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Subject:Figures and Captions From:"Leona L. Magee-Dupree" <leona -dot- magee-dupree -at- CCBCC -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 11 Jan 1999 14:27:19 -0500
Correct me if I'm wrong, and I'm sure you will, but aren't figure captions
and numbers supposed to be used for graphics, photos, and etc.? What I
mean is if I have ten different photos describing a process, wouldn't I
number them "Figure 1.-Figure 10."? I include my captions with my numbers
so that I keep my photos in cronological order. Are you (technical writers
in general on the listserve) saying that figures and captions are not
supposed to be used anymore? Enlighten me.
This is how I write mine- "Figure 1. Main Screen, Figure 2. Busy Screen,
and Figure 3. Work Order Screen."
-These figures are describing the screens of a Norand Handheld computer for
anyone who is curious. I place the figure number and caption at the bottom
left of each graphic.-
I try to keep the graphics and the text side by side if I can, but when I
refer to a graphic, I refer to the figure number and the page number.
Either way, the reader has to turn to the page to find the graphic. If the
reader is reading the document on line, the text is hyperlinked so the
reader can click it and see the graphic. What do all of you think?
Beth Kane <Beth -dot- Kane -at- VENTANA -dot- COM> wrote:
>>I chuckle at the formality of figure numbers when I see them in books.
Now
>>that we have dynamically updated cross-references in tech docs, we can
tell
>>people what page the graphic appears on if we refer to one that's not
>>adjacent to the current text.
>>I can see the logic in using captions, perhaps, but not numbers.
When looking for an illustration in a manual (paper) which would you rather
scan for? A simple number or a caption that might possibly contain
technical terms that you are not yet familiar with? While we can
dynamically link references which is more elegant in a paragraph?
1. refer to Figure 15
or
2. refer to "Widget Disassembly" on page 55
