One Column vs Two Columns and other questions
- Thread starter nightprowler4321
- Start date
Marius Delphus
Adventurer
arwink said:
I'm sure many posting here know this, but I'm going to throw my two cents in for the benefit of anyone interested. In the case of multiple-column layouts on paper, the "why" has to do with science! Here goes the lecture.
Seriously, the readability of text is something that has been extensively studied. A lot of things factor into readability; a short and very incomplete list includes: (1) sentence length, (2) white space, (3) font characteristics, (4) word spacing, (5) sentence structure, and (6) words per line.
In particular, on the printed page, most people more easily read (1) short sentences (I use 10-20 words as a rule of thumb), (2) paragraphs with white space separating them (whether it's a first-line indent or actual vertical space), (3) serif fonts with x-heights just about halfway to the ascender height from the baseline (in large blocks, like in most books), (4) words with a decent amount of white space between them (neither too much nor too little), (5) simple sentences (though these get boring if they aren't broken up occasionally with more complex sentences), and (6) a decent number of words per line of text (I use no more than 12-15 words as a rule of thumb, depending on font size and intended use).
It's number 6 that factors most greatly into the decision whether to use a columnar layout. Having too many words on a line makes reading more difficult, and by extension unpleasant. If the lines are too long in one column, adding more columns will alleviate that problem. For screen reading, I recommend a three-column landscape layout. For paper, I recommend a two-column portrait layout. Of course, if you are using text smaller than about 10-12 points (and, to be frank, if you want it read on screen, don't), use more columns.
Now comes a note on marketing: if a company puts up a written product for sale, and it is unpleasant to read, NOBODY WILL BUY IT. I see this as probably the main reason a PDF vendor might be choosy about the products it helps market. A lot of the *free* PDF efforts I've seen range from "ugh" to "meh" when it comes to layout (IMNSHO); I understand that part/most of this is lack of experience or time or what have you, but! I expect more from a product I pay out money for. Much, much more (maybe I'm too critical). In fact, I disliked the look of one PDF I purchased so much that I almost wrote a review (and if you knew me, you'd know how greatly that meant I was moved).
For the neophyte designer, I'll echo the previous advice: pay attention to how the things you read and see look. Not just roleplaying products, but professional magazines, menus, brochures, Web sites, newspapers, billboards, handbills, paperback books, slide presentations, corporate annual reports, junk mail, retail advertisements... everything. What did you like about them? Is there anything you dislike about them? Why do they look that way? How did the designer make them look that way?
A good idea presented badly gets less attention than a bad idea presented well. It's not fair, but that's the way people are. Sure, page design doesn't have all that many hard and fast rules, but there are some very firm guidelines to making your desktop publishing effort more readable and easier on the eyes, and thus more marketable and more profitable. A very nice intro to desktop publishing appears here; there is much more info to be had by looking around... a lot...
http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/basics/f/dtp_rules.htm
And, of course, don't forget proofreading:
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/proofreading/
EDIT: Like HellHound, I had a look at the 30-page preview. Decent artwork, I suppose, but the layout? Ugh. Sorry. So few things turn me completely off as fast as a one-column block of Times New Roman, never mind the tables, pagination, proofreading, etc. I see that sort of thing at work all day, every day, produced by people who know nothing about Microsoft Word other than how to type, sort of. I didn't even bother reading it (though in glancing at it here and there, I noticed typos). See bold sentence above. I'm very sorry if that sounds too critical, and I realize I'm probably a threshold case, but I think I know why the product was turned down for sale.
FURTHER EDIT SO AS NOT TO SOUND QUITE SO SNARKY: There is hope, if only because there is vast room for improvement! This product can be made to look much, much better with some dedicated TLC in the layout department. I assume you are using Word, but even Word can be used to produce a nice layout. Learn as much as you can as quickly as you can about the layout tools in Word and don't give up!
Last edited:
Chiaroscuro23
First Post
Eosin the Red said:
Agreed. I didn't even read more than the OP's first two sentences. My general rule on mesage boards is that if you can't bother to format it correctly, I can't bother to read it. My assumption is that the the OP is not a native english speaker, which is understandable. But nonetheless, some paragraph breaks would be nice.
Really and for truly, writing in an understandable way makes more people read and respond to your post. It's worth your time to express yourself well.
-C.
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