Tag Archives: print to web

Design from print to web

It’s killing me that I cannot hang indents, kern, or make elegant line spacing using “space after!”

I feel like part of my hand has been paralyzed, and I just cannot do the things I need to do.  But hey, I got the site up and running. I have not completely overcome my terror of code, but I have dipped a toe into it  . . . and not died.

I have been using Quark to do print design since version 2.0 I think.  So it is second nature.  (I have used Photoshop since 2.0 as well, but that is another story). Quark was like magic to someone who had used tape to make boxes. Remember lining up the rounded corner tape with the straight tape anyone?  Ah, but the waxer and Exacto, which gave tactile satisfaction, gave way to computer keys. You lost something, but you gained speed and precise control.

That control—to place everything on the page exactly where you want it in a keystroke—has now been taken away!  I am at my computer, but I can’t tell my fonts and pictures exactly where they should go!  I feel powerless.  Like in a car where the brakes don’t work.  

Once again, you lose something, but you gain as well. Maybe I can’t kern, but on the Web I can make corrections wihtout stopping the press. I can update. I can interact with readers. And 4 color costs no more than 2.