Style Manual for the ComputerBased on the book

By Robin Williamspresentation by Jen Groffclick here for more information click here to begin

Style Manual for the ComputerThis outstanding book was written to outline the basic concepts behind using a computer to create professional documents. If you would like to learn more once you have completed this tutorial, I highly recommend buying the book, The MAC is not a Typewriter, by Robin Williams.

You can tour through this tutorial using the navigation buttons located in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. At any time, you may exit by clicking on the button located in the upper left-hand corner of your screen. Also located there is the index key. This feature allows you to skip right to the page you are interested in. You may find this handy once you have completed the tutorial, but later would like to reference something you here.

Let’s begin by clicking on the next button.

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What’s the big deal?

You may be thinking this very question, wondering why you have to re-learn how to type. The answer is that the rules have changed! The technology associated with the computer has changed the way we view text and layout documents, mainly because we can do a lot more with the computer that we ever could with a typewriter. As you learn about the new rules of typing in this book, you can compare them to professional documents you run into all the time, like books, magazines, etc.

As Robin Williams so eloquently put it, “I strongly feel it is our obligation—every one of us who uses the computer to create text on a page—to uphold the highest possible level of typographic quality in this changing world.”

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Spacing

What? I know that you have probably been taught to hit the spacebar twice when you have finished a sentence. On a typewriter you should, because all of the letters are monospaced—meaning that they all take up the same amount of space. You need two spaces at the end of a sentence so that your eye can distinguish where a new sentence begins. Check out the example below:

SUse only one space after punctuation.

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Notice how the letters are evenly spaced. The letters in each column line up.

However, on a computer, the letters are proportional—meaning that they only take up the space they need (i.e. the letter “i” takes up much less space than the letter “w”.)

Notice how the text takes up less space. You only need to put one space after each sentence because your eye is able to see where your sentence has ended.

nderlining

Take a look around. Have you seen underlined text in a professional document? Chances are you haven’t. Even the American Psychological Association has changed its style so that you no longer underline the title of a book, you italicize it. That’s because the computer gives you the ability to do this. When using the typewriter, all we could do is underline a word we wanted to emphasize. But now we have more options, including bold type, larger type, or a different font.

If you really want the look of an underline, don’t just use the underline style that appears on your toolbar. Try drawing a line, or sometimes called a rule. This way, you can determine its color, size, and positioning.

Don’t underline. Underlining is for typewriters; italic is for professional text.

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This is an underlined phrase. This phrase has a rule drawn under it.

This phrase has an italic word.

apitalsVery rarely use all capital letters.

DOG BIGGER

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CWhen using a typewriter, you only had one font type to work with. So when you wanted to make a headline, you would often type it in all capital letters. The problem with this is that text in all capital letters is much more difficult to read. Mainly because your eye relies on the shape of the word to read it. Look at the examples, can you tell what they are?

Now look at them in all caps. Their shape no longer helps you read them.

THE COMPUTER LETS US USE BOLD, ITALICS OR OTHER FONTS TO CREATE HEADINGS. HOWEVER, IT IS PARTIC-ULARLY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DON’T USE ALL CAPS WHEN WRITING PARAGRAPHS OF TEXT. DID YOU READ THIS PARAGRAPH MUCH SLOWER THAN THE ONE ABOVE?

onts

Serif fonts are the ones that have little strokes on the end of the letters. Examples are Garamond, Times New Roman, and Centaur. Many studies have shown that serif fonts are much easier to read, generally due to the fact that the little strokes help draw your eye from one letter to the next. Look at any textbook, the paragraphs are probably in a serif font.

Sans Serif fonts do not have strokes on the end of the letters, like Arial and Helvetica. They are very legible, which is what makes them great for headlines or any text you want to “pop”. If you insist on using this font for paragraph text, use bold or italic as little as possible and make the length of the line shorter.

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Serif fonts are best for text.Sans serif fonts are best for headlines.

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F

Serif Sans SerifT

onts (continued)

Now that you know about the differences between these fonts, you can identify which ones might look good together. In general, 3, 4, or 5 typefaces can make your document look unprofessional and difficult to follow for the reader. If you are going to use 2 fonts, you are looking for contrast. By putting 2 similar fonts together, you cause them to compete and do not achieve significant contrast.

A good rule of thumb is to select a Sans Serif font for the title and a Serif font for the body of text. Look for a strong contrast, and avoid “whimsical” fonts that often look unprofessional and are difficult to read.

Never combine more than 2 fonts on a page.Never combine 2 serif or 2 sans serif fonts.

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I ndents

When starting a new paragraph, it looks quite unprofessional to hit the tab key or even worse, space over to where you want to start typing. That’s what the first line indent was made for! When you start a new document, setup your ruler like this:

Use the first-line indent regularly.Never use the spacebar to align text.

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I

T abs

The same goes for tabs—when you want to type something in the middle of the page, don’t space over or hit the tab key until you get your cursor where you want it to be. Set a tab there. You can easily do this by clicking and dragging the left tab onto the ruler where you want your cursor to go. Then just hit the tab key once, and your cursor will appear there.

Also, use Format Tabs to set your tabs just the way you like. In this menu you can make it left, right, center or draw a line, etc.

Use tabs to put your cursor where you want it. Never use the spacebar to align text.

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L ine-spacing

When we are typing a paper, most of the time we will keep the spacing set to single, sometimes double. But there are times when you need more choices. For example, say you want to make the first letter larger.

Correct this by selecting the entire paragraph and set the line-spacing to the same size. For example, 18 pt.

You also may need to adjust line-spacing when using a large font—just because the letters are big doesn’t necessarily mean you need a lot of space between the lines.

Keep the line-spacing consistent.

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Dashes

If you are like me, before reading this book I had no idea what an en dash or em dash was. Fortunately, programs like Microsoft® Word will most times be able to figure out which one you need and put it there for you. But here are the rules anyway…Hyphen -Only to be used when hyphenating words or line breaks. En dash – Getting its name because it is approximately the width of the letter “n”, the en dash is used between words indicating duration.

October – December 7:30 – 9:45

Em dash —This is twice as long as an en dash (about the width of the letter “m”). It is often used like a colon—where an abrupt change in thought occurs.

Never use two hyphens instead of a dash. Use hyphens, en and em dashes, where appropriate.

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Special characters

What can really make a document look professional is using all the special characters that word processing programs provide you. If you have a Macintosh®, you can use KeyCaps, which is a special font consisting of many characters you could encounter while typing a document. Also, in Microsoft® Word, you can go to Insert > Symbol. A new screen will open where you will find a vast array of symbols listed in many different fonts.

® © £ ™ å é °

Also note, that when using these symbols it is important that they are placed properly in the document. This may mean raising them up or lowering them compared to the rest of the text. You can achieve this by formatting the font to Superscript or Subscript.

Doesn’t H20 and 1st look better than H20 and 1st ?

Take advantage of the special characters.

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S

M iscellaneous

§ Use italic and bold occasionally—too much can overwhelm your piece.

§ A.M. and P.M. are too overpowering if left as general text. Select them and choose “Small Caps” in the formatting menu.

§Make a conscious effort to be consistent. If your first heading is 18-point bold, then make sure they all are 18-point bold.

§ Avoid abbreviating whenever possible. In the middle of a paragraph, don’t use lbs., spell out the word pounds.

Odds and ends that you should know.

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Congratulations!You have completed the tutorial!

You now know the rules to creating professional-looking documents in your everyday life.

There are more tips in the book, so if you would like to learn more, I recommend reading it!

On the next page you will find a sample document. See if you can find all the errors that

have been made!

Good luck!

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Example

Have you found all the errors? Click next to find out if you were right!

The Solace of TravelTo the untravelled, territory other than their own familiar heath is invariably fascinating. Next to love, it is the one thing which solaces and delights. Things new are too important to be neglected--and mind, which is a mere reflection of sensory impressions, succumbs to the flood of objects. Thus lovers are forgotten, sorrows laid aside, death hidden from view.

THEODORE DREISNER

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Answer

Click next to see how it should look!

The Solace of TravelTo the untravelled, territory other thantheir own familiar heath is invariably fascinating. Next to love, it is the one thing which solaces and delights. Things new are too important to be neglected--and mind, which is a mere reflection of sensory impressions, succumbs to the flood of objects. Thus lovers are forgotten, sorrows laid aside, death hidden from view.

THEODORE DREISNER

Underline is too close and

heavy.

Line spacing is inconsistent.

Weak contrast in fonts.

Used two hyphens instead of an em dash.

Unnecessary to have this set in all caps—makes it

too important.

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Here’s one way it could look:

The Solace of Travel To the untravelled, territory other thantheir own familiar heath is invariably fascinating. Next to love, it is the one thing which solaces and delights. Things new are too important to be neglected--and mind, which is a mere reflection of sensory impressions, succumbs to the flood of objects. Thus lovers are forgotten, sorrows laid aside, death hidden from view.

- Theodore Dreisner

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Index

pacing

nderlining

apitals

onts (serif/sans serif)

onts (formatting)

ndents

F

F

I

T

C

U

S abs

ine-spacing

ashes

pecial characters

iscellaneous

uiz

L

D

S

M

Q