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Subject:Re: Captions for screen shots From:"D. Margulis" <ampersandvirgule -at- WORLDNET -dot- ATT -dot- NET> Date:Thu, 2 Jul 1998 17:59:30 -0400
Amy G. Peacock wrote:
>
> I have a doc with a number of screen shots in it. As I was editing it
> last night a thought occurred to me.
>
> For the captions for screen shots do you prefer to:
>
> 1) Describe the picture - what it is. As in, The Order Editing Form.
> 2) Describe what it does. As in, "Use the Order Editing form to change
> your order."
> 3) Describe what the user is doing or should do when they see the
> screen shot. As in. As in, "Viewing the Order Editing Form."
> 4) No captions at all.
>
> Amy Peacock
Amy,
You are asking for personal preferences, so here are mine.
[First, just to clarify terms, I am assuming that you are referring to
the legend, which we usually place below or to the side of a figure, and
which most people now call a caption. Right? A caption--the root word
means head, as in captain, chief, chef, kopf, etc.--is traditionally a
small headline that sits immediately above an illustration. But I
digress.]
When I have the freedom to set the style for a publication, which I
usually do these days, I like to write long, informative legends, a la
Scientific American. In order to facilitate a short form in the list of
figures, I try always to begin with a brief fragment.
So the result is something like this:
Figure 3-7 The Order Editing form. [that's the end of the LOF listing]
Use the Order Editing form to change an order that has already been
submitted but that has not yet been filled. Use this form when a
customer calls to change an order or when the system returns an order to
you for corrections. Be sure to double-check your work, because once you
release the form it will return to its original position in the
processing queue and may be processed immediately. Note especially the
fields in the shaded box. These must be complete and accurate in order
to prevent further delays in filling the order.
I also use callouts freely where I think they add clarity; but while the
legend may refer to the callouts, it does not duplicate them.
Just my .02
Dick Margulis
PS: Know any developers looking for a job? I'm soliciting resumes. See http://www.identerprise.com No TW openings right now, but there will be.
