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Subject:Re: Text Wrapping around a Graphic From:"Jeanne A. E. DeVoto" <jaed -at- BEST -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 31 Jul 1998 16:15:42 -0700
At 1:09 PM -0700 7/31/98, John David Hickey wrote:
>What do you think about instructions that flow around a screen grab that is
>right in the middle of the page? Personally, I don't like having my reading
>eye bang into a screen grab while I'm trying to read instructions. It breaks
>my concentration and my eye tends to roam all over the page.
>
>I'd rather have text on one line, a screen grab by itself on the next line,
>and then more text on another line. I find it's easier to read and
>understand.
It depends on the size of the screen grab, I'd say. If it's a third or less
of the page width, it makes more sense to me to put it in the right margin
and wrap text around it. If it's much wider, wrapping text around it will
make the lines next to it too short to read comfortably; if it's much
narrower, it looks odd sitting in the middle of the page all by itself with
enormous margins.
It depends in part on the context the graphic is in, though. If the text
directly introduces the graphic, it makes more sense to have it stand
alone, regardless of size. For example, text such as
The following dialog box appears:
<screen shot of Print dialog>
In the Print dialog box, select the "Settings" option.
makes very little sense if any of the text is wrapped around the graphic.
Wrapping around a graphic works best if the graphic is ancillary, rather
than part of any flow of instruction.
--
jeanne a. e. devoto ~ jaed -at- jaedworks -dot- com http://www.jaedworks.com
What does not kill us makes us stranger.
