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- Demystifying ePub3
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- Book Design Basics Part 3: Running The Numbers
- The Single Most Important Contribution to Publishing
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- Book Typography: The Crystal Goblet by Beatrice Warde
- Book Design Basics Part 2: Optical Margins, Indents and Periods
- KF8 and ePub3: New Standards for EBooks
- Book Design Basics Part 1: Margins and Leading
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Category Archives: Book Design
Book Design Basics – Drop Caps and Initial Impressions
NITIAL CAPITALS have historical roots in the early days of book design; their use predates the printing press and the invention of moveable type. Today’s initial caps are not as fancy as those carefully rendered in gold leaf in ancient … Continue reading
Book Design Basics: Small Capitals – Avoiding Capital Offenses
Use of Small Capitals—uppercase characters designed at lowercase scale—is one aspect of writing and book design that isn’t taught in grammar school. We all know every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a period. We all should … Continue reading
Book Design Basics – Dashes, Hyphens and Dots
I particularly like this section on dashes, hyphens and dots because it goes beyond typographic aesthetics to explore how we can communicate more effectively as writers. The subtle intricacies of hyphens and dashes affect all authors whether they typeset their … Continue reading
Book Design Basics Part 3: Running The Numbers
Part 3 of Book Design Basics explores better ways to present numbers on your pages. Numbers (called figures) look simple at first glance, but they present interesting typesetting challenges. Many digital typefaces offer several number styles but few designers know … Continue reading
The Single Most Important Contribution to Publishing
Though I create eBooks and write about them extensively, I’m a classic bibliophile who loves to feel the subtle emboss of letters stamped on paper with metal type. I was rummaging through the garage and came across an old copy … Continue reading
Why Flash Is Not Dead and What That Means for Publishers
Flash has been one of my favorite tools for over a decade so I was concerned when Adobe announced it will no longer continue to develop its Flash Player plug-in for mobile browsers. Flash developers are up in arms. Adobe’s … Continue reading
Book Typography: The Crystal Goblet by Beatrice Warde
Here is the first of a series of occasional posts that explore the contributions of great typographers and typography books to the book designer’s art. Designers, writers and publishers will benefit from Beatrice Warde’s eloquent perspectives on the craft of … Continue reading
Book Design Basics Part 2: Optical Margins, Indents and Periods
Part 2 of Fundamentals of Book Design explores optical margins, paragraph formatting and spaces. Read about margins, layout and leading in Part 1. The self-publishing revolution is (aside from the Internet) the greatest thing ever to happen to freedom of … Continue reading
KF8 and ePub3: New Standards for EBooks
Things are about to get interesting for readers, designers and the eBook publishing business as new formats bring enhanced formatting and interactivity to eBooks. Amazon has just announced a new KF8 (Kindle Format 8) format. The KF8 format replaces Amazon’s … Continue reading
Book Design Basics Part 1: Margins and Leading
Book design is a lost art. Though book design discussions usually focus on covers, consider how much more time a reader spends staring at the text. An elegant book block is just as important. Decades ago, professional tradesmen practiced the … Continue reading
