Tactical Command
http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/

[Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=22236		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Chroma [ Sun Jan 08, 2012 2:54 am ]
Post subject:  [Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
So, because I'm insane, I tried monkeying around with the layout of the 2012 Army Compendium, tweaking the layout, changing the font, reducing the margins, trying to work out some of the things Apocolocyntosis was commenting on, testing A4 vs Letter and Landscape vs Portrait. I only worked on the Table of Contents and the core Marine list. Oh yeah, took out almost all the colour too.

Still some oddities pop up, like, despite setting most of the font sizes to 8-point, Acrobat turning them into 7.89-point... ?!? And I still don't know how I have a -0.03 Character Spacing!

So, converting to Letter and/or Portrait for everything is really going to be a pain with the current setup.

Take a look, especially Apoc, and let me know what you think.

Attachments:
File comment: Letter-sized Portrait Orientation
NetEA_ALC2012_PortraitLetter.pdf [167.24 KiB]
Downloaded 265 times
File comment: A4-sized Portrait Orientation
NetEA_ALC2012_PortraitA4.pdf [166.54 KiB]
Downloaded 500 times
File comment: Letter-sized Landscape Orientation
NetEA_ALC2012_LandscapeLetter.pdf [164.12 KiB]
Downloaded 474 times
File comment: A4-sized Landscape Orientation
NetEA_ALC2012_LandscapeA4.pdf [163.52 KiB]
Downloaded 392 times
Author:  madd0ct0r [ Sun Jan 08, 2012 2:57 am ]
Post subject:  Re: [Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
new design rule.

no unit entry mahe have more then 200 characters in the notes section.
Author:  Chroma [ Sun Jan 08, 2012 2:59 am ]
Post subject:  Re: [Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
madd0ct0r wrote:
new design rule.

no unit entry mahe have more then 200 characters in the notes section.


Oh I know! If that damned "step over things" War Engine ability was just a regular old "special rule" it would save a LOT of wasted characters.
Author:  Spectrar Ghost [ Sun Jan 08, 2012 3:11 am ]
Post subject:  Re: [Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
Prefer the Landscape, I don't care much about the Letter vs. A4 distinction; I'll scale to fit if need be.
Author:  Ulrik [ Sun Jan 08, 2012 3:21 am ]
Post subject:  Re: [Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
Have to admit that portrait A4 is my dream layout.

Maybe for next year.
Author:  mango2 [ Sun Jan 08, 2012 3:54 am ]
Post subject:  Re: [Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
I like portrait, the stats and rules are closer to the name and so it has always (for me) been easier to read and reference
Author:  Angel_of_Caliban [ Sun Jan 08, 2012 3:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: [Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
If we keep the book in portrait then I like the reference sheets that why but I like to see the entire thing turn Landscape and see how it is, like the BFG Books.
Author:  Chroma [ Sun Jan 08, 2012 4:03 am ]
Post subject:  Re: [Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
Angel_of_Caliban wrote:
If we keep the book in portrait then I like the reference sheets that why but I like to see the entire thing turn Landscape and see how it is, like the BFG Books.

I'll muck around with that and see what I can get to work.
Author:  Jaggedtoothgrin [ Sun Jan 08, 2012 4:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: [Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
i'd definitely prefer the layout all be portrait, or failing that, all landscape. makes things a lot easier on my poor little tablet
Author:  frogbear [ Sun Jan 08, 2012 8:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: [Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
Although i am a fan of landscape, looking at it on the iphone makes me think that portrait is very handy.

Great work chroma
Author:  madd0ct0r [ Sun Jan 08, 2012 8:30 am ]
Post subject:  Re: [Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
Chroma wrote:
madd0ct0r wrote:
new design rule.

no unit entry mahe have more then 200 characters in the notes section.


Oh I know! If that damned "step over things" War Engine ability was just a regular old "special rule" it would save a LOT of wasted characters.



we could just do that you know. nearly every list has titans
Author:  Apocolocyntosis [ Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:54 am ]
Post subject:  Re: [Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
-30% char spacing in all of them still, hmm. So in word/pub everything is normal, then the pdf negatively char spaces? Have you all been using the same pdf save/export method? if so try something else, like a pdf printer. Does this happen with other documents, or just the compendium doc. Also double check there are no conflicting paragraph/character/font formatting styles in master doc applying negative spacing. Never encountered this before, or at least not to such extremes, tiny type size/tracking changes sometimes happen, but not -30% tracking :D The table columns will need a tweak again once tracking is resolved if it is a master document side problem not the pdf converter, as that is a significant amount of compression and all entires will get a longer.


I entirely agree about trying to cut the excessive and often repetitious special rules, this would make the table layout far more flexible.

Landscape/portrait – I appreciate that swapping it all over to one will be vast amount of effort. Despite my preference for having a doc that does not swap orientation every other page, it is probably best left as it is this time. Unless phone/tablet/ereader is a large user base, in which case it might be worth changing if someone has a lot of free time.

Type size is much much much much much better ;D
madd0ct0r wrote:
As for Apoc, I often print these things two pages to one side A4, and i can still read it. just.
I never claimed it was impossible to read, i even directly said that i could read it. My point is that as it was formatted, it was harder to read than it needed to be (too small, negative spacing), for no reason (plenty of free space in the table). I often print 2 to a page as well :)

Some layouts posted here are going to have elements that hit printer margins, but im assuming these are just roughs.

And again, my sincere thanks to Dobbsy for all of his hard work. I am not trying to undermine your achievement. I just feel (quite strongly :P ) that the usability of your document could be increased with a few adjustments (like larger type).
Author:  BlackLegion [ Sun Jan 08, 2012 11:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: [Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
Chroma wrote:
madd0ct0r wrote:
new design rule.

no unit entry mahe have more then 200 characters in the notes section.


Oh I know! If that damned "step over things" War Engine ability was just a regular old "special rule" it would save a LOT of wasted characters.


Because this rules as well as critical hit effects are usually in the unit's Datasheet and not in the Reference Sheet.
Also the Datasheet mebtions which units can be transported, the Refernece Sheet usually only mentions the numbers.

As the Compendium don't use Datasheets (as well as no "How to use this army" section!) you have to cram everything in the Notes section of the Reference Sheet.
Author:  Apocolocyntosis [ Sun Jan 08, 2012 1:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: [Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
BlackLegion wrote:
As the Compendium don't use Datasheets (as well as no "How to use this army" section!) you have to cram everything in the Notes section of the Reference Sheet.

Imo drop pod mechanics and other repeated, list specific, 'special rules that are not just called by name but explained' could be in the "common special rules" section of each race/list. ATSKNF is explained once for all marine lists in the common special rules section. Do the same with drop pod and remove the description of game mechanics from the unit entry.

*edit should to could
Author:  Chroma [ Sun Jan 08, 2012 4:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: [Layout] Messing around with the Army Compendium
Apocolocyntosis wrote:
ATSKNF is explained once for all marine lists in the common special rules section. Do the same with drop pod and remove the description of game mechanics from the unit entry.


BRILLIANT!
Page 1 of 1 All times are UTC [ DST ]
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/