Communicate: In Print

Tips for using In Print

 

A guide to font sizes within Communicate: In Print
Creating A5 Booklets

There are many fonts and font sizes in Communicate: In Print. This is a brief guide on font size comparisons in Communicate: In Print.

When you create an A4 document and print it onto A4 paper, using Communicate: In Print, it is unlikely that you will notice much of a difference in the printed font sizes, compared to Microsoft Word. This is because the difference is less than 0.8mm in the height of the characters.

The time that you may notice a difference in the finished printed size of your font, is when you print your work as an A5 booklet. The reason you will notice this difference is because of the way that Communicate: In Print scales your work to be printed at A5. When you send your work to be printed as an A5 booklet, Communicate: In Print actually shrinks your document, and makes it an appropriate size to fit onto the paper. The disadvantage to this is that the font shrinks at the same time. It is therefore essential that you pick a larger font from the beginning. When you pick a larger font it has the size to shrink, meaning that the finished font is not too small for the reader to see.

Below is a table showing what size font will be printed on an A5 booklet, if you use it in the original document.

Desired A5 font size (pt)	Font Size needed in the original document to get the desired A5 font size
-	12
-	14
-	16
12	18
14	20
15	22
15.5	24
18	26
22	28
24	36
36	48
42	72

 

As you can see from this table, if the reader of your booklet needed the font to be 18pt, you would need to write the original document at 26pt. Although it may look too big in the original document, a font of 26pt has the ability to still be large enough to be seen when it has been shrunk down to fit on an A5 page. Sizes below 18pt in the original document are generally considered to be too small to be practical once they are printed on an A5 booklet. It is important that you check the font that the user normally uses, and adjust the A4 document accordingly to suit their needs in the most appropriate way.

---

 

A guide to font sizes within Communicate: In Print
Detailed Explanation

A more detailed comparison is in the table below. The difference from the standard word measurement is less than 0.8mm up to size 36pt font. Above 36pt the difference, in printed font size, between Microsoft Word and Communicate: In Print is approximately 2-3mm up to 72pt.This variation is not usually a problem when creating A4 documents, as many users align the layout, font style and size by eye, rather than by choosing specific font sizes.

The time to be aware, and allow for this variation is when you are using Communicate: In Print to create A5 booklets. When you create your documents using an A4 page, which you then print as an A5 booklet, the difference is more noticeable.

The following table is intended to illustrate the equivalent sizes when you shrink a document from A4 to A5. However it is worth remembering that the sizes quoted are near approximations, as the fonts are scaleable, and will change if you drag the sides of the textbox that contains them. The font used for this comparison was arial and the sizes were adjusted in Microsoft Word and Comminicate: In Print to match each other, the results were then measured from the corresponding printouts.

Font Size (pt)	Printed height from Microsoft Word (mm)	Printed height from Communicate: In Print - A4 (mm)	Printed height from Communicate: In Print - A5 (mm)	Approx. A5 font size when printed from an A4 document
12	3	2.8	1.8	-
14	3.5	3	2	-
16	4	3.8	2.5	-
18	4.5	4	2.8	12
20	5	4.8	3	14
22	5.5	5	3.2	15
24	6	5.2	3.5	15.5
26	6.5	5.9	4	18
28	7	6.2	5	22
36	9	8.2	5.2	24
48	12	15	8	36
72	18	16	11	42

 

Sizes below 18pt in the A4 document are generally considered to be too small to be used when printed at A5.

 

Back