I love it when i discover a new and useful trick that quark can do that makes my like a little easier.

I would like to address the comments posted by Dan Ryder that the callouts "looks bad."

First, let me explain that in order to make the point using Web graphics, I had to over-exaggerate the size of the rules in the pool table image. The green stripe and the white knockouts were purposely designed to be huge so they would be seen on screen. Actual rules used for print would be much thinner.

Next, not everyone is allowed to change the design on a project. In my case the use of the rules was part of the series design created by Peachpit Press. Like me, many people who lay out pages are using other people's designs. They can't just change elements on their own.

I should have also mentioned that my books are actually 1-color printing. And that my rules often have to pass over several different greyscale areas. So a black rule can pass over a white area, then a black area, and then back out to a white area. That is the type of situation that causes problems. The reader doesn't always see that the black rule continues on the other side of the black area.

Of course using a second color for the rules would be a terrific solution, but unfortunately most publishers don't like adding a second color to books such as mine.

I don't see what I'm doing as a quick and easy fix at all. I was trying to bring back a nuance (adding the slight white knockout around the rule) that has been lost for the past 16 years in desktop publishing.

But Dan's comment got me wondering. So I looked up what Edward R. Tufte has to say about callouts.

In the three books I have, Tufte doesn't address this exact issue. But he does give an example on page 74 of Visual Explanations of redesigning rules for greater clarity. He suggests minimizing pointer elements. My suggestion allows designers the freedom to minimize the pointers a lot by setting up a white boundary so that even a .25 point black rule will not get lost as it passes over different areas.

Also, Tufte uses many rules as call outs in his own books. I tend to doubt that Dan would find falut with Professor Tufte's design choices.

I apologize if any of this sounds defensive. I sincerely believe my column to be a helpful technique. Helpful for the designer who does not have to make the rules by hand. And helpful for the reader who can more easily find where the rule ends.

Thanks,

Sandee Cohen

This is a great tip. I tried to create this effect on my own but couldn't get it right. Sandee's clear explanation is right-on.

Jim Alley