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Text in multimedia

Text in multimedia. Why would course designers like text? The most inexpensive media to develop Least overhead in storage/transmission But text creation requires skill: Good writing and effective use of fonts. Good multimedia writing. Concise: why? Precise and powerful:

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Text in multimedia

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  1. Text in multimedia • Why would course designers like text? • The most inexpensive media to develop • Least overhead in storage/transmission • But text creation requires skill: • Good writing and effective use of fonts

  2. Good multimedia writing • Concise: why? • Precise and powerful: • “That answer is correct” vs. “Terrific!” • “quit” vs. “close” vs “out” • Write for your audience • What background knowledge can you assume? • Informal, casual or formal, business-like style? • Why is a project’s title important?

  3. The Elements of Style, William Strunk • Say it in active voice, not passive: • “Genetic algorithms were invented by John Holland in the 1970’s.” • “John Holland invented genetic algorithms in the 1970's.” • Avoid wordiness: • “computer algorithm” vs. just “algorithm” • Avoid high-falutin’ phrases: • “Appropriate incorporated” vs. “using” • Write and rewrite • Bear in mind that users won’t read as much on a screen

  4. An example: • An introductory screen: “Within a program that aims to educate you on all aspects of networking, it seems most logical that we begin with the broadest definition of the subject matter itself. What is a network? More specifically, what is a computer network? These answers are not so difficult as you may believe.” • I propose rewriting it as: “What is a computer network?” Why?

  5. Fonts • A typeface is a family of graphic characters including many type sizes and styles • Times, Courier and Arial are typefaces, each of which include many sizes & styles • A font is a collection of characters of a single size & style, belong to a typeface family • Typical font styles are boldface, italic, bold italic, and underlined • Times is a typeface; Times 12-point italic is a font • In computerese, however, people say font when typeface would be more accurate

  6. Parts of graphic characters Serif is decoration at end of letter strokes Times Romans is serif font; Arial is sans serif Font sizes are expressed in terms of points, where one point is .0138 or 1/72 inch, and size is the distance from top of ascenders to the bottom of descenders

  7. Spacing between characters • Leading is the space between lines of text • Lopuck recommends increasing the leading to improve readability of text on a screen • Character metrics are measurements of individual characters • Vector-based fonts permit changes to character metrics for interesting effects; bit-based fonts do not • Kerning is the spacing between character pairs • Some fonts have variable kerning (e.g., Times), so have fixed kerning (e.g., Courier) • When is fixed kerning more desirable? • What about variable kerning?

  8. Serif or sans serif? • Print: serif fonts traditionally used for body text • help guide the reader’s eyes along the line of text • Headlines use sans serif • No need to guide reader’s eyes • What about on computer screens? • Don’t provide as much resolution as print • Sans serif is a little more legible, esp. in smaller sizes

  9. Macintosh standardizes pixels • Macintosh: resolution of 72 pixels/inch, corresponding to standard font resolution of 72 points per inch for print • Supports WYSIWYG for desktop publishing • Standardized pixels as square-shaped, so measurements are even on all sides • On PC side, VGA imitated these standards • EGA aspect ratio was 1.33:1, taller than wide • Mac and VGA both 640x480 square pixels

  10. Postscript • Apple spearheaded desktop publishing by adopting Adobe’s PostScript • Page description language for printing to Apple’s LaserWriter • Characters were stored in a bitmap table representing every character at every size • PostScript is vector-based: describes characters in terms of mathematical constructs (e.g., Bezier curves) • Facilitates scaling, drawing characters at various sizes and in various resolutions

  11. TrueType • But PostScript represents fonts for printer and screen separately • Adobe Type Manager accesses a font’s outline in the printer font • Scales it to display to the right size on a screen • Apple introduces TrueType circa 1989 • Only one file per font, for printer & screen, no need for ATM utility to do mapping • Both PostScript and TrueType universally available

  12. Anti-aliasing • Both PostScript and TrueType fonts allow text to be drawn on any size without jaggies • (jagged edges on the outlines of a character) • Anti-aliasing exploits color by blending (dithering) colors along the edges of letter

  13. Tips for fonts • Avoid decorative (serif) fonts for small sizes • Be consistent: standardize on a few fonts • Possible exception: attention-grabbing headlines • Surround headlines with plenty of white space • Use different colors and backgrounds • Use ample leading (space between lines) • Avoid scrolling text (contiguity principle) • Keep lines short (Lopuck recommends 3”) • Help user transition from line to line • End lines with end of sentence or phrase • Convert non-standard fonts to graphics

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