Images – illustrations, photos, tables, charts August 26, 2009
Posted by doctorhowie in art book, charts, children's book, drawings/illustrations, images, internet/web, photos, tables.add a comment
Now that you’ve written your material, you might choose to add some images to complement your words.
Depending on the nature of your project, tables and charts might be most appropriate. Remember to label them clearly and consecutively and to reference them within your text.
Of course, if your project is a children’s book or an art book, then most of it will comprise images — illustrations or photos. In these kinds of projects, your words will complement or even explain the images.
Remember that images should be used sparingly and in such a way that they don’t take away from what you’re saying. Make sure they have an explanation (known as a caption and usually in a different style — set beside, above or below the image) that clearly describes what they are, unless they are completely self-explanatory.
Colour is way more expensive to print than black-and-white (also known as greyscale for B&W photos). If publishing on the internet, colour adds no cost.
Writing August 17, 2009
Posted by doctorhowie in art book, autobiography, biography, children's book, drawings/illustrations, e-book, general, history, images, paintings, photos, publishing.Tags: biography, children's books, e-book, history, publishing
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You’ve got ideas for a project you want to create. These may be for a children’s story, a biography or autobiography, a history of a town or an organisation, a book of mainly pictures or art… whatever. Where do you go from there?
First of all, organise your ideas. Get them into some kind of order and write them down… make something like a map or a plan. Then expand that plan and begin getting your ideas and thoughts “on paper”. When I say “on paper”, it can be literally on paper, or on a computer. Microsoft Word or Apple’s Pages would be a good start.
You might also think about images that will enhance your project. These might be photos, maps, drawings or illustrations. Make sure they will improve your project, don’t include them just for the sake of having images.
So… get started. Begin putting your ideas down into some structured form. Once you begin, hopefully the project will flow nicely. Don’t worry if you feel the need to modify or re-write something you’ve already done. That’s natural. Don’t overdo it, though. If you’re not happy with what you’ve done, I suggest putting it aside for a while and coming back to it… looking at it in a new light. Go on, do it!
e-book (electronic book) August 9, 2009
Posted by doctorhowie in drawings/illustrations, e-book, images, internet/web, PDF, photos, publishing.Tags: e-book, publishing, writing
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An e-book is the electronic equivalent of a printed book, except it is usually intended to be read on screen in PDF format.
If anything, that means it needs to be even clearer and easier to read than a printed book. Keep pages quite small and make your font size (text size) large. Make the space between lines of text (known as leading) quite large too, so that there seems to be a lot of “air” or “white space”.
Try to avoid using too many images (graphics, photos or drawings) in order to keep your pages less cluttered. Have the resolution of your images quite low (say 72 to 100 dots per inch) in order to keep your file size small.
The KISS principle is a good one to follow: Keep It Sweet and Simple
(or, more rudely, Keep It Simple, Stupid!)
