The look you want

rway218 · March 14, 2017, 03:37:19 AM

Does an RPG need to be two to three column or can you handle a standard single column page? What do you prefer?

Voros · March 14, 2017, 06:24:04 AM

Depends on the size of the book. Single column tends to not encourage readability.

She may be a hippy but this post by Darlene, the well-known 1e artist, is helpful.

AsenRG · March 14, 2017, 06:35:28 AM

Quote from: Voros;951363Depends on the size of the book. Single column tends to not encourage readability.

She may be a hippy but this post by Darlene, the well-known 1e artist, is helpful.

I wish more people would read this:D!

nDervish · March 14, 2017, 06:37:47 AM

Common wisdom in the layout and publishing world is that single-column gives you lines that are too long for readability, assuming an A4 or letter-size page, but I've seen it work when coupled with a generous sidebar. Say, 2/3 or 3/4 of the page for the body text and the remaining 1/3 or 1/4 as either sidebars or blank space. (e.g., The layout of GURPS books. Or at least older GURPS books. I haven't bought one in about a decade, and I suppose they may have changed their layouts since then.)

If you're going for A5/digest-size, then single-column is perfectly fine, and probably even preferable.

Joey2k · March 14, 2017, 08:41:06 AM

Double column for print, single column for pdf

Necrozius · March 14, 2017, 09:26:31 AM

Quote from: Technomancer;951390Double column for print, single column for pdf

Yep. Frankly I think that people should, if they can, produce two different PDFs: one for the printers and one for screen viewing.

God damn i hate two columns and empty padding pages in my PDFs. Oh and a lack of interactive links in the index.

Omega · March 14, 2017, 11:34:00 AM

Apparently from a few studies double column works for the big books and single for the smaller. I've rare seen anyone use tripple column. To me at least it feels a little hard to read as the sentences get chopped up too much.

AsenRG · March 14, 2017, 01:06:22 PM

Quote from: Technomancer;951390Double column for print, single column for pdf

Quote from: Necrozius;951394Yep. Frankly I think that people should, if they can, produce two different PDFs: one for the printers and one for screen viewing.

God damn i hate two columns and empty padding pages in my PDFs. Oh and a lack of interactive links in the index.

While I fucking hate single-column PDFs, because I often read them on a tablet or phone. With double columns, I can just maximise the text size, and read one column at a time. With a single-column, after I maximise, I need to constantly move the text just to finish the line I'm reading!

Shawn Driscoll · March 14, 2017, 03:54:54 PM

Quote from: rway218;951161Does an RPG need to be two to three column or can you handle a standard single column page? What do you prefer?

I prefer two columns on a page. With no more than 3/4" margins. Text should be left-right justified. I prefer books. Not phones.

AsenRG · March 15, 2017, 04:36:16 AM

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;951462I prefer two columns on a page. With no more than 3/4" margins. Text should be left-right justified. I prefer books. Not phones.

Funny enough, your preference is exactly the same as mine, and I usually read RPGs from my phone;).

nDervish · March 15, 2017, 05:39:25 AM

Quote from: AsenRG;951422While I fucking hate single-column PDFs, because I often read them on a tablet or phone. With double columns, I can just maximise the text size, and read one column at a time. With a single-column, after I maximise, I need to constantly move the text just to finish the line I'm reading!

Huh. I'm just the opposite. The only time I can stand multi-column PDFs is if the device is large enough for the text to be readable in full-page view. (Which is why I have a 10" tablet, and kind of wish I'd been able to get a bigger one at the time.) If I need to zoom in, I want single-column, so that I can just scroll down, down, down, down... instead of down first column, up and right to top of second column, down second column, down and left to top of first column on the next page...

AsenRG · March 15, 2017, 06:15:33 PM

Quote from: nDervish;951570Huh. I'm just the opposite. The only time I can stand multi-column PDFs is if the device is large enough for the text to be readable in full-page view. (Which is why I have a 10" tablet, and kind of wish I'd been able to get a bigger one at the time.) If I need to zoom in, I want single-column, so that I can just scroll down, down, down, down... instead of down first column, up and right to top of second column, down second column, down and left to top of first column on the next page...

If your tablet is big enough to read text in single-column, it's also big enough to read the same text in double column:).
The opposite ain't true, believe me.
Also, not everybody owns a '10 tablet, and sometimes it's just inconvenient to lug around, so you make do with a phone;).

3rik · March 17, 2017, 06:43:16 PM

Quote from: Omega;951414Apparently from a few studies double column works for the big books and single for the smaller. I've rare seen anyone use tripple column. To me at least it feels a little hard to read as the sentences get chopped up too much.

Goblinoid Games uses tripple column in their Pacesetter games.

JeremyR · March 17, 2017, 09:12:01 PM

In the late 80s, TSR used a triple column of text in their modules and books. It's godawful most of the time, especially in the module because they also used thin paper and the text wold often bleed through from the other page. Okay in the Rules Cyclopedia, because it's got nice paper

Only a few OSR publishers have decided to mimic that (Johnny Rook). Most seem to use the OD&D style 1 column, but digest size, which is pretty easy to read on a tablet.

RPGPundit · March 20, 2017, 04:11:48 AM

As far as reading, I don't care, so long as it's legible.

As far as design, thankfully I have other people who do that stuff for me.