How To Win Christmas Light Decorating Contest

on layout (II): all

The images are one of the cornerstones of any manual. Fortunately or unfortunately, is easier to convince the reader if our prose is accompanied by the appropriate graphical embellishments. We just have to think about how many times have we perused a book simply because we liked the cover to realize their power. No matter how good the text, if we do not care for visual lose much of its strength. But beware, it also generates a spectacular presentation of the content expectations to be met. In

role manuals are repeated several picture elements, apart from the artwork itself:

• Funds Page can be a texture of parchment, a symbol (on each page or between them) or just a specific color . The funds break the monotony of black and white and make us realize that this is not just any book or manual vacuum. Many amateurs manuals dispense this appeal and simplicity sin of excess. The key is finding the appropriate point at which the fund is seen but does not hinder the reading. Another factor to consider is the impression, if we use a heavy bottomed in danger of increasing the consumption of ink and can cause an effect of "plaster" on paper with little weight. If you want to make sure this does not happen we can do without the background or create a version of "printer friendly" manual without it, in addition to the standard.
  
  
• Borders Page is another way to give a distinct character to the manual. Some examples include simulating an ancient tome corner for a medieval fantasy game, integrated circuits for the theme of science fiction or classical mythological trails to one that treats of ancient Greece. It is always best to apply it discreetly, not saturated. The edge is also useful, since we can use to differentiate Chapters, either in color or specific text. The disadvantages are the same as with the background (though less severe), greater ink usage and potential problems in printing.
  
  
• Text flowing with the images: One of the clues to differentiate a professional layout of an amateur is his way of dealing with text, especially in relation to the illustrations. The simplest is to use square boxes and create columns that are stacked one after another, but a little bland and predictable resource. The best designs play with the two columns, but also with text that fits and flows around the images (for example, following the outline of a character), which also do not always have the same size and can appear in any position. Professional programs like InDesign or QuarkXPress make it much easier to achieve this kind of composition.

That said, we must clarify that amateur work has its limitations. Do not artists always available to meet the needs of the manual. It is clear that we would like to put a picture on each page, take corners and decorative borders, fonts and capitalization custom color cover ... but we can be happy if we have a person standing to draw some original to us by pure passion. The real reason is sometimes used simple layouts is that there is not much material to show off graphics.

The Black Crusade of Fantasy Flight, a good example of the above.

can rely on professionals, of course, and hire someone that illustrious order, but the price may be prohibitive. To get an idea, the cover of the box La Marca del Este, an exceptional work Manzanedo, cost 500 € and the rest of the manual was around € 1800.

Alternatively we have to create same funds and items using public domain images or free of duty. Flickr has a good selection of material and gives access to online catalog of many institutions worldwide.

Links to artwork:
Public Domain Stock Flickr
The Fantastic in Art and Fiction - Cornell University

In next installment will discuss basic rules and common errors in the layout: widows, orphans, rivers, etc.