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Good advice! I’ll offer a few tweaks I use:
1. Define your based-on style as narrowly as you can, typically only the font and font size. Anything else you add might create trouble later. Only include what you may want to change.
2.. Don’t use the based-on style anywhere in the document. Use it only to define the traits of the style you do use.
3. To make clear that this based-on style isn’t to be used, put its name in all caps, such as BODY. You might even name it BODY AA, so it will sort to the top of the listing of Body styles.
4. Begin the names of all styles based on BODY with Body, such as Body Quote. That’s for sorting the list.
5. Use names that sort styles you use together so they appear together in the style list. For multi-paragraph inset quotes I have styles for the first paragraph of an extended quote (more space before, normal amount after), the middle paragraphs (normal before and after), and the last paragraph (normal before, more after). That’s Body Quote Begin, Body Quote Middle, and Body Quote End. Or if you’re cleverer than me, you might find names that sort them like you’ll use them. Oh, and you might want a style for a single inset quote, perhaps Body Style Both, which has extra space before and after.
Tiny tweaks with the spacing like those can make a merely good book into one that is solidly professional. I worked with a book for Microsoft Press that used over 200 styles. The designer had a unique style with custom spacing for every possible text transition in the book.
My style listing runs into the many dozens. It’d be great if Adobe’s ID team would let us apply custom tints to that style listing panel. Body styles could have one tint behind them. Heading styles could have another. It’d look pretty too.
Great tips, Michael. Thanks for sharing.
Nice post, Michael. But–your style sheet names are way too long. Anyway:
For text I use TX. For text flush I use TXF.
Extracts? EXTF (# above)’ EXTM (middle, no #; EXTL (last, # below); EXT (single extract with # above/below).
I’ve dealt with designers who use way too many style sheets (and too long).
I’ve gotten files where there are 10 style sheets just for the copyright page. One for first paragraph, then middle, then one for first ISBN, another for 2nd ISBN, one for CIP info, etc. It’s crazy sometimes.
My advice to folks is to keep style sheet names simple. Don’t use nonsense like (and this is true and I did a job where the designer named it): bodytext_firstline_flush_left. To me TXF would have worked. Especially if I have to mark up the manuscript for keyboarding or tag it myself. What is up with people who name stuff like that?
Anyway–back to the the topic. Definitely base upon other styles, and the same with master pages.