TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Justified vs. ragged right text From:Cathy Quinones <quinones -at- MINDSPRING -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 14 Sep 1995 20:26:09 GMT
In message <438jdu$on6 -at- huron -dot- eel -dot- ufl -dot- edu> - afn02078 -at- freenet3 -dot- freenet -dot- ufl -dot- edu (
William H. Price) writes:
:>
:>In <437aad$m7c -at- newsbf02 -dot- news -dot- aol -dot- com>, techwriter -at- aol -dot- com (TechWriter) wrote:
:>
:><snipped and clipped>
:>
:>T> Does anyone have strong preferences one way or another. Can anyone cite
:>T> definitive information showing why one might be prefereble? Does anyone
:>T> prefer one style while operating under a style guide that uses the other?
:>
:> I cannot cite chapter and verse, but I remember a reasonably old
:>dissertation on the subject. As I remember, ragged right was perceived
:>as less 'mechanical' in business letters. Memory says dissertation
:>also held that san serif type more attention getting than serif; and
:>daisy wheel printer output regarded as 'more genuine' than laser printer.
:>
:> Personally, I prefer ragged right in letters.
Personally, I loathe right justification, I find it distracting and
annoying! Most of the time all it does is creat a lot of rivulets in the
text (empty spaces between words that distract the reader by drawing the eye
down or upwards from the line being read) and possibly slow down reading in
general (gee, the whole page looks the same now, which was the last line I
read?). If the right margin looks too ragged, just hyphenate the words to
get a more even appearance.
It's one thing to tweak with the spacing and kerning because you need to
force something to fit, or if the design in general demands a more even
spacing. Or if looks matter more than content. However, when it comes to
documents of any length, I feel that the writer should concentrate on
readability and in that case I vote against right justification.
==============================================================
Cathy Quinones Poicephalus rule!!
quinones -at- mindspring -dot- com %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% http://www.mindspring.com/~mintz/coverpg.html = Bird Care Info
