TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: Justified versus ragged right From:"Michael West" <mbwest -at- bigpond -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:29:12 +1100
> Looking for a resource that discusses and compares justified and
> ragged-right text in terms of readability.
>
> Can anyone recommend such?
>
I doubt that any of the books I learned publication design from are still in
print, but there are many out there.
Look for names like Frank Romano, Jan White and Roger Parker.
However, any discussion of "readability" that does not distinguish between
professional-quality justification as delivered by sophisticated page layout
software and low-quality justification as delivered by Microsoft Word and a
lot of down-market newspaper publication software is not worth the paper
it's printed on.
You also need to look at your hyphenation and kerning algorithms to do a
proper job of full justification.
All other factors being equal, and assuming high-end publishing tools, the
decision between justified and ragged right should be based on aesthetics
alone. Readability is not an issue between the two.
If you're think of using Word for full justification --- don't.
When it comes to readability, the following are much more important than the
ragged right/justified issue:
ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. http://www.doctohelp.com
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
