FORMATTING

Bullets

Content

  • Quick presentation of important information or to efficiently summarize a writer’s major points—ideal for outlining key concepts for a quick review by the reader.

Punctuation

  • Use a period (full stop) after every bullet point that is a sentence (as these bullets do).

  • Use a period after every bullet point that completes the introductory stem.

  • Use no punctuation after bullets that are not sentences and do not complete the stem. Use all sentences or all fragments, not a mixture.

Formatting

  • Hanging Bullets: with hanging punctuation the flow of text on the left-hand side is uninterrupted.

  • Vertical spacing separating bullet content

Alignment & Margins

Alignment

  • Align text and graphics to the left—Unless you’re trying to emphasize one area (such as the title).

  • Having content aligns provides margins and makes it easier to organize the content effectively.

White Space

  • It is very important to use “white space” (space without content) to break up the content.

  • This space will enable to reader to find information easily without being overwhelmed by text or graphics.

Margins

  • Margins are the areas between the main content of a page and the page edges—the margin helps to define where a line of text begins and ends.

  • Margins are created by aligning your content.

  • Margins provide space for the eye of the reader to “rest” and guide their eyes to the content in a less overwhelming manner.

Column Width

  • The ideal column width is 52–65 characters wide—2–2.5 alphabets wide (2 x 26 letters=52)