Typography questions

[wienerdog]

I have a couple typography questions, which are probably kind of 'newbie', but they're ones I don't know if I've ever gotten a direct answer for from anyone I've spoken to.

How much of a faux pas (spelling?) is leaving a single word on a line at the end of a paragraph?

Is it really wrong to do this? I've tried to do soft returns (shift > Enter) so that the paragraph doesn't end in a single word, but then I get some real ragged looks to the right side of the paragraph.

If I'm doing a 2-column layout, would I choose justified alignment over left-aligned? I've seen it done both ways.

[D-Frag]

yeah you don't want to leave a single word on one line, I suggest doing some kerning over a good portion of the paragraph to bring that bad boy up to the next line. Its a NO-NO in page layout.

as for justification, its really up to you and how the rest of the pages flow. I usually use justified alignment on anything for magazines.

good luck!

[G-Man79]

Weinerdog-

In terms of the one word ending paragraph issue, it's a judgement call. If you can adjust the word spacing to squeeze that word back onto the previous line (and that line still looks good), then go for it. If not, it's not the end of the world. Most of the time, a minor edit here and there will give me the space I need.

As you've stated, I've seen pieces with either column alignment. More and more I'm justifying the type because it looks much cleaner. I hope this helps!

[Jeff Fisher LogoMotives]

How much of a faux pas (spelling?) is leaving a single word on a line at the end of a paragraph?



It's not "wrong" - it's just distracting. I always try to avoid it. I've gone back to copywriters to have them edit the text to avoid them.

Here's a reference article on Rags, widow and orphans (http://www.fonts.com/AboutFonts/Articles/fyti/RagsWidowsOrphans.htm)




If I'm doing a 2-column layout, would I choose justified alignment over left-aligned? I've seen it done both ways.



Automatically justified type can create all kinds of kerning issues. I try to avoid it because, while it can sometimes look cleaner, it is more difficult for many people - especially senior citizens - to read. Well done ragged-right type provides great visual "stops" for the eye when a person reads the text.

Here's another article for you: Justified Type (http://www.fonts.com/AboutFonts/Articles/fyti/JustifiedType.htm)

- J.

[Navian]

A good resource of quick typography (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Typography) terms.

[wienerdog]

Weinerdog-

In terms of the one word ending paragraph issue, it's a judgement call. If you can adjust the word spacing to squeeze that word back onto the previous line (and that line still looks good), then go for it. If not, it's not the end of the world. Most of the time, a minor edit here and there will give me the space I need.

As you've stated, I've seen pieces with either column alignment. More and more I'm justifying the type because it looks much cleaner. I hope this helps!

Auto-justification does get real annoying with kerning. I work on a lot of proposals and I've convinced my dept. we should use a two-column format and abondon the use of type lines going margin to margin (blech). Thanks for your help, everyone. Great info here!

Another question: I know it's pretty critical to get the first and last lines of paragraphs to line up in each column. If I'm using bullet points and sub-headings in the same text box, what's the easiest way to accomplish this? I sometimes find it necessary to fudge the leading in between paragraphs so they line up properly.

[jlknauff]

Justification is only ok with fairly narrow columns IMO.