On 5/30/08 9:21 AM, "ghrt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Another issue is with spacing. There is a lot of waste space on pages. > Big headings, big pictures (sometimes only 2 fit on a page). 350 pages > is a direct consequence of this. I mean, I don't care about it, but this > GSG isn't that really big, only looks big. There are things that I felt > I had to add, like changing page format (we use A4 here) and a few of > other explanations. >
Any "How-To" guide is going to be large, because of the way it is used. When I am using it, I need to be able to find the information easily, and it needs to be in a large enough typeface that I can easily move my eyeballs from my computer screen to the book when I need help. The pictures also need to be large, because I am comparing them to my screen, and I need enough detail to determine that the book and I are agreeing. Whitespace is critical, because I will get lost and waste an incredible amount of time trying to find my place without it. I don't have much of an opinion on justification, but I think hyphenation is bad for a technical manual. When I use a manual of any sort, I am skipping about, back and forth, looking for the information that is specific to my problem. Hyphenation makes it harder for me to find that data. In fact, I am finding that I am using paper a lot less, and reviewing PDFs more when they are available. Right now, most PDFs are developed with the printed word in mind, and are much too dense for onscreen use (especially on a Macbook with a 13" screen). What makes them useful, however, is that I can search by keyword to narrow my search, and then browse with the eyeballs to match context. I wish there was a simple way to write a document once, and simultaneously format it for print and screen viewing. With Docbook that is possible, but I am not enough of a wizard with OpenDocument to know how easy it is with ODT. Theoretically, simply changing your style list should do the job (and was part of the reason styles were introduced in MSO, I gather), but I've noticed with both MSO and OOO that this is much easier said than done. Matthew Copple [EMAIL PROTECTED]
