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I'm on the fence for including or not including chapter numbers with page
numbers. Many of my "customers" insist on them as they feel it makes it
easier to locate specific information or procedures in the printed
documents. My manuals are combined hardware/software user guides and service
manuals. Although they are placed on the system hard drives (as PDFs with
hyperlinks), many customers also insist on shipping printed copies (on clean
room paper) with the system...not sure why, unless they have a lot of desks
with one short leg.
I've also had a software customer (mid-20s) insist on including page numbers
so she could quickly find information in the PDF file. (That one threw me
because the PDF had internal links between subject headings and content and
hyperlinks in the content to supporting material or figures.)
So, whether you like chapter numbers included with page numbers or not, it's
what your customer wants. Many of them don't have a clue except what they're
familiar with. If any spent time in the military, they became familiar with
chapter number-page number.
As a side note, the machine that created lead plates for printing was a
Linotype and it did not make the lead plates as your grandfather typed. It
created lines (Lin-o-type)of steel letter castings. Each line (or slug) was
stabilized and followed by another line, or an etched plate for pictures.
Full pages were galleys, which were then used to make the lead plates. The
galleys were broken down after the lead castings were made and the letter
castings placed back in hoppers for the next print job. The lead plates were
melted down for reuse after the print run was complete. (Four-color printing
was a tedious task back then trying to keep everything in registration.) The
practice was common for many smaller newspapers until the late 1970s. The
old cut-and-wax layout days followed until PageMaker hit the scene. In 1983,
when I co-founded Mushing magazine in Fairbanks, we had to start the wood
stove and heat the offices in Ester (AK) before working on the magazine
because the wax was so brittle (30+ below nothing inside). If you didn't,
the layout would simple slide off the page. You youngsters have it easy
today.....
I SAID YOU YOUNGSTERS HAVE IT EASY TODAY....
Al Geist
Technical Communicator, Help, Web Design, Video, Photography
Office/Msg: 802-872-9190
Cell: 802-578-3964
E-mail: al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com
Website: www.geistassociates.com
See Also:
Fine Art Photography
Website: www.geistarts.com
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