Document styling
I am what the industry calls a “style monkey” 🙈. I will style your manuscript in Microsoft Word to prepare it for pre-production. Your designer will love me!
Document styling is most useful for textbooks, manuals, strategies and magazines.
Good document styling includes…
Applying styles
Such as Heading A, Heading B, paragraph full-out and so on, which defines the hierarchy of text. This will help the designer know what needs to be a pull-out quote, break-out box and so on.
Organising the text
I ensure the document is structured properly, with clear headings, subheadings, paragraphs and sections. This makes it easier to create a layout in InDesign.
Clean formatting
Dirty formatting leads to errors at the proofreading stage. I will remove any unnecessary formatting (random fonts, sizes, bullets, colours or spacing), as this can cause issues when importing into InDesign.
Including placeholder images
If the document has images or objects, I will place them in a consistent position and size as placeholders for their future placement in InDesign.
The worth of good styling
Styling a Word Doc before sending your manuscript to a designer can save heaps of time down the track.
This is because you can map Word styles to InDesign paragraph and character styles, making the transition between the two programs much smoother.
It also means the designer will have a super clear idea regarding the hierarchy of information, which means they can spend more time designing and less time asking you questions.
What you can expect when working with me
- A high level of care and attention to detail
- Constructive and forthright feedback
- Timely, friendly and clear communication
good nic 