Inconsistent Dot Leader Spacing

Started by Slappy, May 21, 2015, 08:59:02 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Slappy

Kinda stumped, I've got a list of names, all are doctors so they all end in "M.D." and then a dot leader defined by a Tab over to an organization. But the space between the "." i the tile & the first dot leader is pretty inconsistent throughout the list, and I'm not sure if it's possible to even it out. There's no odd spacing or extraneous characters, is there a trick to getting it all pretty?
A little diddie 'bout black 'n cyan...two reflective colors doin' the best they can.

Fontaholic

Quote from: Slappy on May 21, 2015, 08:59:02 AMKinda stumped, I've got a list of names, all are doctors so they all end in "M.D." and then a dot leader defined by a Tab over to an organization. But the space between the "." i the tile & the first dot leader is pretty inconsistent throughout the list, and I'm not sure if it's possible to even it out. There's no odd spacing or extraneous characters, is there a trick to getting it all pretty?

Are you using Quark Xpress or InDesign for this?

I've run into the same problem in InDesign, and somtimes setting the font spacing in "Character" from Metrics to Optical can help.  But it also depends on the font being used and the amount of characters before the tab, I've found.

Cheers,
John the Fontaholic :drunk3:

Diddler

#2
Reading this takes me back to my apprenticeship days as a Typographer/Compositor. Not quite back to the Hot Metal days but still the same process. 
In the days of Picas and Points, every character has a width spacing called an "Em" which changed depending on the font family. A half space was call a "En". These scaled in size depending on the font size chosen.

I can only assume that the "." is taking the kerning space of an "En" and with each line of text not being the same "Em's & En's" in length that the "." will be in slightly different position as shown in you screen shot. To overcome this you could do as Fontaholic say or try putting some minus kerning.

:old:
You can't polish a Turd, but you can roll it in glitter!

Slappy

Quote from: Fontaholic on May 21, 2015, 12:49:36 PMAre you using Quark Xpress or InDesign for this?
Ew, Quark? Gods no, at least it's InDesign!  :o

QuoteI've run into the same problem in InDesign, and sometimes setting the font spacing in "Character" from Metrics to Optical can help.  But it also depends on the font being used and the amount of characters before the tab, I've found.
Tried that, with no effect. Diddler's explanation may be the culprit, although I'd wager that the Tab Stops are using the same font as the copy, perhaps it alters the spacing slightly. I may shoot this one over to InDesignsecrets and see if they have an answer.

Job is run, it's not something the client was questioning but it made my eyes hurt so thought I'd see if there was an easy fix.
A little diddie 'bout black 'n cyan...two reflective colors doin' the best they can.

Made in Taiwan

You can try to adjust a tracking of let's say +/-5, sometimes this might extend or shrink the text enough to make space for another point to fit in or let the gap between the text and the point become smaller.
Working in Prepress is very difficult. God chose only the best to do this job.

StudioMonkey

In cases like this I add a space before the tab - this usually cleans things up nicely.  Sometimes you need to add a space after the tab too to even up the other end.
Time flies like an arrow - fruit flies like a banana

Possum

Tab leaders - what's that? Just hit dot dot dot all the way across like my customers do.
Tall tree, short ropes, fix stupid.

Made in Taiwan

If your clients do so, they probably use space instead of tab, too?
Working in Prepress is very difficult. God chose only the best to do this job.

Possum

That, too. You'd be surprised (or maybe not) how many people have Microsoft Word and never learn how to set tabs. 
Tall tree, short ropes, fix stupid.

Farabomb

You'd be surprised how many people have Microsoft word and don't know what it is, yet use it daily.
Speed doesn't kill, rapidly becoming stationary is the problem

I'd rather have stories told than be telling stories of what I could have done.

Quote from: Ear on April 06, 2016, 11:54:16 AM
Quote from: Farabomb on April 06, 2016, 11:39:41 AMIt's more like grip, grip, grip, noise, then spin and 2 feet in and feel shame.
I once knew a plus-sized girl and this pretty much describes teh secks. :rotf:
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
         —Benjamin Franklin

My other job

Made in Taiwan

Most of the stuff we print is created in MS Office, so I know plenty of ways how to not use it... When creating a new Word document, for example, 80% of the clients are already going to fail to set up a proper page size. Needless to mention the more advanced features.
Working in Prepress is very difficult. God chose only the best to do this job.

Slappy

Quote from: StudioMonkey on May 27, 2015, 04:15:29 AMIn cases like this I add a space before the tab - this usually cleans things up nicely.  Sometimes you need to add a space after the tab too to even up the other end.
I did go back after the fact & try that and it worked on most of the lines! Meh, live & learn - this one's in the books!
A little diddie 'bout black 'n cyan...two reflective colors doin' the best they can.

Farabomb

The wrong paper or document size is not just in the realm of word users. I get far, FAR to many jobs built in illustrator that are 8.5x11 but the finish size is smaller and 90% of the time the art isn't centered and all over the place.

Today was a 4c + 3 metallic job that we've done for years. The designer sent a 4 + 2 color job where the only spots were the crop marks. They "tested" it and couldn't find the colors. No shit, they are not in the work. The three that should be there are nowhere to be found.

The best was the Let us know if you run into a problem with this... Umm, yeah.
Speed doesn't kill, rapidly becoming stationary is the problem

I'd rather have stories told than be telling stories of what I could have done.

Quote from: Ear on April 06, 2016, 11:54:16 AM
Quote from: Farabomb on April 06, 2016, 11:39:41 AMIt's more like grip, grip, grip, noise, then spin and 2 feet in and feel shame.
I once knew a plus-sized girl and this pretty much describes teh secks. :rotf:
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
         —Benjamin Franklin

My other job

Joe

Quote from: Farabomb on May 27, 2015, 08:49:56 AMYou'd be surprised how many people have Microsoft word and don't know what it is, yet use it daily.

You'd be surprised how many people have a computer and don't know how to use it.

Or maybe not.
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

Farabomb

Speed doesn't kill, rapidly becoming stationary is the problem

I'd rather have stories told than be telling stories of what I could have done.

Quote from: Ear on April 06, 2016, 11:54:16 AM
Quote from: Farabomb on April 06, 2016, 11:39:41 AMIt's more like grip, grip, grip, noise, then spin and 2 feet in and feel shame.
I once knew a plus-sized girl and this pretty much describes teh secks. :rotf:
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
         —Benjamin Franklin

My other job