Choosing a Page Size

Table of contents:

For as long as humans have been making printed materials they have been searching for the perfect page aspect ratiothe relationship of width to height. Many books have been written about the quest for the perfect page dimension; without getting into the formulas, here are four commonly used aspect ratios:

The Golden Section 1:1.618. This formula is based on the proportions of the human body and is also sometimes expressed as a 3:5 aspect ratio.

The Silver Section 1:1.4142 (the square root of 2). ISO paper sizesA4, A3, etc.are all based on this aspect ratio. It's a clever and economical system because it allows you to fold one standard size into another, saving wastage on cutting up to make smaller sizes. You can make brochures by using the next size up. For example, fold an A3 page in two and you have two A4 pages; fold an A4 in two and you have two A5 pages, and so on. The standard US letter size (8.5 x 11 inches) is similar in aspect ratio to an A4 page (8.3 x 11.7 inches), but slightly wider and not quite as tall.

Photographic aspect ratio: 1:1.5. This yields sizes such as 4 x 6 inches, 6 x 9 inches, and 8 x 12 inches.

Business Card aspect ratio 2:3.5. This is the ratio of most business cards. Its size, and multiples of it, feel familiar.

Figure 15.2. ISO Paper Sizes.


Determining Margins

Part I: Character Formats

Getting Started

Going with the Flow

Character Reference

Getting the Lead Out

Kern, Baby, Kern

Sweating the Small Stuff: Special Characters, White Space, and Glyphs

OpenType: The New Frontier in Font Technology

Part II: Paragraph Formats

Aligning Your Type

Paragraph Indents and Spacing

First Impressions: Creating Great Opening Paragraphs

Dont Fear the Hyphen

Mastering Tabs and Tables

Part III: Styles

Stylin with Paragraph and Character Styles

Mo Style

Part IV: Page Layout

Setting Up Your Document

Everything in Its Right Place: Using Grids

Text Wraps: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Type Effects



InDesign Type. Professional Typography with Adobe InDesign CS2
InDesign Type: Professional Typography with Adobe InDesign CS2
ISBN: 0321385446
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 186
Authors: Nigel French

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