Setting text in columns in Publish by Zaweba

Long lines of text are tiring to read. On an A4 page, a paragraph that runs from margin to margin asks the eye to travel a long way and then find the start of the next line again. Columns fix that, and they are a big part of why a newsletter looks like a newsletter rather than a letter.

In Publish by Zaweba a text box can have several columns, with text flowing from one to the next. You get the look of a multi column page while handling only one box, which is a lot easier to manage than a row of separate boxes.

When columns help

Newsletters are the obvious case. A main story set in two or three columns reads comfortably and leaves natural gaps where a picture can sit. Leaflets benefit too, particularly on landscape pages, where a single wide column would make very long lines. A price list or a programme of events can also look tidier in columns, because short entries line up rather than straggling across the page.

Posters and flyers usually do not need columns. They are read at a glance, with a big headline and a few short lines, and splitting such a small amount of text makes it harder to take in.

How the text moves

Because the columns belong to one box, the text behaves as one piece. You type or paste the story, and it fills the first column, then continues at the top of the next. Edit a sentence in the first column and everything after it moves along. Resize the box and the columns resize with it, and the text reflows.

That is the main reason to prefer columns over several separate boxes placed side by side. With separate boxes you would need to link them so text runs from one to the next, and any change to their sizes would need to be done one at a time. A single box with columns keeps the arrangement in step automatically.

When a story needs to continue somewhere else, for example on page three, linked text frames take over. A box with columns can still be part of a linked chain, so a story can fill two columns on the front page and then continue elsewhere.

Getting columns to look right

Narrow columns and large type do not mix. If the columns are thin and the font is big, you get only a few words to a line and lots of awkward gaps, especially with justified text. Either use fewer columns or a slightly smaller body size. As a rough guide, if most lines hold fewer than six or seven words, the columns are probably too narrow.

Alignment matters too. Justified text gives straight edges on both sides, which looks neat in columns, but in narrow columns it can open up wide spaces between words. Left aligned text with a ragged right edge is often easier on the eye. Try both and look at the page from a little distance before deciding.

Pictures that sit across or beside columns can have text wrap turned on, so the words step around them. That is a common newsletter pattern: two columns of text with a photo set into the top of one of them.

Pitfalls to avoid

The first is overfilling. If the story is longer than the box, the end is held back and the box shows it is too full. Check every page for that before you export, because a missing last paragraph is easy to overlook when the columns look full.

The second is an uneven finish. A story that leaves one column full and the next with only two lines can look unfinished. Small adjustments help, such as a slightly taller or shorter box, a short edit to the text, or a pull quote to fill a gap.

The third is mixing too many column layouts on one page. Two columns for the main story and one wide box for a notice is fine. Two, three and four columns all on the same page usually looks busy.

Columns are one of the simplest ways to make a page in Publish by Zaweba look properly designed, and because they live inside a single box they are easy to change your mind about.