Is your text layout properly arranged?
Сlick the corresponding circle if your project meets the requirements
Perfect typography is certainly the most elusive of all arts. Sculpture in stone alone comes near it in obstinacy, Jan Tschichold, one of the fathers of modern typography used to say. Good letterforms are designed to give a lively, even texture, but careless spacing of letters, lines and words can tear this fabric appart. We at Readymag show maximum deference to typography and our Text widget offers rich options to fine-tune typeset text. Note that playing with the settings gives the best results and good visual judgement is crucial!
Perfect typography is certainly the most elusive of all arts. Sculpture in stone alone comes near it in obstinacy, Jan Tschichold, one of the fathers of modern typography used to say. Good letterforms are designed to give a lively, even texture, but careless spacing of letters, lines and words can tear this fabric appart. We at Readymag show maximum deference to typography and our Text widget offers rich options to fine-tune typeset text. Note that playing with the settings gives the best results and good visual judgement is crucial!
Is your text layout properly arranged?
Сlick the corresponding circle if your project meets the requirements
Check for best alignment
Check for best alignment
Typically centering text works best for short headlines or descriptions, while text blocks with multiple lines look best if aligned left or right. In Readymag, you can adjust alignment from either the Text widget settings or with shortcuts. If you are on Mac, use ⌘ + shift + A to select the current paragraph or ⌘ + A to select the whole text and then apply ⌘ + shift + L to align selected text to the left, ⌘ + shift + C—to the center, or ⌘ + shift + R—to the right. If you use Windows, replace ⌘ with Ctrl and use the same shortcuts.
In some cases, especially in layouts that utilize multiple narrow columns, it makes sense to justify text blocks. In Readymag, justification can be managed through the Text widget settings.
Typically centering text works best for short headlines or descriptions, while text blocks with multiple lines look best if aligned left or right. In Readymag, you can adjust alignment from either the Text widget settings or with shortcuts. If you are on Mac, use ⌘ + shift + A to select the current paragraph or ⌘ + A to select the whole text and then apply ⌘ + shift + L to align selected text to the left, ⌘ + shift + C—to the center, or ⌘ + shift + R—to the right. If you use Windows, replace ⌘ with Ctrl and use the same shortcuts.
In some cases, especially in layouts that utilize multiple narrow columns, it makes sense to justify text blocks. In Readymag, justification can be managed through the Text widget settings.
Tweak ‘rivers’ and loose lines
Tweak ‘rivers’ and loose lines
Check for awkward word spacing:
• ‘Rivers’—visual gaps that run down a paragraph.
• Loose lines—individual lines containing
poorly spaced elements.
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They require manual adjustment: try reworking copy, using non-breaking space (Opt + Space for Mac and Alt + Space for Windows) or tweaking text tracking.
Check for awkward word spacing:
• ‘Rivers’—visual gaps that run down a paragraph.
• Loose lines—individual lines containing
poorly spaced elements.
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They require manual adjustment: try reworking copy, using non-breaking space (Opt + Space for Mac and Alt + Space for Windows) or tweaking text tracking.
Fix bad line breaks
Fix bad line breaks
Sometimes strange things happen in paragraphs. If you’re serious about type, you already know that a large part of your typesetting time is spent fixing bad line breaks.
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These include:
• ‘I’ at the end of lines—it should be pushed down to the
next line. Use the Alt + Space shortcut to insert non-breaking spaces.
• Any repeated words that stack at line
beginnings or endings.
• ‘Pig bristles’—hyphens occasionally falling at the
end of the line. When these anomalies happen, tweak the spacing to shift things around.
Sometimes strange things happen in paragraphs. If you’re serious about type, you already know that a large part of your typesetting time is spent fixing bad line breaks.
Â
These include:
• ‘I’ at the end of lines—it should be pushed down to the
next line. Use the Alt + Space shortcut to insert non-breaking spaces.
• Any repeated words that stack at line
beginnings or endings.
• ‘Pig bristles’—hyphens occasionally falling at the
end of the line. When these anomalies happen, tweak the spacing to shift things around.
Find homes for ‘orphans’ and ‘widows’
Find homes for ‘orphans’ and ‘widows’
A ‘widow’ is a very short line at the end of a paragraph or column. They’re considered poor typography because widows leave too much white space between paragraphs or at the bottom of a page. This interrupts the reader. ‘Orphans’ are single words or very short lines appearing at the beginning of a column or a page. This results in poor horizontal alignment at the top of the column or page. Fix them by:
• Reworking the rag or editing the copy.
• Tweak the tracking of the paragraph or line.
• Adjust the text frame width to pull short
words onto previous lines.
A ‘widow’ is a very short line at the end of a paragraph or column. They’re considered poor typography because widows leave too much white space between paragraphs or at the bottom of a page. This interrupts the reader. ‘Orphans’ are single words or very short lines appearing at the beginning of a column or a page. This results in poor horizontal alignment at the top of the column or page. Fix them by:
• Reworking the rag or editing the copy.
• Tweak the tracking of the paragraph or line.
• Adjust the text frame width to pull short
words onto previous lines.
Adjust ragged paragraphs
Adjust ragged paragraphs
When setting type with a ragged margin, pay attention to the shape that the ragged line endings make—a good rag goes in and out from line to line in small increments. Badly ragged paragraphs are simple to remedy though, just use the Alt + Space shortcut to insert non-breaking spaces between words to give your paragraphs a pleasant shape.
When setting type with a ragged margin, pay attention to the shape that the ragged line endings make—a good rag goes in and out from line to line in small increments. Badly ragged paragraphs are simple to remedy though, just use the Alt + Space shortcut to insert non-breaking spaces between words to give your paragraphs a pleasant shape.