Need a smarter person than me?

["Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Sharon Burton-Hardin reports: <<We have a client who has just specified that
all body text must be 5/32 inches and all warnings and cautions must be 3/16
inches. I can't find my ruler that maps inches to points. For Myriad Roman,
can anyone help? I am stumped. I am also brain dead today.>>

It seems to me that the simplest solution would be to pick a font size that
comes close to the client's demands, then get the client to sign off on your
solution. Since x-heights vary widely among fonts, you can't simply do a
straight conversion (at 72 points per inch, this would be roughly 11.5 and
13.5 points); instead, try printing several print samples starting at (say)
10 points and ending at (say) 16 points, then measure them to see which ones
come closest to the specified sizes (use a good ruler!). Present a few
alternatives to the client, agree on which one best meets their needs, and
proceed from there.

You also mentioned a 26-page (8.5x11) constraint. Seems like the client is
being similarly anal-retentive about the page size too. How much wiggle room
do you have on margins etc.? You may find that although a single-column
design seems most space efficient, a multi-column design lets you use a
smaller point size for text not governed by the abovementioned restrictions.
(With more columns, you can generally get away with a smaller font and
tighter leading.)

<<For reasons I don't understand, the client insists the Frame files go to
the printer...>>

The printer may be accustomed to all kinds of disastrous experiences with
wannabe designers who routinely screw up print jobs. Trust me, any printer
can talk your ear off about such problems. The best advice I can give in
such situations is to talk directly to the printer about their requirements,
and make sure that you both understand how to get from the files you're
providing to the files they'll be printing. For instance:

<<If we tweak the font, do I need to send the tweaked font? What if the
printer is using a Mac?>>

You probably need to send the font; that's certainly what we do with all our
PageMaker files, and it's saved us many problems in the past. Your printer
can provide details on how they prefer to proceed. If the printer is using a
Mac and you're working on a PC, expect some potentially serious font
problems, such as character substitutions, changed font metrics (bad line
breaks), and replacements. I've been burned this way before when a service
bureau took a shortcut and output our PC files on a Mac instead of on a PC,
as requested.

Consider providing the Frame files to the printer, as the client demands,
but see if they'll let you actually print the document from a PDF that you
generate. If you've discussed details with the printer, it should be quite
possible to reach a suitable accomodation that will guarantee good results
while still satisfying the client.

--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada 

"Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the
earth's surface relative to other matter; second, telling other people to do
so. The first is unpleasant and ill-paid; the second is pleasant and highly
paid."--Bertrand Russell

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