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Tuesday 22 September 2009

When Empires Clash! – Work begins on the layout

Before going to work this morning I managed to spend an hour playing around with different layouts for the latest draft of these rules. In the end I have gone for one that will put a section tab along the outer edge of each page so that it will easy for readers to flip through the rules to find the relevant section they want to consult.

A sample page from the current draft of the rules. It shows how the section tab at the outer edge of the page should make it easier for readers to find a particular section that they want to read.
It is also my intention to use as many photographic and diagrammatic illustrations as possible to explain the nuances of the rules. This will all take time, but should result in a much easier-to-use set of rules.

6 comments:

  1. Excellent plan and sample page.

    Leave room on the "inner" margin of a page for hole punching or comb or spiral binding.

    You are really raising the production bar for the rest of us.

    Jim Wright

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  2. Would the tab be on the other side (i.e the non bound side -the outside edge)? to facilitate flipping through the rules to get the section you want?

    sorry - first time caller - long time reader!!

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  3. Jim,

    An excellent idea. I have left 20mm at present, but I think that 25mm would be better.

    Many thanks,

    Bob

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  4. ACatCalledElvis,

    The page that is displayed on the blog is the left-hand page of a two-page view (I could not get both to show when I created the picture that is on the blog using the 'print screen' button and MS Paint), so the tab is on the outer edge. This is not obvious from the picture, so can I apologise for the confusion.

    However, as I have now realised that most people do not have a printer available at home that will print on both sides of the paper, I will be putting the tab on the right-hand side of all the pages. This will make it easier for people to print the rules off at home and either hole punch them for storage in a folder or to comb bind them together.

    Thanks for giving me the opportunity to correct this potential problem before I got too far into the redrafting process … and thanks for being a regular reader!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  5. I like the layout Bob, and agree with both the suggestions already voiced. I haven't had time to read everything here about the rules, but may I suggest that if there are any charts or visual aids within the rules themselves, you list copies of them all together on pages at the front or back for easy reference. Just a thought.

    Steve.

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  6. Steve,

    Your comment crossed my latest blog entry somewhere in cyberspace!

    As I have written in the latest blog entry, I am still dithering about the layout I will use. I need to make a decision because until I do, things are going nowhere.

    I might be able to do some tinkering with the layout later today; if not, I will have to make a firm decision sometime tomorrow otherwise it will be a week before I can really get started.

    All the best,

    Bob

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