142 Graphic Communications
different page formats within a document. The page
geometry, typography, and other elements in each of
these page formats can be set up as a master page,
or template.
A template can be created that incorporates all
the master pages and other formatting attributes.
A new publication or page can easily be set up by
opening the reusable template and customizing the
page formats, as necessary. The main advantage of
using a template is the increased productivity and less
time spent recreating the same page information.
Importing Text
Although text may be directly input and edited
in page composition programs, documents of more
than a few paragraphs in length are usually created
in a word processing program. The text fi le is then
imported into the page composition program and
placed in one or more text boxes.
The text formatting (boldface, italics, tabs,
indents, line spacing, and similar parameters)
that was applied in the original word processing
document may be retained when the text is imported
if a text fi lter is used. Text fi lters are available for
major word processing programs. If no fi lter is
available or the imported material is unformatted
ASCII text, formatting must be applied through the
page composition program.
Style sheets used in page composition programs
(and in some word processing programs) are
formatting tools that combine a number of attributes.
A paragraph style sheet can include such information
as alignment, indents, leading between lines, space
before and after the paragraph, and such typeface
information as font, point size, and kerning. Usually,
different paragraph style sheets are created to format
specifi c elements of a document, such as body text,
main headings, subheadings, numbered lists, lists
with bullets, or illustration captions.
A character style sheet is more specialized and is
typically applied to single letters, words, or phrases.
A character style sheet might be used to set off all
illustration references in the text, for example, by
specifying a type font and point size that is different
from body text. A major advantage of using style
sheets is the ability to accomplish changes quickly
and thoroughly. For example, changing the attributes
of a heading style from centered 18-point Helvetica
Bold to fl ush left 16-point Cooper Black takes only
seconds, and changing the style would alter every
occurrence of that heading in the document.
Importing Graphics
Both bitmapped graphics created with paint
programs and vector images created with drawing
or illustration programs can be imported and placed
in a picture box. Photographs are captured with a
digital device, such as a camera or scanner, which
converts them to a digital format. The digital fi le may
then be imported to a picture box.
Once an image is in a picture box, it can be
manipulated in various ways to suit the page layout.
The image can be enlarged or reduced, cropped,
moved around on the page, changed in color, or edited
and altered in various ways. The amount of successful
manipulation is affected by the format in which the
graphic was imported. For example, bitmap images do
not enlarge very well—as the image size increases, the
pixels increase in size as well, which gives the image
a jagged-edged look. When this occurs, the image is
said to be “pixeled,” Figure 7-26. Graphic fi le formats
are covered in detail later in this chapter.
Drag-and-Drop Manipulation
Although keyboard commands are used for many
functions of a page composition program, a mouse or
other pointing device is commonly used for quickly and
easily manipulating page elements. For example, a text
box or picture box can be resized by clicking the mouse
or pointer on a side or anchor point, and dragging the
Figure 7-26. A bitmapped image cannot be enlarged
by more than a small percentage, or the individual
pixels will become visible. The image is said to be
“pixeled,” which is characterized by a blocky and
ragged-edged appearance.