Nesting of newspapers and magazines. How to make a newspaper

The number of sections and headings, speaking in professional language, is the composition of the number - this is the foundation that underlies the formation of the corporate identity and guarantees the publication of recognition in the broad masses. The layout of newspapers and magazines is an integral part of the production process. It is responsible for optimizing a particular page and for the overall design of the number, that is, for the competent combination of text and graphic elements, for the ease of perception of fonts, for the ease of navigation ...

Advantages of a stable composition

Systematic output in circulation sooner or later leads to the fact that the newspaper or the magazine has its own unique composition. From number to number all significant strips, basic sections and subject headings preserve a certain type and structure. This is not accidental: a product made from a template is more easily perceived by the reader, and later develops a certain expectation model for the target audience.

However, the layout of newspapers according to pre-established standards does not at all imply the inviolability of the schemes. On the contrary, compositions that are easily amenable to transformation are a sign of a qualitative realization of creative ideas.

In other words, the stylistic bias and format of the newspaper / magazine should not depend on point corrections and adjustments. If the responsible editor falls into a stupor every time, when several hours before putting the number into print there is a need to re-run individual pages or even pages, then the base composition does not justify itself, and it needs to be changed.

What is the difference between layout and layout?

Compositional preparation and layout of the newspaper are two interrelated processes with similar action algorithms. However, the tasks faced by designers and layout designers can not be called single-type - the differences lie in the plane of the objective mastering (optimization) of already edited materials. The priority direction of the layout is the detailed elaboration of the content structure: the order of the bands, the configuration of publications, the "embedding" of images and the like. The goal of literate layout is to ensure that the location of the material on the pages not only does not cause difficulties for the reader, but also most naturally accentuates his attention on the most important information messages.

The material that has passed the layout has a common thematic core. Nevertheless, to form a full-fledged issue of the publication this is not enough. A kind of finish line is the layout, which organizes the content and organizes individual elements (publications) into a single whole.

Layout of the newspaper: norms and patterns

The main reference point for selecting the typical layout structure is the content of the number. All techniques and options for technical design are to some extent dictated by the content. The term "material for the first band" perfectly reflects the essence of the foregoing: they operate when they want to emphasize the importance of the article (that is, the information load of such a note plays the role of a "stencil" for the whole number).

However, one must understand that the so-called general norms of coding are rather conditional. The target audience for each publication has its own, specific. Therefore, if all the newspapers are on the same page, the demanding readers will not be able to find the product they are interested in, which will inevitably lead to a drop in sales with the ensuing consequences.

And most importantly: the specificity of the layout is largely predetermined by the history of the periodicals, the stages of its development, the traditions of the working collective, national preferences and other factors that are not directly related to the technological process.

A3 format: computer prototyping

The layout designer is an expert who operates with the finished text and already selected graphics. His professional duties include placing the material on the basis of approved templates. At the dawn of "typographic evolution," the work of the profile worker was complicated, and the time spent on accomplishing the tasks set was colossal. Modern computer prototyping is quite another matter ...

The typographic formats used today are derived from DIN A0. The most popular in the printing business are A5, A4 and A3.

The standard layout of the newspaper A3-format is implemented using the template wizard (the software shell can be different, but the functional set of utilities is comparable). Among the absolute advantages of computer prototyping is the availability of correction of the content of the number at any stage of its preparation, as well as minimization of the number of errors.

Software overview: PageMaker and QuarkXPress

Preprinting the number on the PC implies the installation of a software product. Initially, there were not enough proposals worthy of attention of professional web designers. In fact, there were only two - PageMaker from the world famous company Adobe (reincarnation of the same name from Aldus) and a functional analogue called QuarkXPress from the modest organization Quark Ink.

For a long time, the developers of both programs were, as they say, leg in the foot, so the computer layout of newspapers - meaning its final result - was practically independent of the batch script being implemented. The release of updates broke the steady balance, but did not determine the leader. So, QuarkXPress demonstrated the phenomenal architecture of auxiliary modules (extensions), but failed to get rid of clumsiness in the field of table editing. And PageMaker made a bet on universalization, but lost several positions in the rating of functionality (especially the arsenal of special effects suffered).

To help makeup: getting to know Adobe InDesign

Adobe did not intend to play in the sphere of creating products for software layout. The emergence of a fundamentally new package was only a matter of time ...

InDesign is a much more serious competitor to QuarkXPress than an outdated PageMaker. More precisely, the issue of rivalry is no longer worth it - it all boils down to how many users the utility will "steal" from Quark.

So, what is the difference between the layout of the newspaper in InDesign and the previously described scenarios?

It intrigues completely redesigned graphical interface, which is "sharpened" for an ordinary user. Here, in order to annoy competitors, there is even an option to activate hot keys, which are used by default in similar programs - the builders who worked on Quark will not have to rebuild! It also affects functionality. In this respect, InDesign is a viable hybrid that allows you to solve complex pre-print tasks by simply pressing 5-6 key combinations. And, finally, the layout in InDesign is justified from the point of view of the natural development of printed publications: the updates to the package make the process of assembling the material as simple as possible, reduce the time for preparing publications, offer ready-made templates and layouts depending on the stylistic binding of the number ...

Literate layout of newspapers: three rules of paramount importance

Modern layout has a computer basis. But this does not mean that the programs automatically perform all the requirements for a competent layout. A lot depends on the master-specialist.

So, what does the classic layout of a newspaper look like?

An example of the correct algorithm of actions is the following:

• When preparing a number for printing, a uniformity of the pages should be ensured. If the sample structure is broken (header headers and band runs are different or there is a non-observance of the font design, graphic imbalances, etc.), then the composition of the collected material is incorrect.
• Layout output (title) sheet excludes the use of headers, norms and signatures; Full information about the publication is given in the front page.
• As a result of the layout, there should be a mandatory coincidence of lines of the main text located on the front page of the newspaper, with lines on the back (even if the scenario of the changeable font size was implemented, and the basic content of the publication was diluted with materials of secondary importance: footnotes, comments, clarifications, etc. .).

Nesting of magazines: some nuances

The rules for the layout of a newspaper are somewhat different from those that are being introduced to specialists responsible for printing journal products.

Multi-page publications often consist of columns of different formats, while the number of illustrations in them is measured in dozens. Ensuring the correspondence of the lines "person" and "turnover" in such conditions is much more difficult. Therefore, word-censors of magazines, as a rule, operate with functional additions (applications) to the main software packages, and the assembled numbers go into circulation on typographic equipment of a higher class.

Types of layout: the basics of classification

Many attempts were made to create a unified classification of types of typesetting. However, almost all of them were not successful, because they ignored the geometry of the placement of the finished material on the strip.

For this reason, it was decided to divide the types of typesetting of newspapers not according to style, but on the basis of three groups of features: the first included those that were identified by the configuration of text and graphics, the criterion for the second was the direction of the spread (vertical / horizontal), for the third - the degree of symmetry on the strip.

In newspapers, regardless of subject matter, the most common is a simple bar-coding (information is fed in structured horizontal rectangles - "bars"). Where rarely resort to a "broken" layout - when columns with ledges are formed by rectangles of variable height.

Type of layout and target audience. Is there a connection?

In professional circles, it is well known that the layout of newspapers is not just the search for optimal forms for content. The final compositions are primarily required to meet the needs of target audiences. If you look at prints targeted at young people, you can find examples of lively and colorful design, implemented through the use of "broken" layout. The bar scheme is dominant in the newspapers, whose readers are mostly people of mature age. But strictly information publications differ original (as a rule, complicated) form of submission of material: a lot of columns of different geometry, plus a "dynamic" font.