorded class video for April 22, 2010 “Type Tips & Tricks” hosted by Lynda Angelastro. And remember, if the type is not happy and comfortable, your readers won’t be either!

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Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.

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