THE NON-DESIGNER'S TYPE BOOK

Left aligned

Speaking just in terms of alignment, text aligned on the left is the most
readable. Left-aligned text uses the optimum word spacing and letter spacing
that the designer built into the font, and the spacing is very consistent so
you don't have to struggle through the words at all. And as you read, your
eye can quickly find the beginning of the next line.

When you align text left, strive to keep the right, "ragged" side as smooth
as possible, or in a slightly concave shape. Sometimes this necessitates
forcing line breaks to fill in holes or to prevent long text strings from
hanging beyond the rest of the lines. Below, the word of is hanging off the
right edge, while in the line just below it there is clearly plenty of room to
accommodate the word. Bump of 'down to the next line (see Chapter 22 on
Line Breaks for details).

If you bump words down, be sure you do it as the last touch in your final
layout. Otherwise when you edit the text, change the type size or column
width, or alter the layout in any way, you will end up with tab spaces, empty
spaces, or line breaks in the middle of your sentences. Fortunately, in a
flush left alignment you can easily make type corrections and adjust lines,
often without affecting the rest of the text at all.

1. I declare! Sometimes it seems to

2. I declare! Sometimes it seems to

me that every time a new piece of me that every time a new piece

machinery comes in at the door
some of our wits fly out at the
window.

Aunt Abigail in Understood Betsy,
by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

of machinery comes in at the door

some of our wits fly out at the

window.

Aunt Abigail in Understood Betsy,
by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

The word "of" in #1 will bump
down to the next line, as shown
in #2, but we get an even better
"rag" by narrowing the entire
paragraph just a tiny bit so the
lines break as shown in #3.

I declare! Sometimes it seems

to me that every time a new

piece of machinery comes in

at the door some of our wits

fly out at the window.

Aunt Abigail in Understood Betsy,
by Dorothy Caniield Fisher

17: ALIGNMENT

Right aligned

Text aligned on the right creates a definite look, as shown below, quite
different from left-aligned. The letter and word spacing still retain their
ideal built-in settings, and corrections can often be made without affecting
the rest of the text. The biggest drop in readability comes from the fact that
the left edge, where your eye returns to find the next line to read, is not
consistent so your eye has to find the beginning of the line again every time
it moves to the left. In small amounts of text, this isn't a major problem,
and the sacrifice can be worth it in exchange for the distinctive layout.

When you use a right alignment for the look it creates, then emphasize the
look—don't be a wimp. Instead of keeping the ragged edge as smooth as
possible, try exaggerating it.

There is no excuse for widows or hyphenated words when you set a right
alignment. Since you are determining the line endings and since this for¬
mat is rarely used with an extended amount of text, you can help compen¬
sate for the lower readability by being thoughtful in the grouping of
phrases. And while you're at it you can completely eliminate any hyphen¬
ation. Don't all the hyphenations in this paragraph look awful?

im am щц ю

К КШ ЦАI (AH
% W i SHOULD Ш

W Ш Щ.

Lily Tomlin

If you're going to align text

on the right, don't try to

disguise it. It's difficult to tell

if the text above is supposed

to be right-aligned or not.

Typeface is Las Bonitas.

|V( (\W\ І/АЦІ9
[О К ЯШ

к/т i m % w

i wì щи ¡ш

ш щ

Lily Tomlin

If you make the right

alignment strong, it adds

another dimension to the

type and takes it beyond

merely words on the page.