Opinions on updated PDF/Print layout, thanks...

[mroberon1972]

Truly, I would not expect or want you to agree with me 100%. Variety is good.

One thing I must know, you like 12 point on screen, what resolution is your desktop set to and what size is your monitor? I run at 1280 x 1024 on a 19 inch monitor (bumped to 1600x1200 when dealing with graphics) so 9 and 10 point fonts render quite nicely. I'm guessing you run a lower resolution on a smaller monitor. Larger fonts are needs as pixel density decreases to maintain crispness.

1024 usually, with a 15 inch monitor.

But remember I see in on paper as well...

As it is, I'm testing the 10 point font right now, but if I use it, it will be justified. At that font size it's not as big a deal with gaps...

 

[mroberon1972]

Thanks for the opinions on the PDF sample. I have updated with many of your thoughts, and now have this as a sample:

http://www.ancient-awakenings.com/singlepages/valleytest-2.PDF

Thanks for all your help.

 

[annadobritt]

Looks really great.

 

[mroberon1972]

Since there were 20 downloads of the new version, and annadobritt gave a good response, that the rest of you agree.

Well, we have almost of all of the interior art now, over 90% of the text, and the cover is going well...

Only one thing worries me: There seems to be a general opinion that is text does not involve new rules, feats, classes, or items then it is just 'filler' or 'fluff'...

When did this happen?

 

[Axegrrl]

I'm looking at the new version, using Netscape 7.x with the Acrobat 6 Reader plugin, and 1024x768 resolution on a 17" monitor, with Windows XP and 96dpi on-screen.

"Overview of the Valley, by Rudy VanRoland" should be in the same font as "What is The Valley of Frozen Tears?". I'm seeing "Overview of the Valley, by Rudy VanRoland" in what seems to be Times New Roman. It really clashes with the rest of the text. The page numbers come in as Times New Roman, too.

Font smoothing seems to be on. That makes the main body text a bit fuzzy-looking.

2. Printable PDF version: Lower quality graphics and borders, but same as #1.

There's going to be some difficulty printing this to a standard printer, I suspect. Your borders are full-bleed, and most inkjet printers people buy cannot handle full bleed. They have to have at least some white space at the edges of the page. That means that on an 8.5x11" sheet that you will have to either crop or scale. Both reduce the quality of the printout.

Also, if you choose to go with full-bleed borders and an 8.5"x11" final hardcopy page size, you are going to increase your printing costs a fair bit. To deal with full bleed, printers use a larger sheet of paper and then trim the pages to size. The larger sheets are more expensive than the standard size 8.5"x11" sheets. Because of that, when I was writing and designing software documentation for print, we would specify smaller sizes for the final printed versions.

If you like, I have a few comments on editing I can post or send you.

 

[mroberon1972]

I'm looking at the new version, using Netscape 7.x with the Acrobat 6 Reader plugin, and 1024x768 resolution on a 17" monitor, with Windows XP and 96dpi on-screen.

"Overview of the Valley, by Rudy VanRoland" should be in the same font as "What is The Valley of Frozen Tears?". I'm seeing "Overview of the Valley, by Rudy VanRoland" in what seems to be Times New Roman. It really clashes with the rest of the text. The page numbers come in as Times New Roman, too.

Font smoothing seems to be on. That makes the main body text a bit fuzzy-looking.


There's going to be some difficulty printing this to a standard printer, I suspect. Your borders are full-bleed, and most inkjet printers people buy cannot handle full bleed. They have to have at least some white space at the edges of the page. That means that on an 8.5x11" sheet that you will have to either crop or scale. Both reduce the quality of the printout.

Also, if you choose to go with full-bleed borders and an 8.5"x11" final hardcopy page size, you are going to increase your printing costs a fair bit. To deal with full bleed, printers use a larger sheet of paper and then trim the pages to size. The larger sheets are more expensive than the standard size 8.5"x11" sheets. Because of that, when I was writing and designing software documentation for print, we would specify smaller sizes for the final printed versions.

If you like, I have a few comments on editing I can post or send you.

Sorry I did not reply sooner, but I thought this thread was over and done and was not keeping up with it.

All good points, and I have taken them all to heart. The final result is that the overall font size is 10 points, and I have removed the full bleed border for a more modest "topper" art that contains the page title and number at the top of the page. No full bleed for right now. After looking at it it MAY have been slightly overpowering on the page.

I will have another demo soon, but want to think about a few layout concepts first. That and look over the cover layout and art, write a few more pages of story and data, and overall fret over it until somebody shoots me. (Note: That's what editors are for...)

I have learned alot from this little project, and hope (if my artists agree) to post the costs and issues I have ran into publicly for other newcomers to look over when thinking about starting a publishing company. Will probably be a boring read though...

Arg... Back to work. <Whip Crack>