Lesson 5: Assignment

Centered Text

1. Find examples of centered text.
   Look around your home and office for examples of centered text. Can you find examples of centered headlines and text — other than invitations, certificates, etc. — that look good? Why does the centered text work or not work, in your opinion?
   
   
2. Create a document.
   Copy and paste the following text into a new document in your page layout software. Apply a basic serif font to the entire text. Make the headline a larger font. Choose a bullet style for the list. Make four copies of the text (5 total).

   {Headline}
   Contract Clauses
   {Body}
   Your freelance design contract is an agreement between you, the designer, and your client to provide design and desktop publishing services. You and the client need to be in agreement as to exactly what specific services you are providing and when you’ll finish the job. Substantial changes to the project description after work begins may require a new contract.
   {List}
   Project Description
   Completion Date
   Events That Affect Delivery

   
   
   
3. Align your text.
   Align the first instance of the above text all centered. On the second copy try a centered headline over left-aligned text. On the third copy set the body text fully-justified but with a centered headline. Center only the bullet list on the fourth copy and leave the rest left-aligned or full justification. On the final copy take the bullets off the bullet list and just center those three lines.
   
   
4. Compare your results.
   Print out copies of each version. Which do you like? Which are easier to read? Show them to family or friends and get their opinions.
   
   

Want to share your alignment efforts with the rest of us? Log into the DTP Classroom and attach a screen shot or a PDF of your centered text experiments or pictures of some of centered text samples you found. Tell us what you think. Are there instances of centered text that you think look really good?

The next lesson in this series works with line length — showing how it affects readability and appearance. You’ll learn how to calculate the ideal line length.

^{Found this page by accident? This is one of 12 lessons delivered as part of the Rules of Desktop Publishing free email class.}

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