Typesetting Faqs

Let's face it. Being successful as a designer often means we must be everything to everybody. Need business cards? No problem. Need an event banner? Got it right here. And thus is the life of design. To me, that's the best part. I love learning new techniques, new ideas and new technologies that increase my 'value' as a designer. We've already talked a little about ebooks and the new opportunities emerging for designers in this area.

But, I realized that we can't talk intelligently about ebook design until we really get the basics of book typesetting down. Today we are going to cover frequently asked typesetting questions. Feel free to leave comments below with your own questions about the trade and we will address those as well. What program should I use to typeset a book? To create a professional book typeset you will need to use a page flow software.

These softwares will give you optimum results and do in fact take a lot of the 'grunt-work' out of typesetting. The top three typesetting softwares are:

1. Adobe InDesign
2. Quark Express
3. Microsoft Publisher

If you are looking to do this long-term I personally recommend Adobe InDesign. having worked with all three InDesign is by far the most powerful and most widely accepted software there is. The basis of my course here on typesetting will be focused around using InDesign. Can I use Microsoft Word to typeset a book? Technically, yes you could.

Would I recommend it? No true designer has ever recommended designing in Word. :) Be aware that Word will not have the features and functionality that professional typesetting software has.

What are the parts of a typeset page? Your basic typeset page will include at least three elements:

1. A running header
2. Body copy
3. A page number

Optional elements will include:

1. A. Subheadings
2. B. Images Unsure what some of these items are?

Check out my 'typesetters' glossary. Got more questions? Comment them here or email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .