Make your documents stand out with these quick typographic tips

<p>Want your documents to look more professional? Here’s a simple way to make your documents look more professional in under 5 minutes. </p> <p>The secret lies in making the body text look great because, let’s face it, there’s more of that than there is headings or tables. </p> <p>First, choose a good font (if you are allowed). I know some corporations insist on a standard font, and it’s likely to be a boring one like Arial or Times New Roman. If that’s what you have to use you can still make it look good. </p> <p>Here are the 4 things you need to set:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Set the point size between 10 and 12.</strong> A given point size does not make every font the same size so you will have to use some judgement to get it right.</li> <li><strong>Set the line spacing between 1.2 and 1.4.</strong> The default single line spacing is too tight, and 1.5- or double-spacing is too loose.</li> <li><strong>Set the alignment to Left.</strong> Justified text messes with the spacing between words and makes text harder to read.</li> <li><strong>Adjust margins to get the line length right.</strong> Lines need to be approximately 65 characters long. That’s roughly 2½ alphabets. For A4 documents you will need margins that are bigger than the default 25mm (1 inch). You might need 35mm each side.</li> </ol> <p>Try these 4 settings and your documents will look more polished and professional.</p>