The Complete Manual of Typography: A Guide to Setting Perfect Type 1st Edition

by James Felici (Author), Frank Romano (Foreword)

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ISBN-13: 978-0321127303

ISBN-10: 0321127307

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Testimonials
"The ultimate typographic tool: a concise, beautiful book that pulls together everything you need to produce great typography."
--Frank Romano, RIT School of Print Media

"Clear and elegant...There's no better or more useful introduction to the whole craft of typography."
--Roger Black, Danilo Black, Inc.

"All you've always wanted to know about type and typography but never dared to ask. Jim Felici brings together a vast amount of knowledge in this book. Must-have!"
--Erik Spiekermann, author, Stop Stealing Sheep (and Find Out How Type Works)

This book is about how type should look and how to make it look that way; in other words, how to set type like a professional. It releases the craft knowledge that used to reside almost exclusively in the heads of people working in type shops. The shops are gone, the technologies have changed, but the goal remains the same. This book explains in very practical terms how to use today's computerized tools to achieve that secret of good design: well-set type.

Beautifully designed and richly illustrated, The Complete Manual of Typography is an essential reference for anyone who works with type. Designers, print production professionals, and corporate communications managers can go straight to the index to find focused answers to specific questions, while educators and students can read it as a textbook from cover to cover. You'll find:

History, basic concepts, and anatomy of good typography, concisely presented and indexed for quick reference by busy professionals.
Straight-ahead instructions for how to manage fonts, handle corrupted or missing fonts, and find the characters you need.
Clear, useful explanations of what makes good type good (and bad type bad) .
Detailed guidance on controlling the fundamentals of type, including measure, point size, leading, kerning, and hyphenation and justification.
Practical advice on how to fix and avoid composition problems such as loose lines, bad rags, widows and orphans.
Hard-to-find rules for managing indents and alignments, skews, wraps, expert-set characters, and tables.
Scores of workarounds that show how to wring good type out of uncooperative word-processing and layout programs.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Clear and elegant...There's no better or more useful introduction to the whole craft of typography." -- Roger Black, Danilo Black, Inc.

"The ultimate typographic tool: a concise, beautiful book that pulls together everything you need to produce great typography." -- Frank Romano, RIT School of Print Media

From the Back Cover

[Testimonials]
"The ultimate typographic tool: a concise, beautiful book that pulls together everything you need to produce great typography."
--Frank Romano, RIT School of Print Media

"Clear and elegant...There's no better or more useful introduction to the whole craft of typography."
--Roger Black, Danilo Black, Inc.

Beautifully designed and richly illustrated, The Complete Manual of Typography is an essential reference for anyone who works with type. Designers, print production professionals, and corporate communications managers can go straight to the index to find focused answers to specific questions, while educators and students can read it as a textbook from cover to cover. You'll find:

* History, basic concepts, and anatomy of good typography, concisely presented and indexed for quick reference by busy professionals.
* Straight-ahead instructions for how to manage fonts, handle corrupted or missing fonts, and find the characters you need.
* Clear, useful explanations of what makes good type good (and bad type bad) .
* Detailed guidance on controlling the fundamentals of type, including measure, point size, leading, kerning, and hyphenation and justification.
* Practical advice on how to fix and avoid composition problems such as loose lines, bad rags, widows and orphans.
* Hard-to-find rules for managing indents and alignments, skews, wraps, expert-set characters, and tables.
* Scores of workarounds that show how to wring good type out of uncooperative word-processing and layout programs.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Peachpit Press; 1st edition (September 1, 2002)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0321127307
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0321127303
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.53 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 0.75 x 10 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,932,712 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #387 in Electronic Documents
- #397 in Desktop Publishing
- #759 in Typography (Books)

Customer Reviews:
44 ratings

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James Felici

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Customer reviews

5 star		66%
4 star		15%
3 star		9%
2 star		6%
1 star		4%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Michael N. Marcus

If you read this book, you may want to re-do your book.

Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2008

Verified Purchase

Unfortunately, there are lots of really ugly books being published now.

The rise of desk-top publishing, self-publishing and Print-On-Demand has made it possible for anyone with a credit card and blood pressure above zero to act like a publisher.

There are no licensing requirements, and unlike years ago when future printers worked as apprentices to expert printers, anyone can now put words on paper. A lot of those words are just dumped, with little or no preparation, thought, knowledge, or artistic ability.

(The worst-looking book I've seen lately is Best in Publishing & Print on Demand by David Rising. Rising tries to advise authors on self-publishing, but his own book is a great example of what not to do.) Best in Self-Publishing & Print on Demand: Plus Marketing Your Book on The Internet (na)

Fortunately, there's a WONDERFUL book that will tell you what to do.

The Complete Manual of Typography by James Felici is both a beautiful book to look at, and a complete yet easy-to understand reference work that will be invaluable to any self-publisher.

It will help professionals using sophisticated publishing software, and will even help amateurs like me who are trying to make the most out of Microsoft Word.

It will help you avoid stupid mistakes, and enable you to make your books both prettier and more professional. It includes the typographical history, secrets and tricks that used to be passed from father to son (but seldom to daughters).

I had a course in printing back in eighth grade, and a course called Advertising Art Production while in college. I've also worked in advertising agencies, I've designed award-winning websites, and have written several books. But Felici taught me a lot. He taught me so much, in fact, that I revised two of my books. I Only Flunk My Brightest Students

Price is $50 (before discounts) but it's worth every penny if it helps you avoid looking like an idiot. If you buy it from Amazon.com, the price is much less.

Michael N. Marcus, author of "I Only Flunk My Brightest Students: stories from school and real life" http://www.amazon.com/dp/098166170X

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Benjamin Riordan

By far, the best book on the subject

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2009

Verified Purchase

The greatest compliment I can give this book is to say that I read it from cover to cover. It's true- each of its 290 pages contained useful information and- perhaps more importantly- it is written in a very approachable style. Discussions often include interesting historical explanations, leaving the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the 'why' as well as the 'how' or 'what'. The tone of the book is engaging and straightforward with moments of surprising wit. Helpful examples comparing blocks of text are used generously throughout the chapters.

A brief summary of the book:

-Part one, Typographic Basics: History of type; units of measurement; about fonts & typefaces; using typefaces; typesetting versus typewriting; setting type on a personal computer; the differences between good and bad type

-Part two, How to Set Type: Measure, point size, leading; hyphenation and justification; kerning and tracking; indentation and alignment; special characters; document structures; tables; language-specific issues; style sheets; output resolution issues

-Part three, References: includes a very thorough glossary and index

As a whole, the book is intended primarily for people wishing to learn about typeography, and more specifically, the typography of printed text (books, newspapers, and magazines, as opposed to broadcast or advertising). This book is not meant to be a guide to print in advertising, although reading it will help you set better type in your ads if that is your job. Nor is this book a compendium of typefaces; the examples show typefaces primarily used by book publishers, such as Sabon, Garamond, or Caslon. This book is not a guide on which typeface to use for every situation; the author writes most of the book with the assumption that the typesetter will have the font and style dictated by the publisher. From the introduction: "This is not a style guide, but an execution guide."

What this book intends to teach is proper typesetting: The spacing of letters within words; the spacing of words and punctuation within sentences; the spacing and arrangement among lines of text and paragraphs; functional and attractive justification; and page color.

This book would be helpful to anyone involved in printing text, whether large scale or small.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

S. Neeper

Broad, interesting intro for non-typographers working in publishing-related areas

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

After creating publications of various sorts at work for 15 years and feeling dissatisfied with previous reading on typography (Stop Stealing Sheep, among others), I finally found the right a book. This one is amazingly readable for a book that demystifies every setting in you desktop publishing software. The author provides just enough historical background to make the concepts and terminology memorable and logical. And it's interesting -- typography today as most of us use it in desktop publishing is a mish-mash of ideas and language from centuries of calligraphy, type-setting, typewriters... And Felici gives an interesting, succinct account of the important bits, with good visual examples in the margins. Definitely recommended for anyone who regularly puts type to page (electronic or print) but does not have a typography background.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Boris-G

Comprehensive: written by an expert who cares

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 29, 2008

Verified Purchase

This is a well-laid out book which practises what it preaches, and demands the highest commitment to excellence. It's also very clearly and well written--not always the case with expert manuals. It's full of examples of good and bad work and takes care to avoid trade jargon or explain it where necessary. Highly recommended, but only for those who like the author really care about typography.

Nalanilbud

Superb

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 26, 2015

Verified Purchase

Unsurpassed guide to setting bodycopy. Possibly too advanced for beginners, but a great resource for the advanced student/professional.

Dinh Hong

This is the one I am looking for

Reviewed in Canada on February 22, 2012

Verified Purchase

I love typography and have a lot of book about it but frankly speaking all of them did not satisfy me until this one. So informatic, fully and all the things organised in memoric ways. Must have in every designer's bookstore.

Paul Douglas

Straight forward.

Reviewed in Canada on July 22, 2013

Verified Purchase

Easy to read. Down to earth. Far more useful information. Funny without trying to be. Good solid book packed with useful information.

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