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Verso/recto page layouts are an adaptation to specific forms of paper
binding. If you are not binding your document in a way that requires
differential verso/recto layouts, then don't do it.
Nothing bogs down progress towards simpler, more manageable, less expensive
formats, tools, and processes, like clinging to vestigial conventions that
have outlived their usefulness. Don't do any of this stuff unless there is
an obvious and significant current reason to do it. Otherwise you just waste
time and effort and materials and make it more complex and difficult to
implement useful innovations in content design.
While there is always the temptation to keep doing something just because it
has been done in the past, it is really important to be asking ourselves
what current needs are. Chances are we are not meeting all the current
needs, in part because we are still doing things to meet needs that have not
existed for years.
It is always useful in these matters to do a little research to find out why
a certain thing was done in the past, rather than relying on tradition or
convention. Find out what the real function of a convention was and ask if
that function is still relevant and if the convention is still the right way
to provide it. If not, cut it out ruthlessly. Never miss an opportunity to
scrape the barnacles off the bottom of the boat. It will sail better in all
conditions with them gone.
Mark
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+mbaker=analecta -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
<techwr-l-bounces+mbaker=analecta -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> On Behalf Of
Monique Semp
Sent: August 29, 2018 11:02 AM
To: Sion Lane <sion -dot- lane -at- unit4 -dot- com>; Rick Quatro <rick -at- rickquatro -dot- com>;
techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Odd/Even formatting
And the inevitable reviewer comment, "why is there a blank page?" when
a chapter ends on a right page and there's the blank page before the
next chapter begins on the right page.
To be clear, my personal preference remains proper recto/verso
(odd/even) pages. But if I were again preparing traditional
book-looking PDFs with a tool such as FrameMaker/Word (vs. my current
SSG--static site generator authoring to product only html), I'd
probably eschew tradition. But then I'd likely put the page numbers in
the middle or something so it didn't look like recto/verso done wrong.
(And I'd just go with page numbers from "1" on the cover to n, without
the traditional roman numerals for the "frontmatter" with the first
chapter starting on "1".)
-Monique
On 8/29/18 7:35 AM, Sion Lane wrote:
Redundancy I guess, why have one more page layout than you need?
-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Quatro [[1]mailto:rick -at- rickquatro -dot- com]
Sent: 29 August 2018 15:29
To: Sion Lane [2]<sion -dot- lane -at- unit4 -dot- com>; [3]techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Odd/Even formatting
It's a good question, but I always wonder what the downside is to keeping
left/r ight pages?
Rick Quatro
Carmen Publishing Inc.
[4]rick -at- frameexpert -dot- com
585-729-6746 NEW!
-----Original Message-----
From: [5]techwr-l-bounces+rick=rickquatro -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[6]<techwr-l-bounces+rick=rickquatro -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> On Behalf Of
Sion L ane
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2018 10:25 AM
To: [7]techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Odd/Even formatting
I'm just wondering if any of you have a good reason for keeping the
traditional odd/even page formatting when your only deliverable is a pdf
file. It doesn't fa cilitate online reading in any way, and even if people
print out double sided it shouldn't matter, in my opinion.
We are working on a new page layout and I questioned the need for a
different ri ght and left page, my boss seemed uncertain so I would ideally
like to go back w ith some resources/examples to back up my intuition.
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