Today’s crime: Justified text

Are you guilty or innocent?

Once upon a time, there was a world without personal computers. In this world, when you wanted to impress readers, you bought what was considered the absolute pinnacle of technology: the IBM “Selectric” typewriter.

Do you remember me? Do you miss me?

If you worked in an office in the days before personal computers, you may remember the electric typewriter that could justify text with the push of a button. It printed paragraphs in beautiful, justified columns that were the envy of the office. Justified columns were a mark of distinction that set you above lesser mortals. (And automatic centering freed you from having to count the number of characters on a line and divide by 2. If you remember the typewriter, you probably remember that little annoyance!)

Fast-forward to the year 2010.

Personal computers and printers are as common as televisions. There is no longer anything special or prestigious about justified text in itself, although it does seem a bit formal on the page.

So, why is justified text a crime?

When you stretch words out from margin to margin, the computer needs to pack in some space between each of the words on a line. Some lines of text have very little space between words, while other lines have larger gaps between words. This stretch effect results in uneven reading as your eyes jump from word to word.

And on some lines, the gap between words can be really huge. This makes little white “holes” in your copy.

This effect is even greater if you have hyphenation turned off. Without hyphenation, the computer can’t divide words to make a better fit on the line. If there are larger words on the line, the gaps between the words are largest.

With justified text and hyphenation turned on, the computer can make the gaps between words smaller.

TIP: Text that is left justified is easiest to read.

Today’s crime: Indiscriminate borders.

Are you guilty or innocent?

When someone brings you an article for your bulletin or newsletter, they usually want their article to stand out. Each person thinks that his or her article is the most important one on the page, of course.

When people submit their articles, they’ll say, “Put a border on it.” Most people are not skilled and talented graphic designers like you are, and they can’t think of any other way to draw attention to their message.

The problem grows out of control when everyone wants a border on his or her article. Every article can’t stand out. The more you try to do to draw attention to each and every article, the more readers will perceive your efforts as clutter and visual “noise” and tune out of your publication. Readers are generally attracted to clean-looking uncluttered pages.

Here is the key: Don’t think of borders as a way to draw attention to an article. Instead, think of borders as fences, just like the fences in your neighborhood. Fences don’t make houses more valuable. In fact, their purpose is simply to restrict access to the property. In some areas, they can also be a visual blight on a neighborhood. They can make a neighborhood seem less welcoming.

Instead, try to think of borders only as separators. In a way, they restrict access to your articles. If one section of the page needs visual separation from another section of the page, consider putting a border around one section. This tells readers that there are two distinctly different topics on this page and keeps them focused on one or the other. But neither topic on the page is more important just because of the border.

Too many borders on a page, overly large or wide borders, and fussy, distracting, or elaborate borders, are all a crime against the reader. The borders get in the way of the message. They can be a distraction. Readers see the border (the fence) and don’t notice the important message inside.

To attract readers to a particular article, consider these alternative strategies: move an important article to the top of the page or give it a larger-size headline.

Today’s crime: Underlining.

Are you guilty or innocent?


Underlining. Is there anything easier? Just click that “U” button and underline away! And did you know that in Microsoft Word 2007 you can choose your underline style? Yes, you can have single, double or even dashed underlines. It is so tempting. But just because you can do something, it doesn’t mean you should.

If you are on the Internet, you know that underlining means, “Click here—this is a hyperlink!” It can get pretty confusing to your online readers if your bulletin is also posted on the web. They will see the underlining and think they are looking at something clickable.

If you read the last episode of “Crimes”, you learned that we rely on the shapes of words to help us recognize the words without having to read every letter. Letters like g, p, q, and j have decenders that go below the baseline of the other letters.

When you underline, you chop off the decenders. This makes the shapes of the words harder to visually recognize. This happens whenever you use that “Underline” button up next to the “Bold” button at the top of Microsoft Word or Publisher.

Use bold or italics (or both) to add emphasis to your text, and generally avoid the underline.

Are you mourning the loss of the underline? Here is a quick tip to help you get over it:

You can remove the hyperlinks in your print publications. When an email address or URL goes all bluish-purple and underlined, just “right click” on the link. Depending on your program, you may be able to simply choose “Remove hyperlink” from the context menu that appears. (In older programs, choose “Hyperlink”, and then click on the “Remove hyperlink” button.)