Posted by SGP on November 12th, 2009 |
1 comment‘Quik Tip’: What are Style Sheets and do I really need to use them?
In this ‘Quik Tip’, we will be discussing the term Style Sheets:
+What are Style Sheets anyways
+Why is it important to know this term
+How does it relate to my project
For this ‘Quik Tip’ we will be using Microsoft Word as the primary program for this discussion.
“Style Sheets” are a very important feature that most word processing/desktop publishing, layout, web design programs, comes standard with. This feature may not be called style sheets in your program, due to each program is different. But, you should have the same result. Even this blog that you are reading or our website at http://www.scugp.com/ have been created and updated using style sheets.
The feature of style sheets have been around for many years in these types of programs. It is not a new feature. However, a feature that lets you control many different text features like font, color, size, spacing, leading (the space bewteen the bottom of one line to the top of the line below it) and etc. across your whole document. The main point in using style sheets in your document is to have the look and feel be consistent throughout the whole piece. As you read in “Option #2” not having style sheets already in place is a very time consuming process, when making changes. Especially when you are the person working on a time crunch project that needs to be handed off to someone else.
Please read the Example, Option #1 and Option #2 below to find out how this important feature can impact your projects.
Example
Have you ever been in a situation at work, where your boss (James) has asked you to make changes to a 3-5 page or even a large 60-100 page Microsoft Word document, and one that someone else has created? The person who created the file is out of the office. So James comes over to you and asks can you make these changes? You don’t want to tell him Noooo. So without even thinking and looking at the document, you say, “sure I can.” Now you’re responsible for making those changes to the document.
Once you have agreed to the changes James gives you a marked up hard copy that has all the changes in it. He mentions to you that the changes are minor, easy ones, no problem.
While looking through the hard copy version you notice that all the changes are on the “Headline” and “Sub-head” only.
James lets you know all he wants done is for you to change all the Headline and Sub-head text throughout the whole document. He needs to have the headline text in Arial Bold font at 22pt size, as for the sub-head he needs them to also be in Arial but in normal/regular font at 18pt size.
You say to yourself at this point, “I can do this.”
James informs you that once all the items have been completed throughout the whole document. He needs you to look it over to make sure everything look’s good before going to print. Afterwards create a PDF file of the document and e-mail it to the printer.
Did I mention that the printer told James that he needs the PDF file from you within an hour so he can stay on target with his own deadline?
Finally, after all that you have a chance to open up the file and take a look at it on your computer screen. While scrolling through the document you notice that it is setup using either Option#1 or Option #2.
What do you do?
Option #1
The document was created using Style Sheets.
The only thing you need to do is select the “Headline Style Sheet”, make any changes to the font, size and leading etc. Proceed onto the “Sub-head Style Sheet” and repeat the process. Once you have completed this you’ll notice that all the Headlines and Sub-heads have been changed across the whole document. Next, just look over the whole document to make sure it will print correctly, create that PDF file and e-mail it over to the printer. That’s it.
Option #2
The document was created using no Style Sheets.
The first thing you will want to do is go to the beginning of the document. You might even have to try and figure out what and where the “Headline” text is on the page. It may or may not be noticeable.
Once you have established and selected the text that will become the headline text. Start by creating a style sheet called “Headline.” If there is a “Headline” style sheet already in your list, that’s great. Either you are creating it from scratch or change the existing one, it is pretty simple. All you have to do is set your font, size and leading etc. desired. That’s it. Remember, this will depend on what program you are using to make these changes. Once you have finished creating/changing the Headline Style Sheet on the first page. Go to the next page, select the text that will become the headline for that page. Select your newly or changed style sheet you used on the previous page. Continue selecting the headline text on each page and giving it the same “Headline” style sheet throughout the whole document. Once you have finished with the headlines, go back to the beginning of the document and repeat the same process but for the Sub-Head Style Sheet. Going through the whole document for each of the style sheets can take a lot of time, depending on the length of your document. This is the main reason why style sheets should be used, especially on big documents.
Now you remembered that James also mentioned for you to look through the document to see if anything out of the ordinary catches your eyes. If the document looks good for print, then all you have to do is create the PDF file of it and e-mail it to the printer.
My Final Thoughts
As you can see from the two different options above using style sheets can really help in a time crunch project. Once you starting using them, I’m sure you will really like to use them on all your projects.
Remember, for this ‘Quik Tip’ we were using Microsoft Word as the primary program. But this feature may not be called “Style Sheets” in your program, due to each program is different.
The goal you want to try and keep in mind is to show a consistent look and feel throughout the whole document to your readers.
Note: The name James is a fictitious name that was used only for this ‘Quik Tip.’
Never afraid to create
All the best,
SGP
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