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Colors, Fonts and Leading


Rick Yentzer

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My wish list for Accordance:

 

1. Use of the Apple color picker instead of the predefined color choices.

I simply do not like the color choices. What can I say, I'm a designer!

 

2. The ability to change the color of the background via the Apple color picker.

See my response to a post on this
.

 

3. The ability to change the leading of a font. Leading is the space between lines of text. Some fonts have different line heights and their default height is not always conducive to easy readability. This may seem like I'm being picky, okay, I am. But it is because Accordance is highly respectable in the content it offers, in the format it offers. I'm simply trying to improve the product.

 

While the 3 are related the first two are highly desirable for me. As Accordance now stands, I have this wealth of info that is hard to read because the screen is too contrastive to use for extended periods. :(

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I just came across an online bible that has excellent readibility via color choices and leading. Have a look at the pic.

 

http://www.forbenmedia.com/online/readibilitySample.png

 

Which do find the easiest to read???

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Rick,

Your comparison seems a little lame since the chief factor contributing to readability is spacing between paragraphs, which you oddly left out of Accordance. And you can control leading by changing what font you use in the first place.

Background color would be nice, and I wouldn't think should be that hard to implement.

Joe

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Your comparison seems a little lame since the chief factor contributing to readability is spacing between paragraphs, which you oddly left out of Accordance.

Fair enough. I changed to paragraph spacing and took another screenshot comparing true apples to apples.

And you can control leading by changing what font you use in the first place.
This is not true. You cannot control leading by changing the font. If you meant to say you get different leading with different fonts then yes you are correct but there is no control over leading. But, if I like the readability of a certain font, I may not like the separation between lines of text so now I have to compromise one for the other
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Rick's suggestions are excellent.

 

Accordance is an amazing program. I use it hours each day.

 

With an Apple Cinema Display set on it's dimmest setting, I still get eye fatigue from the high contrast.

 

The display settings would greatly improve the joy of using Accordance. This would take Accordance to yet another level of excellence!

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Rick,

 

We'll certainly consider your suggestions. In fact, the ability to change the background color has long been on our list for version 8. That, of course, doesn't mean it will necessarily make the cut, but it does mean that we've set it as a priority.

 

The example you gave does illustrate the value of adding leading, but you still haven't achieved a true apples to apples comparison. First, the web Bible you show does not display the superscript footnote markers, yet you have not selected the hide superscripts option in Accordance. You could also reduce the contrast in Accordance by changing the text color to something other than black (realizing of course that you want better color options). Finally, I assume you're using that san-serif font in Accordance because you're trying to match the look of the web Bible, but as a designer I'm sure you realize that san-serif fonts are a poor choice if your goal is readability. They are, of course, an excellent choice if what you are after is legibility. But since your original complaint had to do with fatigue after reading the text for long periods, a good serif font will go a long way.

 

Please understand that I'm not arguing against your suggestions. We'll do our best to implement at least some of them. But in the meantime, there is a lot you can do to make text in Accordance more readable.

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"The display settings would greatly improve the joy of using Accordance. This would take Accordance to yet another level of excellence!"

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Joe is wrong about paragraph spacing being a key to legibility, it is line spacing or "leading", and he is also wrong about changing the leading by changing the typeface. Sorry Joe!

 

I agree that Rick's suggestions are excellent.

 

David's proposals are also noteworthy, now can anyone propose specific settings for font, font size, paragraph settings etc that would actually help??

 

~A!

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Without wanting to change the topic (although I don't fully understand it, it is obviously very interesting and I would not want to interrupt it) may I ask a question (of Rick or anyone else) at this stage? In Rick's online Bible text, I very much like having the book of the Bible at the top of the page and then just the verse number by each verse itself. Can this be reproduced in Accordance (and in Accordance with Tiger - for the moment!)?

 

Thank you.

 

Kevin.

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Without wanting to change the topic (although I don't fully understand it, it is obviously very interesting and I would not want to interrupt it) may I ask a question (of Rick or anyone else) at this stage? In Rick's online Bible text, I very much like having the book of the Bible at the top of the page and then just the verse number by each verse itself. Can this be reproduced in Accordance (and in Accordance with Tiger - for the moment!)?

 

Thank you.

 

Kevin.

 

Yes, and I didn't discover this until researching display settings!

I'll post a screenshot.

http://www.forbenmedia.com/online/textpref.png

 

 

 

Hey David, another nice feature would be a preview checkbox in the Text Settings Display to preview changes before committing.

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Dear Rick,

 

Thank you for your reply to my question. I had already tried your suggestion but my 'version' does not look as good as your own. I am adding a screenshot.

 

(I hope I have done this correctly!)

 

In your version, the Book Reference, Genesis, stands out 'on top of' the text and is much clearer.

 

Kevin.

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These have been good discussions. And what Rick just said about it being a long time before discovering an option in the text display dialog is so indicative... there is much you can do to improve and customize readability, but very few users take advantage of it. I'm not sure what Allistair's rant was about, but adding paragraph spacing hugely improves readability, and different fonts do make for different lead spacing and can be a big help. It's true that we can't adjust lead spacing for any given font, and that is a shame.

Rick's comments about changing the text from black to something with less contrast is also a help. This would only be enhanced if Accordance adds the ability to change background color.

 

As for the scripture reference, I think what you're wanting, Kevin, is to set the reference to appear above the verse. In paragraph mode, this reduces its occurrence to the line above each paragraph.

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Joe,

 

You sensed what I was looking for even if I was not able to express well my own request. That is certainly nearer to what I wanted. However, would it be possible to just have the book reference at the beginning of each chapter (with chapter and verse references throughout the chapter)?

 

You are certainly right with, "...there is much you can do to improve and customise readability, but very few users take advantage of it". I am fully aware that I have only scratched the surface when it comes to the capabilities of Accordance, and the answer to my question is probably somewhere in Help. However, I, for one, need to turn to yourself and others like you, who are always so willing to help the rest of us. We really are fortunate to have a great programme, great support from the Accordance Team and a great Forum.

 

Thank you,

 

Kevin.

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"The display settings would greatly improve the joy of using Accordance. This would take Accordance to yet another level of excellence!"
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would it be possible to just have the book reference at the beginning of each chapter (with chapter and verse references throughout the chapter)?
No, it is not.

Also, for those who are cutting/pasting, don't forget how powerful the customized citation copy format options are now.

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  • 5 months later...

I didn't realise that Joe had made a comment here (Oct 31st 2007) or else I would have replied sooner. Sorry, Joe!

 

David seems to have made a very subtle distinction between legibility and readability, which I don't quite understand, because aren't these two words synonymous?

 

The basic "rules" of typsetting that I have been taught are:

 

1) Serif fonts are (generally) easier to read than sans-serif fonts, everything else more or less being equal (e.g. size, leading, tracking, contrast, etc)

 

2) In order to keep lines of text readable it is recommended to keep line lengths approximately equal to two consecutive lower case alphabets (i.e. the space occupied by typing a to z twice without any spaces), irrespective of the typeface used.

 

3) Line spacing (or leading, rhymes with 'ledding') should be approx 120% the size of the typeface used, and is one of the major keys to readability/legibility/ease of understanding.

 

4) Paragraph spacing aids the reader in understanding and separating blocks of thought, though not actually an aid to reading.

 

These issues relate to Accordance as follows:

 

1) The Accordance User can choose whatever font they have on their Mac.

 

2) It is unlikely to be an issue.

 

3) This is what some users are requesting to be able to adjust manually, similar to the way most word processors allow the user to adjust the line spacing irrespective of the typeface used.

 

4) This functionality is already available to some degree.

 

Factors affecting readability:

a. Choice of typeface (style or design)

b. Size of typeface

c. Colour of typeface and of background, degree of contrast between the two

d. Leading or line spacing

e. Paragraph spacing

 

It seems to me that what is requested here is more control/greater flexibility in areas © and (d). David has hinted at © being in the works for version 8.

 

Joe's comment maintaining "different fonts do make for different lead spacing and can be a big help" is partially accurate (it depends on the typeface) but perhaps misses the point that users are requesting the functionality to change the leading independently of changing the typeface.

 

Bear in mind also that these "rules" have been established for print media, so screen resolution and monitor brightness are not factored in.

 

God bless you!

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