TOPIC 3 TEXT Arranged by MOHD SAIFULNIZAM ABU

TOPIC 3 – TEXT Arranged by : MOHD SAIFULNIZAM ABU BAKAR saiful. uitm. edu. my

Overview • Importance of text in a multimedia presentation. • Understanding fonts and typefaces. • Using text elements in a multimedia presentation. • Computers and text. • Font editing and design tools. • Multimedia and hypertext. CSC 253 2

Introduction To Text • Using text and symbols for communication began about 6, 000 years ago in Mediterranean Fertile Crescent: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Sumeria and Babylonia. • In some former eras, not all people were allowed to learn writing and reading. • Today, text and ability to read it are doorways to power and knowledge. • Since the explosion of the Internet and the World Wide Web(WWW), text has become more important than ever. CSC 253 3

Importance of Text in a Multimedia Presentation • Words and symbols in any form, spoken or written, are the most common means of communication. • Text is a vital element of multimedia menus, navigation systems, and content. CSC 253 4

• A single word may be cloaked in many meanings, so it is important to cultivate accuracy and conciseness in the specific words you choose. • It is important to design labels for title screens, menus, buttons or tabs using words that have the most precise and powerful meanings to express what you need to say CSC 253 5

(cont. ) Importance of Text in a Multimedia Presentation • Factors affecting legibility of text: – Size. – Background and foreground color. – Style. – Leading. CSC 253 6

Understanding Fonts and Typefaces CSC 253 7

(cont. ) Understanding Fonts and Typefaces • The study of fonts and typefaces includes the following: – Font styles. – Font sizes - distance from the top of the capital letters to the bottom of the descenders in letters such as g and y – Cases. – Serif versus Sans Serif. CSC 253 8

Font Styles Font styles include: – Boldface – Italic – Underlining – Outlining CSC 253 9

Font Sizes • Font size is measured in points. (pt) – 1 point = 0. 0138 inch(1/72) • Character metrics are the general measurements applied to individual characters. • Kerning is the spacing between character pairs. • Leading is the space between lines. CSC 253 10

Kerning vs Leading Kerning is the spacing between character pairs. Leading is the space between lines. CSC 253 11

Cases • A CAPITALIZED LETTER IS REFERRED TO AS ‘UPPERCASE', while a small letter is referred to as 'lowercase. ' • Placing an uppercase letter in the middle of a word is referred to as intercap or Camel. Case • Example : Library. Box, Fed. Ex CSC 253 12

Drop cap CSC 253 13

Two classes of fonts: Serif or Sans Serif little decoration at the end of a letter stroke. Sans Serif used for body text These fonts are used for headlines and bold statements. do not have a serif at the end of a letter stroke. CSC 253 14

Types of Fonts • For computer displays, Sans Serif fonts considered better because of the sharper contrast. Example of Serif fonts Example of Sans Serif Century Gothic Arial Comic Sans MS Impact Tahoma Times New Roman Bookman Rockwell Light Courier New Century CSC 253 15

CSC 253 16

Text Characteristics • This example shows the Times New Roman font Capital Height x-Height Ascender FD xhp Point size p -Height Serif CSC 253 Descender 17

CSC 253 18

Tracking, Kerning and Leading Av Av Kerned Unkerned CSC 253 19

Tracking, Kerning and Leading o o o Ascender Descender Leading Tracking Kerning Reading Line One : an upstroke on a character : the down stroke below the baseline of a character : spacing above and below a font or Line spacing : spacing between characters : space between pairs of characters, usually as an overlap for improvement appearance CSC 253 20

Bitmapped and vector fonts • Fonts can either be stored as bitmapped or vector graphics • Bitmaps font depend to the size and the pixel numbers - File size increases as more sizes are added • Vector fonts can draw any size by scaling the vector drawing primitives mathematically – File size is much smaller than bitmaps – True. Type and Post. Script are vector font formats CSC 253 21

Bitmapped and vector fonts A bitmapped font A vector font CSC 253 22

Jaggies and Antialiasing • Jaggies are the jagged edges you see when a bitmapped image is resized – It is a consequence of the underlying array of pixels from which the image is composed • Antialiasing is a technique that can be used to eliminate jagged edges – It substitutes additional pixels in other colours to fool the brain into thinking it is seeing continuous lines – The technique is used to blend the font into the background by transitioning the colour from the font colour to background. – This technique minimizes the jagged edges making for a smoother overall appearance. CSC 253 23

Jaggies and Antialiasing CSC 253 24

Using Text Elements in a Multimedia Presentation • Anti-aliased text must be used when a gentle and blended look for titles and headlines is needed. • Ideas and concepts can be highlighted by making the text bold or by emphasizing text. • A pleasant look can be created by experimenting with different font faces, sizes, leadings, and kerning. • The text elements used in multimedia are: – – – Menus for navigation. Interactive buttons. Fields for reading. HTML documents. Symbols and icons. CSC 253 25

Menus for Navigation • A user navigates through content using a menu. • A simple menu consists of a text list of topics. CSC 253 26

Interactive Buttons • A button is a clickable object that executes a command when activated. • Users can create their own buttons from bitmaps and graphics. • The design and labeling of the buttons should be treated as an industrial art project. CSC 253 27

Fields for Reading • Reading a hard copy is easier and faster than reading from the computer screen. • A document can be printed in one of two orientations - portrait or landscape. • The taller-than-wide orientation used for printing documents is called portrait. • The wider-than-tall orientation that is normal to monitors is called landscape. CSC 253 28

HTML Documents • HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. • It is the standard document format used for Web pages. • HTML documents are marked using tags. CSC 253 29

HTML Documents • An advanced form of HTML is DHTML. • DHTML stands for Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language. • DHTML uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). • Some of the commonly used tags are: – The <B> tag for making text bold faced. – The <OL> tag for creating an ordered list. – The <IMG> tag for inserting images. CSC 253 30

Symbols and Icons • Symbols are concentrated text in the form of stand-alone graphic constructs. • They are used to convey meaningful messages. • Symbols used to convey human emotions are called emoticons. • Icons are symbolic representations of objects and processes. CSC 253 31

• Mapping across platforms: • Fonts and characters are not cross-platform compatible [ between Windows and Macintosh platforms ] • They must be mapped to the other machine using font substitution. CSC 253 32

Computers and Text • The font wars. – Post. Script – True. Type • Character sets. CSC 253 33

Post. Script • Post. Script is a method of describing an image in terms of mathematical constructs. • Post. Script characters are scalable and can be drawn much faster. • The two types of Post. Script fonts are Type 3 and Type 1. CSC 253 34

True. Type • Apple and Microsoft developed the True. Type methodology. • True. Type is a system of scalable outline fonts, and can draw characters at low resolution. CSC 253 35

Character Sets • The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) is a 7 -bit coding system. • The extended character set is commonly filled with ANSI standard characters. • The ISO-Latin-1 character set is used while programming the text of HTML pages. CSC 253 36

Character Sets • Unicode is a 16 -bit architecture for multilingual text and character encoding. • The shared symbols of each character set are unified into collections of symbols called scripts. • Mapping across platforms: – Fonts and characters are not cross-platform compatible. – They must be mapped to the other machine using font substitution. CSC 253 37

Font Editing and Design Tools • Macromedia Fontographer. – Fontographer is a specialized graphics editor. – It is compatible with both Macintosh and Windows platform. – It can be used to develop Post. Script, True. Type, and bitmapped fonts. – It can also modify existing typefaces and incorporate Post. Script artwork. • Creating attractive texts. – Applications that are used to enhance texts and images include: Adobe Photoshop, Type. Styler, COOL 3 D, Hot. TEXT and Type. Caster CSC 253 38

Fontographer www. fontlab. com CSC 253 39

Multimedia and Hypertext • • • Multimedia. Hypertext system. Using hypertext systems. Searching for words. Hypermedia structures. Hypertext tools. CSC 253 40

Multimedia • Multimedia is defined as the combination of text, graphics, and audio elements into a single presentation. • When the user have control over the presentation, it is called interactive multimedia. • Interactive multimedia becomes hypermedia when a structure of linked elements is provided to the user for navigation and interaction. CSC 253 41

Hypertext System • Hypertext is defined as the organized crosslinking of words, images, and other Web elements. • A system in which words are keyed or indexed to other words is referred to as a hypertext system. • A hypertext system enables the user to navigate through text in a non-linear way. CSC 253 42

Using Hypertext Systems • Information management and hypertext programs present electronic text, images, and other elements in a database fashion. • Software robots visit Web pages and index entire Web sites. CSC 253 43

(cont. ) Using Hypertext Systems • Hypertext databases make use of proprietary indexing systems. • Server-based hypertext and database engines are widely available. CSC 253 44

Searching for Words • Typical methods for word searching in hypermedia systems are: – Categorical search • Selecting or limiting the documents, pages, or fields of text within which to search for a word or words – Word relationship • Searching for the words according to their general proximity and order. Example : “birthday party” and “cake”. – Adjacency • Searching for words occurring next to one another – Alternates • Applying an OR criterion to search for two or more words. Example: “meat” or “egg” – Association • Applying AND criterion to search for two or more words. CSC 253 45

(cont. ) Searching for Words • (cont. ) Typical methods for word searching in hypermedia systems are: – Negation • Applying a NOT criterion – Truncation • Searching for word with any of its possible suffixes. Example : geo# (geology, geometry) – Intermediate words • Searching for words that occur between what might normally be adjacent words, such as a middle name. – Frequency • Searching for words based on how often they appear CSC 253 46

Hypermedia Structures • • Links. Nodes. Anchors. Navigating hypermedia structures. CSC 253 47

Links • Links are connections between conceptual elements. • Links are the navigation pathways and menus. NODES Nodes are accessible topics, documents, messages, and content elements. Nodes and links form the backbone of a knowledge access system. CSC 253 48

Anchor • Anchor is defined as the reference from one document to another document, image, sound, or file on the Web. • The source node linked to the anchor is referred to as a link anchor. • The destination node linked to the anchor is referred to as a link end. CSC 253 49

Navigating Hypermedia Structures • The simplest way to navigate hypermedia structures is via buttons. • Location markers must be provided to make navigation user-friendly. CSC 253 50

Hypertext Tools • Two functions common to most hypermedia text management systems are building (authoring) and reading. • The functions of ‘builder’ are: – Creating links. – Identifying nodes. – Generating an index of words. • Hypertext systems are used for: – – – Electronic publishing and reference works. Technical documentation. Educational courseware. Interactive kiosks. Electronic catalogs. CSC 253 51

Summary • Text is one of the most important elements of multimedia. • The standard document format used for Web pages is called HTML. • Multimedia is the combination of text, graphics, and audio elements into a single presentation. • A hypertext system enables the user to navigate through text in a non-linear way CSC 253 52