D&D 3E/3.5 Formatting/Page Appearance Suggestions and Tips For Publishing

[jdrakeh]

Don't overdo the gutters. A while back, I purchased a PDF to find that two thirds of each page was unused white space (the left and right gutters), while only one third of each page contained actual text. I assume the publisher did this to pad out the page count. I was not a happy customer.

 

[Gus L]

Don't overdo the gutters. A while back, I purchased a PDF to find that two thirds of each page was unused white space (the left and right gutters), while only one third of each page contained actual text. I assume the publisher did this to pad out the page count. I was not a happy customer.

I tend to agree but the use of white space is a hot topic in the RPG design space.. I'd says avoid the miniscule gutters and margins of old TSR adventures as well. You need a margin of more then .3 inches or whatever - especially between columns. I've had complaints about 10 or 11 point text on a 12 point leading as being too dense and hard to read even - so there's a lot of variety in advice on spacing and layout. Eschew extremes when it comes to basic text blocks. Not everyone can be Johan Nohr ... especially with more complex things then Mork Borg.

Consider some of the stuff on this blog when it comes to RPG layout:

Typography 101: Getting Started

Beginner tips and tricks for setting up, arranging, and pairing your game's typography.

www.explorersdesign.com

 

[Ath'kethin]

OP didn't mention PoD being a factor, and they mentioned money being a problem. That's why I mentioned Scribus instead of Affinity.

Why did DMsGuild stopped accepting pdfs made with Scribus?

OP didn't mention PoD being a factor, true. But if they ever want to do PoD through DrivethruRPG, they can either use Scribus to create the web PDF and a different program to create the print PDF, or they can choose a different program and just use it for everything.

This page specifies that DTRPG wants the files created in Affinity or Indesign. Note that this is a DrivethruRPG page, so it is not specific to DMSGuild, but anything on DMSGuild will also have to follow these guidelines.

https://help.drivethrupartners.com/...00178583-Quick-Specifications-for-Print-Books

It gets even more fun. Now, it seems that in order to be approved for Print on Demand on DMSGuild, they require you to work with a select list of "Layout Designers," detailed here:

https://help.dmsguild.com/hc/en-us/...ments-Guidelines#h_01HXW5JDT7H85NM0R4T97G8D3Y

I don't remember when they specifically said they no longer accepted files created using Scribus; I can't find the announcement anywhere. It would have been in mid to late 2021 or maybe early 2022, though, shortly after my Zakhara campaign guide was published.

Again, if the OP either isn't ever going to want to do a book as PoD, at least through DrivethruRPG, none of this will matter. For example, I've had books printed on Lulu that I made using Microsoft Word(!).

But if they ARE considering PoD and want to use Drivethru, Scribus is just not a great option.

 

[MoonSong]

But if they ARE considering PoD and want to use Drivethru, Scribus is just not a great option.

If OP is considering PoD on Drivethru, they'll need to pony up cash to one of these pre-approved designers and all of this is kinda moot.