5   Page and Screen Design

Templates

Most of the design decisions we make when we design a manual page we embed in the word processor template. Margins, typefaces, line spacing, justification—all are set up and controlled by the template. Together with styles, the template controls almost every aspect of page design.

Your word processing software probably has generic templates for letters, memos, invoices, and other common business documents. You can use the template provided with this guidebook for the design of your print manual. See the detailed instructions on using the template.