Gadget Tips You May Not Know

Every once in awhile, I come across a simple little tip or trick that makes life so much easier. Sometimes it involves cleaning something in my house or caring for my yard, something that had taken me tedious hours before, and I just didn't know that someone made a gadget or tool or product that would take care of my problem in seconds.

One of the most recent times involved replacing my car's dead battery. I struggled for a long time trying to get it out, but it just wouldn't budge. I finally called my Dad to ask if he would come help. It turns out that he has a tool especially for doing what I was trying to do that I had no idea even existed. It took him seconds to get the battery removed and replaced. (Thanks Dad!)

Many times, when I come across something new like that, I wonder what other things there are in the world that I don't yet know about. What other holes in my knowledge are there?

Apparently, I am not the only one this happens to. David Pogue, the author of a helpful article from the New York Times, titled "Ins and Outs of Using Gadgetry," writes about simple "how to" stuff for your electronic gadgets that you may have missed in your comings and goings.

He poses the question, "How is the average person supposed to know the essentials of their phones, cameras and computers? There's no government leaflet, no mandatory middle-school class, no state agency that teaches you some core curriculum. Instead, we muddle along, picking up scattershot techniques as we go."

Pogue includes some simple tips involving cellphones, cameras, app phones, web stuff, editing text on a computer, and even some Mac tips. He thinks it is likely that there is going to be something on his list of tips to which you'll say, "I didn't know that!"

So click through to this article and read through Pogue's list. And even if you don't learn something new, you can still pat yourself on the back, knowing that you are very media savvy in this ever-changing world.

Book Review - The Elements of Typographic Style

Although this is really a reference manual, it turns out to be a surprisingly compelling read. This book instructs the reader in the art and craft of typography — mainly for laying out type in books. There is a lot to say (and Robert Bringhurst says it well) about an art form that strives to be beautiful, functional, and when done right, somewhat invisible.

There are sections about the historical development of type and fonts, plus detailed instructions on pleasing and harmonious margins and text blocks on pages. But if you know you aren't going to read this book from cover to cover, try to sample at least Chapters 1 and 2. These present more general ideas and advice about typography and are valuable to one who is interested in setting type well.

One of my favorite pieces of advice comes from Chapter 6, Choosing and Combining Type. He says to "use what there is to the best advantage."

If there is nothing for dinner but beans, one may hunt for an onion, some pepper, salt, cilantro and sour cream to enliven the dish, but it is generally no help to pretend that the beans are really prawns or chanterelles.

When the only font available is Cheltenham or Times Roman, the typographer must make the most of its virtues, limited though they may be ... but there is nothing to gained by pretending that Times Roman is Bembo.

Perhaps because he uses a food analogy here, but that has stuck with me. I also liked Chapter 10 where various fonts are listed by category (serif, san serif, blackletter, script, etc.) with a short history and samples. Plus, throughout the book he uses different fonts to demonstrate his points. And while not all of us will face having to typeset Greek letters in conjunction with English ones, Bringhurst goes into great detail about how to do so successfully in Chapter 6.

You don't have to feel like this book sets out rules in stone, especially if you are a professional typesetter and you are comfortable with the basics already. In fact, I think trying to follow all of the author's suggestions at once would be counterproductive. Instead, use this book to think about the little details in typography, or to pull yourself out of your usual approaches to type and see someone else's perspective for a little while.

This isn't the only book on typography that is a good resource, but it has stood the test of time rather well. I would recommend it to anyone interested in typography.

Overprinting White Type, or How to Make Type Invisible

No, this post isn't about a cool magic trick with type. It's really about how to not end up with invisible type. White type and other white elements can sometimes surprise you by not showing up on a printed version of your design. You can see the white type on your screen, so why doesn't it show up on paper?

On your screen:

On your paper:

The most common reason is that somehow those white elements in your design have been set to overprint, and white + overprint = invisibility.

There are several ways to check if any of your white elements are set to overprint. The easiest is to turn on the "Overprint Preview" feature in Illustrator, and InDesign. Simply go to View in the menu bar, and then down to "Overprint Preview." This will simulate what your design will look like when printed. If any white is set to overprint, it will disappear and reappear as you toggle this off and on. The keyboard shortcut for this is the same in Illustrator and InDesign: Command + Option + Shift + Y.

Here is Illustrator's menu bar with Overprint Preview selected:

And here is InDesign's menu bar:

You can also check your pdfs for overprinting white type in Acrobat. In Acrobat 9, an easy way to do this is to go to Advanced on the menu bar, then to Print Production, then to Output Preview.

A menu will come up. Simply check the "Simulate Overprinting" box. Any overprinting white will "disappear" from your design when this is turned on.

No one likes to be surprised when it comes to a press check, and we don't want to hear anyone say, "Hey, where is my white type?" So Lorraine Press has safeguards built into our system that will find any overprinting white, whether it be lines or type, and correct it to knock out. But for your own files, and for those that don't print here at Lorraine (if there happen to be any!), you should always check that your white doesn't overprint.