Working with text and images – Functional Skills Module 6 – Lesson 12
In this lesson students are learning how to:
· select and format text to meet requirements
STARTER
· Open the Gutenberg-Museum Shop website: www.gutenberg-shop.de .
· Click on English Version (last option of the menu on the left).
· Click on Online Shop, then Miniature Books.
· Click of the image of a miniature book for a closer look. The page shows the smallest book in the world.
· Click on Miniature Accordion fold books to display a wide range of small books.
Work in your groups. Grab a white board, pen and cloth.
- What font size is needed to fit text onto such small pages (2 cm x 2 cm)?
- Could the text be formatted – if so, in what ways?
- What character sets are needed to print the text in languages other than German?
- How would you read such text?
For information on the history of printing, visit the Gutenberg Museum’s website – http://www.gutenberg-museum.de/index.php?id=29&L=1
TASK 1 – Formatting Text
Two important things that decide how easy text is to read are the font and the font size.
Fonts
Fonts are usually identified by name. Here are three very different fonts.
Font size
A large amount of text will not be easy to read if the font size is too small. These three examples use the same font, but in different sizes.
Text alignment
The appearance of text is also affected by how it is aligned and by the spacing between the lines.
For text that doesn’t have that many words to the line, left alignment works best. Right alignment and centred are not as easy to read, because each line starts from a different position. Justified text, where each line is made the same width by adjusting the spaces between letters and words, gives very varied spacing in narrow columns and is more difficult to read.
Adjusting the spacing between lines is often done to make text fit a given space. The standard line space is single. Reducing the line spacing can make text more difficult to read.
Text style
Font styles such as bold, italic and underlined are used to give emphasis to small amounts of text. Regular font style is best for large amounts of text.
Text colour
Colour can also be used to bring text to life. Use it with care, though, as it generally makes the text less easy to read.
TIP – you can quickly copy all formatting by using the Format Painter or paintbrush.
Complete Skill Builder (6.1) exercise.
- Open SB6.1.1 – I want to be a professional gardener.
- From the list of fonts available, choose a font and font size that you consider easy to read and apply it to all the text in the file.
- Find the plant word ‘Agapanthus’ and give it the italic font style. Find the phrase ‘garden design programme’ and give it the bold font style.
- Select a font to use for the title and headings in the document that is different from the font for the main text. Then choose one suitable font style (such as bold, italics or underlined) for the title and headings.
- · Repeat the work, experimenting with different fonts and font styles. You may also want to try using a colour for the title and headings.
TASK 2 Bullets and Numbering
Bullets can make a list of points easier to read. Make sure that all the bullets in a list are consistent and in line.
If a list is meant to be read in a particular order, it will make more sense to number the points rather than use bullets.
Look at the image L12.1-Bullets-Numbering.
Look at the Bullets, Numbering, Multilevel List icons in the Paragraph section of the Home menu.
1. explore the options
2. find out what happens when they highlight one line in the middle of a bulleted list and then click on the Increase Indent key.
For example:
· Abseiling
- o Orienteering
- o Canoeing
· Disco Dancing
Complete the Skill Builder (6.2) exercise
Open SB6.2.1 – Small animals that are common in gardens.
Select the list of animal names and format it to display as a bulleted list.
On a new line below the list, enter the text ‘I like these animals in this order’. Make a copy of the animal list below the new text. Remove the bullets from this list.
Drag and drop the animal names into the order in which you like them. For example, if you like butterflies most and slugs least, then butterflies should be at the top of the list and slugs at the bottom.
Format the list as a numbered list from 1 to 13. Then delete the sixth animal from the list. If you have formatted the list correctly as a numbered list, the numbers below the deleted line will adjust automatically.
TASK 3 – Selecting and Formatting text for publications
Look at the image L4.7-Fit-for-Purpose.
Information and the way it is presented must be fit for purpose and audience. A tiny font size is appropriate if you want to produce the smallest book in the world – but no good at all traffic sign, bill board or poster.
Work in your groups. Grab a white board, pen and cloth.
A book is one type of publication – posters and flyers as examples of other types. What would you, the audience expect?
1. How much text?
2. What kind of text? (single words/short phrases or complete sentences)
3. What format or formats? (not just font size)
Look at digital asset SB6.3.1 – Bentley Charity Ball.
· Are 228 words suitable for (a) a poster or (b) a flyer?
· Is the wording of the text suitable for (a) a poster or (b) a flyer?
· Is plain / unformatted text suitable for (a) a poster, and (b) a flyer?
Complete Skills Builder (6.3) exercise.
- Open SB6.3.1. – Bentley Charity Ball
- Select and prepare some of the text for inclusion in:
- a printed poster
- a flyer to advertise the ball
- a presentation for the council
- Edit and format the text appropriately.
- Save texts for different publications in separate files.
TEST YOURSELF
You should be able to:
· select and prepare text for publications
· apply appropriate formatting
· apply bullets and numbering to lists
· produce print-outs to meet requirements
