Typesetting

Language is culture, and culture has standards. The language of translation and your readers could come with standards in terms of font, text arrangement, colour choice, etc. Hence, it is important to have proper Typesetting in place, including multilingual Typesetting.

Typesetting is converting and adapting localized documents to match the source’s formatting and layout. It is used to maintain the typography and standards of the target language.

The keywords of Typesetting are formatting and layout. When typesetting a document, the written text is placed into a print or digital publication layout, including graphics, special formatting, and choosing fonts.

Steps and Process of Typesetting:

Step 1: Text alignment

A text is justified when both; the right and left-hand edges are aligned. If you are using a word processing program, the chances are text alignment is being achieved by varying the word spacing.

Step 2: Typeface

The typeface is vital as all characters are allowed in the same space without making the characters look squashed or swamped in one place.

Step 3: Type size

Different typefaces appear to be different sizes; hence, the size you need will depend on your chosen typeface. It is important to choose the right type size, so it is easier for everyone to read.

Step 4: Line length & margins

After typefacing and type sizing, it is time to set a comfortable line length for reading. If your document is long, you should aim for 66 characters per line, including punctuation and spaces.

Step 5: Line spacing

Line spacing aims to strengthen a word group, which helps words resolve into lines of text and makes reading easier since the reader’s eye can move along the line format without skipping any of the other lines.

Step 6: Paragraph spacing

The penultimate step of Typesetting is to add space in between the paragraphs. However, a blank line or carriage return tends to result in more space than is needed.

Step 7: Headings

It is important to make your headings associate more with the paragraph for which the heading has to be moved down slightly within the same space. Owing to these seven steps, the choice of typeface gives a more professional feel to the document. The shorter line length with broader line spacing will help the reader read it comfortably, and the identifiable headings will allow them to navigate around a longer document with ease.

Importance of Typesetting for companies:

Typesetting is often involved in creating a book, a brochure and much more, and it is done after the design is established. Hence, the relationship between typesetter and designer is similar to that of an architect to a skilled builder. While a designer can provide the planned visual structure for you, the typesetter will ensure that every line of text is readable and that sloppy typography does not make its way into the final product. Skilled Typesetting ensures everything blends seamlessly with the design. Typesetting also eliminates widows and orphans, dangling lines at the beginning or end of a paragraph. It also adjusts kerning, or the spacing between letters, so they’re easier to read.

Popular Typesetting tools:

1. Adobe InDesign CC: Adobe’s InDesign is the industry’s standard software for computer typesetting, and its power and versatility are unrivalled. Hence, if you’re looking for the cosmetically best results – you can consider InDesign.
2. QuarkXpress 2016: QuarkXpress is a powerful typesetting tool, and its edge over InDesign is that it’s far better at importing other file types and working on them. QuarkXpress has fewer features than InDesign, but it is more focused on what typesetters want to do, such as exporting to HTML5 without needing add-ons or extensions.
3. Scribus: Scribus is open-source, meaning the source code is freely available and may be redistributed or modified. Other examples are the Mozilla Firefox browser and VLC Media Player. The advantage of Scribus is that it’s much easier for third parties to expand the software’s functionality for free!
4. Overleaf: The main advantage of Overleaf is that it can also run in your web browser. Moreover, this means that the program won’t burden your CPU and allows for real-time collaboration like Google Docs.
5. Microsoft Publisher 2016: Since Microsoft Publisher is a part of the Office suite, its appearance and mechanics are similar to Microsoft Word, making it easy to learn and familiarize yourself.

White Globe as a typesetting service provider:

As part of our desktop publishing services, we also offer typesetting services, which are common when translating content into new languages and demand the use of appropriate fonts fitting with foreign alphabets. During translation, some of the text expands, and some don’t. Many specific fonts do not always share universal characteristics or features, making them unsuitable for foreign languages or cultures. For this reason, typesetting services are majorly used to ensure that the visual representation of your content and use of fonts is correct across multiple languages and, more importantly, error-free.