The Creation of Typographic Specifications for Desktop Publishing Software
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Rochester Institute of Technology RIT Scholar Works Theses 9-1-2000 The Creation of typographic specifications for desktop publishing software Michelle Hill Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.rit.edu/theses Recommended Citation Hill, Michelle, "The Creation of typographic specifications for desktop publishing software" (2000). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Accessed from This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by RIT Scholar Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of RIT Scholar Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Creation of Typographic Specifications for Desktop Publishing Software by Michelle E. Hill A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the School of Printing Management and Sciences of the Rochester Institute of Technology September 2000 Thesis Advisor: Professor David Pankow Technical Advisor: Professor Archie Provan School of Printing Management and Sciences Rochester Institute ofTechnology Rochester, NY Certificate ofApproval Master's Thesis This is to certify that the Master's Thesis of Michelle Hill With a major in Graphic Arts Publishing has been approved by the Thesis Committee as satisfactory for the thesis requirement for the Master ofScience degree at the convocation of date Thesis Committee: Thesis Advisor Graduate Program Coordinator Directoror Designate Permission to Reproduce The Creation ofTypographic Specifications for Desktop Publishing Software I, Michelle Hill, hereby grant permission to the Wallace Memorial Library of R.I.T. to reproduce my thesis in whole or in part. Any reproduction will not be for commercial use or profit. Acknowledgements I would like to thank Marie Freckleton, my Program Coordinator, for her support in help ing me to finish this thesis project. She was always nearby when I needed formatting advise, editing of a rough draft or friendship. Thanks go to Archie Provan, my technical advisor, for pushing me to finish this proj ect on schedule. Thank you for believing in me and continuing to push me forward on the days when I was not sure where things were headed. Archie's retirement will be a great loss to the School of Printing. I would like to thank my advisor David Pankow for his neverending suggestions and his attention to detail. His historical knowledge served as a vast resource for this project. Finally, I would like to thank my friends and classmates for their support. Without them this would never have been possible. m Table of Contents List of Tables vi List of Figures vii Abstract viii Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Statement of the problem 1 Background and significance 1 Reasons for interest 3 Notes 4 Chapter 2 Background theory 5 Introduction 5 Punctuation 6 Hyphenation/justification/spacing 6 Widow/orphan control 10 Line length 12 Indentation 13 Leading 14 Letterspacing 16 Kerning 17 Ligatures 18 Small capitals 20 Numerals 21 Image runaround 22 Initial letters 23 Reference marks 25 Notes 27 Chapter 3 Literature review 30 The history of printing 30 The history of typographic style manuals 31 The history of desktop publishing 38 IV Automation in desktop publishing 39 "new" The desktop publisher 41 Designing a software application 42 Limits of computer programming 43 Standards for software applications 44 Notes 45 Chapter 4 Statement of the problem 48 Chapter 5 Methodology 49 Research 49 Design and implementation 51 Evaluation 51 Chapter 6 Results 52 Software requirements 52 "ideal" The desktop publishing application 57 Notes 58 Chapter 7 Summary and conclusions 59 Was the goal accomplished? 60 Suggestions for further research 61 Glossary 66 Bibliography 71 Appendix A: An example of software standards currently in use: Requirements for Accessible Software Design, by the Department of Education 76 List of Tables Table 1: Divisions to avoid 9 Table 2: Bad paragraph breaks 11 Table 3: Commonly used ligatures 19 Table 4: True small capitals vs. machine-generated small capitals 20 Table 5: Old-stylefigures vs. modern figures 21 Printers' Table 6: reference marks 25 Table 7: Typographic manuals consultedfor this thesis project 50 Table 8: How current software applications measure up to specifications 61 VI List of Figures Figure 1: Paragraph formats 7 Figure 2: Example ofrivers in text 8 Figure 3: Widows and orphans 10 Figure 4: Various line lengths 12 Figure 5: Indention for short and long measures 13 Figure 6: Leading lines ofall capitals 14 Figure 7: X-height 15 Figure 8: Leading lines ofdiffering x-heights 15 Figure 9: Leading lines ofdifferent measures 16 Figure 10: Letterspacing 16 Figure 11: Applyingproper word-spacing with letterspacing 17 Figure 12: Kerning 17 Figure 13: Default image runaround: lpt. vs. none 22 Figure 14: Examples ofinitial letters 23 Figure 15: Optical alignment ofinitial letters 24 Figure 16: Mortised initial letters 24 Figure 17: Family tree ofhistorically important typographic style manuals 32 vn Abstract As computers become more abundant in the home and office, more people are performing tasks that once would have been done by a skilled professional. Computers and software programs have become easier to use, including desktop publishing programs. Programs designer." are now available that allow anyone to "become a Through this, however, most typographers agree, the typographic quality of documents has suffered. Many companies are now designing their own media, in an effort to save money. The documents they create are adequate, but there is something missing. Though they may not be able to explain why, most people can appreciate the appearance of the professionally typeset page. The goal of this thesis project is to make it easier for a non-professional to make typo graphically pleasing text pages. The basic rules of typography, without regard to fluxuating design trends, have essentially stayed the same for hundreds of years. Background research for this project was completed by studying historically significant typographic manuals of the last 300 years. Research began with Joseph Moxon's Mechanick Exercises (1694) and ended with the most recent edition of The Chicago Manual of Style (1993), one of today's most highly regarded manuals. From this background research, minimum and preferred software requirements for desktop publishing software applications were created. The purpose of these requirements is to encourage software manufacturers to incorporate more automation in regard to typog raphy, as well as to encourage improved default settings in their software applications. The goal was to make the minimum requirements realistically achievable. Many of the mini mum requirements are currently available in software programs; however, no one program contains all of the requirements. Each software program has strengths and weaknesses. "ideal" From these lists ofrequirements, the specifications for the software application "ideal" were created. Through this application, all of the best features of current software Vlll programs were brought together, in addition to a few innovative ideas. These specifications only relate to the typographic capabilities of the software, and do not include other areas such as color or image manipulation. Though these specifications could vastly improve on the quality of typography pro duced electronically, automated tasks completed by a computer will never produce the same results as a job done manually by a skilled professional. Computer programming is limited and many typographic rules cannot be adequately defined in a computer algorithm. Though perfection may not be attainable, improvement is possible. IX Chapter 1 Introduction Statement ofthe Problem Is proper typography becoming a lost art? Are we becoming increasingly dependent on software? What is the minimum amount of knowledge the user should possess? What are the minimum mechanical typographic requirements that page layout software should possess? Does the software currently available meet these requirements? Why do we want proper typography? Does it really matter? These questions are becoming more important as more people gain access to powerful desktop publishing software. Work traditionally performed by professional typographers is now commonly being done by non-professionals. Though they are capable of the task, the quality of the work produced is not the same. As typographic authority don't."1 Robin Williams explains, "Professional typesetters know things we Background and Significance Typography is the arrangement of items on a printed page to maximize readability and legibility. According to the International Typographic Union (ITU), "Legibility refers more particularly to the clearness with which the type may be seen; readability embraces spacing."2 familiarity, interest, action, beauty of form, color and Though this is a simple definition of typography, typography actually encompasses much more. Typography can rise to the level of an art form. The importance of typography is conveyed in this quote by Peter Karow: Pleasant looking, easily readable text has been the aim of typographers since scribes began to write and Gutenberg perfected printing with mov able type. Text transports information. But it does even more than this, its typographic appearance establishes the care with which it is presented its power.3 authenticity and its persuasive Although aesthetic preferences change, the basic rules of proper typography have essentially remained the same for centuries.