Comments on: The Importance of Paragraph Composition http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php InDesignSecrets Blog and Podcast Thu, 24 May 2012 23:01:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Harbs http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php/comment-page-1#comment-485733 Harbs Mon, 27 Sep 2010 22:21:14 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php#comment-485733 @samar, Try this (but pay attention to the note about bad composition...) ;) http://in-tools.com/wordpress/indesign/scripts/freeze-composition @samar, Try this (but pay attention to the note about bad composition…) ;)
http://in-tools.com/wordpress/indesign/scripts/freeze-composition

]]> By: Jongware http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php/comment-page-1#comment-485731 Jongware Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:38:27 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php#comment-485731 .. "many hyphenation errors" suggests that the language was not correctly applied to the text. I can't vouch for every supported language, but ID's native hyphenation of English, German, French, Dutch, Italian, and Spanish looks nigh-on flawless to me. (Unfortunately, it's also possible the language is correct and ID's hyphenation is faultless -- and it's your <em>author</em> lacking basic grammar knowledge. I've had this happen even with university-grade writers.) Your 'freeze lines' idea is self-contradictory. If you freeze line breaks, you cannot change hyphenated words either. If you <em>do</em> change the hyphenation, there is no point of using the Paragraph composer, since one line would suddenly gain one or more characters and the next line would lose them. Fly, fly away, Consistent Spacing! .. “many hyphenation errors” suggests that the language was not correctly applied to the text. I can’t vouch for every supported language, but ID’s native hyphenation of English, German, French, Dutch, Italian, and Spanish looks nigh-on flawless to me.

(Unfortunately, it’s also possible the language is correct and ID’s hyphenation is faultless — and it’s your author lacking basic grammar knowledge. I’ve had this happen even with university-grade writers.)

Your ‘freeze lines’ idea is self-contradictory. If you freeze line breaks, you cannot change hyphenated words either. If you do change the hyphenation, there is no point of using the Paragraph composer, since one line would suddenly gain one or more characters and the next line would lose them. Fly, fly away, Consistent Spacing!

]]> By: samar http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php/comment-page-1#comment-485730 samar Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:05:20 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php#comment-485730 I am working on a long text document with paragraphs the length of several pages (others wanted it this way). Now in the proofs we discover many hyphenation errors. I first thought I'll just switch to the Singe-line Composer for the line in question, but this causes the whole paragraph to get re-hyphenated, without me changing anything in the actual text. Very annoying. I see the benefits of the Paragraph Composer, so I would very much like to keep it. In fact, there is no real choice for the Single-line Composer since the results are inferior. With the advent of CS5, is there a possibility to sort of “freeze” the Paragraph Composer and stop it from changing the linebreaks in the whole paragraph? If not, anyone an idea how to solve the problem? I am working on a long text document with paragraphs the length of several pages (others wanted it this way). Now in the proofs we discover many hyphenation errors. I first thought I’ll just switch to the Singe-line Composer for the line in question, but this causes the whole paragraph to get re-hyphenated, without me changing anything in the actual text. Very annoying.
I see the benefits of the Paragraph Composer, so I would very much like to keep it. In fact, there is no real choice for the Single-line Composer since the results are inferior.
With the advent of CS5, is there a possibility to sort of “freeze” the Paragraph Composer and stop it from changing the linebreaks in the whole paragraph?
If not, anyone an idea how to solve the problem?

]]> By: David Blatner http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php/comment-page-1#comment-102877 David Blatner Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:19:57 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php#comment-102877 JV, you are correct that changing a line often changes the lines before. That is quite frustrating and a number of people have suggested that Adobe add a "freeze" feature that would stop previous lines from moving. However, until something like that happens, my suggestion is to turn on Paragraph Composer for all paragraphs, but then when one paragraph is difficult to work with and isn't behaving well, then change that one paragraph to Single-line composer and do it by hand. My point is that single-line should be the exception, not the rule. I want you to spend your free time having fun, not tweaking paragraphs! :) JV, you are correct that changing a line often changes the lines before. That is quite frustrating and a number of people have suggested that Adobe add a “freeze” feature that would stop previous lines from moving.

However, until something like that happens, my suggestion is to turn on Paragraph Composer for all paragraphs, but then when one paragraph is difficult to work with and isn’t behaving well, then change that one paragraph to Single-line composer and do it by hand. My point is that single-line should be the exception, not the rule.

I want you to spend your free time having fun, not tweaking paragraphs! :)

]]> By: JV, Sweden http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php/comment-page-1#comment-102873 JV, Sweden Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:12:18 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php#comment-102873 I don’t charge by the hour, I simply spend too much of my ”free time” working. :) Anyway – can you really tweak stuff that’s been paragraph composed? When I tweak that one line that looks ugly, Paragraph Composer steps in and re-tweaks the whole paragraph ... the whole feature seems to me to preclude manual tweaking. :/ I don’t charge by the hour, I simply spend too much of my ”free time” working. :) Anyway – can you really tweak stuff that’s been paragraph composed? When I tweak that one line that looks ugly, Paragraph Composer steps in and re-tweaks the whole paragraph … the whole feature seems to me to preclude manual tweaking. :/

]]> By: David Blatner http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php/comment-page-1#comment-102474 David Blatner Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:33:46 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php#comment-102474 JV, it's not about trying to get paragraph composer to yield perfect results. It's simply a matter of time spent on a project. If you charge by the hour, then you should definitely use single-line composer. But using paragraph composer gets you most of the way there, so you only need to tweak a few lines instead of most of the lines! JV, it’s not about trying to get paragraph composer to yield perfect results. It’s simply a matter of time spent on a project. If you charge by the hour, then you should definitely use single-line composer. But using paragraph composer gets you most of the way there, so you only need to tweak a few lines instead of most of the lines!

]]> By: JV, Sweden http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php/comment-page-1#comment-101823 JV, Sweden Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:53:36 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php#comment-101823 Quark has nothing to do with it; I always turn the Paragraph Composer off and do everything manually, line-by-line, as a matter of course. Why? Because it’s not enough to be “efficient”; I’d rather put in a bit of overtime putting out a product I can be proud of. Of course, I anticipate the replies now: that it <i>is</i> indeed possible to tweak the Paragraph Composer to the point of yielding <i>perfect</i> results <i>every</i> time, like line-by-line composition does; well; that would be interesting to see. How do you do it? Quark has nothing to do with it; I always turn the Paragraph Composer off and do everything manually, line-by-line, as a matter of course. Why? Because it’s not enough to be “efficient”; I’d rather put in a bit of overtime putting out a product I can be proud of. Of course, I anticipate the replies now: that it is indeed possible to tweak the Paragraph Composer to the point of yielding perfect results every time, like line-by-line composition does; well; that would be interesting to see. How do you do it?

]]> By: Pauline http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php/comment-page-1#comment-84860 Pauline Fri, 13 Jul 2007 17:36:21 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php#comment-84860 Thanks David! I'll go have some looks! Thanks David! I’ll go have some looks!

]]> By: David Blatner http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php/comment-page-1#comment-84828 David Blatner Fri, 13 Jul 2007 15:57:26 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php#comment-84828 Pauline, I'm biased, but I think the best source for overall reference material on these topics is <em>Real World InDesign</em>, which you can find on <a href="http://indesignsecrets.com/books-and-videos/" rel="nofollow">our Books, Magazines, and Videos page</a>. Another favorite source for InDesign typographic information is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321385446/indesignsecre-20 " target="_blank">Nigel French's InDesign Type</a>, some of which is also available in his Professional Typography video title at <a href="http://lynda.com/IDsecrets/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">lynda.com</a>. Pauline, I’m biased, but I think the best source for overall reference material on these topics is Real World InDesign, which you can find on our Books, Magazines, and Videos page.

Another favorite source for InDesign typographic information is Nigel French’s InDesign Type, some of which is also available in his Professional Typography video title at lynda.com.

]]> By: Pauline http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php/comment-page-1#comment-84825 Pauline Fri, 13 Jul 2007 15:44:59 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/the-importance-of-paragraph-composition.php#comment-84825 I work with InDesign for layout but I am not an editor, proof-reader or typesetter. My request is for any source of information to read which you've found especially useful in getting up to speed on such things as typography and h&j issues, etc. I'm an avid reader and fast learner. Would appreciate any of your favorite sources, especially on subjects of leading and styles. Thanks. I work with InDesign for layout but I am not an editor, proof-reader or typesetter. My request is for any source of information to read which you’ve found especially useful in getting up to speed on such things as typography and h&j issues, etc. I’m an avid reader and fast learner. Would appreciate any of your favorite sources, especially on subjects of leading and styles.

Thanks.

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