DOCUMENT SPECS
Font Selection
Timber only uses fonts for which we have purchased licenses, which does NOT include those available via Cloud-based subscriptions such as Adobe Fonts. Your in-house contact can provide you with a list of available fonts, and before sample pages are approved you should review the fonts you propose using with your Timber contact. If Timber does not currently hold licenses, your contact will either ask you to suggest substitutes or discuss licensing the new fonts with the creative director.
Software
We are running the current version of Adobe Creative Cloud, but do not immediately get each available update. Please include an .idml with any packaged file deliveries in case you are running a newer version.
Color Builds
No color breakdowns should contain a percentage of < 5% of any color. Type smaller than 12pt or line strokes below 0.5 pt should not use a breakdown of more than 2 colors.
Document Setup
Use one document for the entire book. Do not use separate files for chapters, frontmatter or backmatter. Do not use book/.indb files.
Create document using Parent* pages, in spreads. Create secondary Parent Pages without folios or running heads as needed.
Create a layer, named Keyline, that remains at the top of the layers palette. Place a box with a 0.5pt black outline encompassing the entire spread and add a vertical rule in the gutter. Lock the layer. Each production checklist indicates whether or not the deliverables should show the keyline.
Create a layer named Image Tags that sits directly below the Keyline—all image tags (and nothing more) should appear on this layer. Your in-house contact can supply a template if you’d like one. Each production checklist indicates whether or not the deliverables should show the image tags.
Do not include endpapers or covers; those each get their own document.
Pagination & Running Heads
Begin your document with page 1. Do not use roman numerals for frontmatter.
You will receive a running head manuscript specifying recto and verso running heads by chapter. Create your running heads either with section markers or text variables on your Parent page. Remove running heads from chapter openers.
Create folios on Parent pages using automatic pagination. Remove folios from chapter openers, or use a drop folio if desired.
In general, do not use running heads or folios on pages with only art. The exception is if a book has multiple spreads of such pages, in which case folios may be needed to aid in wayfinding. Please consult with your Timber contact for more information.
Blank pages are included in the numbering. If a blank occurs, it should not have a folio or running head and should fall on the verso.
Hyphenation
General hyphenation rules:
Hyphenate: Words with at least 6 letters (after first 3, before last 3)
Hyphen Limit: 2 hyphens
Err on the side of better letter spacing but adjust for the selected font.The above settings are our house default, but we do allow adjustments to 2-character limits for tighter quarters. Check with your Timber contact if you’re feeling constrained.
OK to hyphenate Capitalized words.
Do not hyphenate the last word of a paragraph.
Do not hyphenate across a page or column break.
Do not break words in a hyphenated phrase. This is a common hazard in our books and may be neatly solved by the use of GREP styles. (See “How To Use GREP Styles” )
Justification
Justification settings should depend on the typeface, point size, and line length, but here is our default starting place:
For wider columns:
Word Spacing: Minimum 90% / Desired 100% / Maximum 125%
Letter Spacing: Minimum −5% / Desired 0% / Maximum +10%
Glyph Scaling: Minimum 100% / Desired 100% / Maximum 100%
Auto leading: 120%
Single Word Justification: Align Left
Composer: Adobe Paragraph Composer
For more narrow columns:
Word Spacing: Minimum 80% / Desired 100% / Maximum 150%
Letter Spacing: Minimum −10% / Desired 0% / Maximum +25%
Glyph Scaling: Minimum 100% / Desired 100% / Maximum 100%
Auto leading: 120%
Single Word Justification: Align Left
Composer: Adobe Paragraph Composer
For more tips this article is very helpful.
Page Flow Guidelines
These are general rules but can be broken when a design is approved with different settings, to be discussed with your Timber contact:
Subheads
First paragraph following a head has no indent.
Approximately two lines of text space above and one space below a subhead, to be built into the style, not keyed as paragraph breaks.
Running text
With multi-column text, the columns on the last page of a chapter should end evenly. This includes indexes.
The last page of a chapter should have at least five lines of text. Obviously, more is better.
Never allow widows (single first or last line of paragraph) at the bottom or top of a page or column. Set Keep Options to always keep 2 lines together at the start/end of paragraph.
Avoid short single words at the end of paragraphs.
If adjusting tracking (for example, to pull back an orphan or fill out a last line) do not exceed +/- 10 (thousandths of an em) tracking difference between adjacent lines.
Graphic elements
Photos, illustrations, and special elements should fall as close as possible to their callouts, and usually not before. Following the callout and within the same spread is generally acceptable.
Avoid ending a chapter with a photo, sidebar, or graphic.
Photo Caption Directionals
Our books tend to contain many photos and it is not always possible (or ideal) for every caption to sit directly adjacent to the image it describes. In such cases where multiple images exist on a single page, and/or captions don’t sit directly alongside their photo, directionals will be employed. These are to be added by the designer and styled in a manner that distinguishes them from the rest of the caption text. Directionals.pdf, supplied in your handoff folder, offers many examples but is not comprehensive. If you have questions, talk to your Timber contact.
Editorial Mark-Up & File Prep Conventions
Manuscripts are generally styled in MS Word, but they often still have heads, photos, illustrations, and/or special elements marked within carets, for example, <sidebar>. If present, these callouts must be deleted as the content is placed.
Replace imported MS text styles with your corresponding InDesign Character/Paragraph styles. You are welcome to create new styles as necessary, and be sure to delete all unused styles before delivery of final files.
Captions will be indicated within the MS following the photo callouts. In rare cases, you may receive a separate document with only captions.
Make absolutely no changes to the MS. If you see possible typos, or have content that will not fit within a specified location, make a note on a separate NOTES layer in your document to discuss with your Timber contact. Do not re-key text or captions; if they have to break from the running text, cut and paste from the primary frame.
Special Characters, Symbols, Glyphs & Punctuation
Math Symbols
Use Tisa Sans Pro, provided by your Timber Contact, for all math symbols (×, +, −, etc.). It should match the approximate optical weight of adjacent text, erring on the side of lighter, and never be set in italic. The multi sign should be set to sit on the baseline at the same x-height as the font it appears with, coded as a distinct “math x” character style. The most common use of this convention in Timber books is the Latin plant names of hybrids, which often contain a multiplication sign to indicate crossbreeding. Ex: Iris ×germanica
Cold temperatures are indicated with a minus sign (−). A hyphen is not a minus sign.
Fractions
Always use OpenType fractions if available.
Make sure you choose a font that has sufficient fractions for the needs of the particular book. If the font does not provide sufficient fractions, build your own and store them in your library for consistency.
If the font doesn’t automatically do it for you, replace text fractions with case fractions: ½ not 1/2
Remove space between whole number and fraction after replacing fraction: 1½ not 1 ½
Ligatures
Use ligatures fi, fl, ff, ffi, ffl if available. They are particularly important in display type.
Small Caps
Timber style generally uses small caps for acronyms. The exception is certain books with a lot of technical information, where the small caps would confuse rather than streamline the reading of text. If for any reason you don’t feel small caps are appropriate for the particular project, discuss with your Timber contact.
The point of using small caps in text is to minimize the abruptness of all-caps so that it does not read as ALL CAPS SHOUTING. However, many fonts have small caps that are so close to the x-height that they draw the eye to their tiny appearance. Your goal as a typesetter is to find the middle ground which will allow the reader to enjoy the text without having to pay attention to how you set it.
Use a font that includes well-designed true small caps. For Opentype fonts, use Opentype All Small Caps.
Do not use InDesign’s “small caps” setting or otherwise create ersatz small caps. If the font you are using does not provide the small caps you need, choose a different font.
Design the small caps so that they are larger than the text’s x-height, but smaller than the cap height of the typeface. As a general rule, this is one point size larger than the surrounding text. Use tracking of +10 to +20 to increase readability. Adjust the above advice for your particular situation: as always, the goal is a seamless reading experience.
Create a character style, and apply using GREP search and replace. Set search string for three or more uppercase characters (the string is \u\u\u\u*) This should find all relevant acronyms; apply as below. (See “How To Use GREP Styles”.)
Apply the small caps style to acronyms three characters or longer, but not to proper names or locations. Small caps are also always applied to A.D., B.C., and C.E., and to A.M. and P.M.