Characteristics of documents

Characteristics of documents

1. Main characteristics of documents: characters, paragraphs, sections, frames, headers, footers, footnotes, pages

2. Characters

   • Shapes which are used to create text, numbers and symbols on screen/page/publication.
   • Grouped together to form 'character sets'. Look different by how heavy, light, curly they appear
   • Selecting the right character will determine how a document looks overall

3. Paragraphs

   • A section of text, usually made up of sentences. Start and end are signaled by a line break and/or indentation of the first line of text
   • Why do we use them? Reading a dense, uninterrupted mass of characters is hard. Breaks up text to make it easier to read
   • 'House style': Follow same rules for font size, line spacing, bullet point style, aligment, numbering style e.t.c in order to produce a consistent look and feel

4. Sections

   • Sometimes, certain parts of a document need to be formatted differently i.e. the first paragraph may need to be left justified, the second formatted as two columns and the third paragraph double line spaced
   • Section continues until 'section break' is typed, then new one begins
   • 'section break' can be inserted between differently formatted areas/ pages. Ensures that the word processor knows it must treat each section separately in terms of its formatting options
   • Not only used within a page, can be used between pages i.e. 1st page portrait orientation, 2nd and 3rd landscape. Author does this to meet requirements
   • A section is an area of text or a whole page of a document which is formatted in a specific way. It is separated from other sections of differently formatted text by means of a 'section break'

5. Frames

   • An area into which text/ images can be placed
   • Most commonly used in Desk Top Publishing applications
   • Independent of any other elements on the page. Can be easily moved around page and positioned where required
   • Can be placed next to one another or overlap
   • In DTP packages, frames can be linked together so that excess text flows from one to the next
   • Can be formatted independently of one another
   • Magazines and Newspapers make heavy use of frames to lay out pages
   • Word processing packages use frames i.e. can place a graphic such as a logo within a simple frame on a page, then can move this around the page

6. Headers and Footers

   • Header: area set aside at the top of each page
     • May include titles, logos e.t.c that you wanted repeated
     • The main text cannot flow into the header area
   • Footer: area set aside at the bottom of each page
     • Often find page numbering, file name, dates, 'confidential'
     • The first page may be different to rest of document i.e. no header/footer as to be less avoiding

7. Footnotes and Endnotes

   • Footnote: area set aside at the bottom of the page which contains extra information, a comment, citation or reference about an item of text referenced.
   • Endnote: similar to footnote, the superscript number appears next to the relevant word, but the endnote information appears at the end of the document rather than the bottom of the page
     • Used to provide reference to original source of information
   • Academic papers make heavy use of these as they need to prove where their claim comes from
     • Helps make documents easier to read by tucking away extra information

8. Pages

   • All the contents of a document which when printed,k will fit onto a single side of paper. Include: text, images, Word Art, tables, charts, lists
   • Will contain defined margins left, right, top and bottom which help define area left for text and graphical elements
   • Amount of content depends on paper size, font size and style, number and size of images
   • Pages can be set to different sizes i.e. A4, A5, legal
   • Page number often used along with a 'Table of Contents' or an Index to help allocate specific information
   • A web page is a single area within the browser that you can scroll up or down. If you wish to view a different page, you may have to use a menu