Typically found in newspaper, magazine, or newsletter design, a jumpline appears with articles that continue from one page to another, especially when skipping a few pages. The wording is usually some variation on see page 3 or continued from page 2. The first jumpline usually appears at the end of a column and instructs the reader where to go to find the rest of the story. The next jumpline will normally appear at the top of the column for the continuing story, either before or after the continuation head (often an alternative or shortened version of the original headline for the article).
To keep the jumplines from being read as part of the article, they need to contrast with the body text yet be kept fairly unobtrusive. — Learn more about designing with jumplines.A jumpline is a part of visual signposting used in page layout. Jumplines are used in conjunction with page numbers, continuation heads, and sometimes end signs to give readers visual cues as to where an article begins, continues, and ends.
Jumplines and Desktop Publishing Software
Using style sheets or paragraph styles, available in most desktop publishing software, can aid in consistent formatting of jumplines throughout a document. Some software, such as Adobe InDesign, can do automatic page numbers and jumplines (written as two words: jump line) for continued stories.- Automated Jump Lines in Adobe InDesign is a video for learning how to use this feature.
- Jump Lines in QuarkXPress is an excerpt from Real World QuarkXPress.
- Continued Notices is the term used for jumplines in Microsoft Publisher.
