u/jayantbhatt007

I’m working on a book and have been using positional labels for image captions throughout, such as Top:, Left:, Right:, etc.

On this particular spread, I have two images positioned at the top. One is the main image, while the other is a smaller image overlapping it toward the bottom-right.

How would you label these while keeping the caption system consistent?

Would you use:

• Top: for the main image and Bottom Right: for the smaller one?
• Left: and Right: based on their relative positions?
• Or is there a more standard editorial convention for this?

I’ve also seen a publisher use numbered labels such as 1, 2, 3, with the corresponding numbers used in the captions to identify each image.

For those of you who work in book design, editorial design, or publishing, what approach do you prefer?

I'm designing a 100+ page coffee table book in InDesign, and my chapter openers are heavily stylized."

For example, the visible chapter title is designed like this:

THE
JAGUAR YEARS
India's Deep Strike Legend

The typography, colors and line breaks are intentional for the page design.

However, in the Table of Contents I only want:

The Jaguar Years

as a single entry.

I'm running into two issues:

1. Since the visible title is split into multiple paragraphs (or paragraph styles), the TOC generates multiple entries instead of one.
2. The TOC also inherits the formatting from the source heading. For example, if "JAGUAR" is orange in the chapter opener, it appears orange in the TOC as well. I'd like the TOC entry to be plain black text with its own formatting.

I'm trying to understand the professional publishing workflow rather than just finding a workaround.

Do book designers typically:

• Create a hidden one-line heading with a dedicated TOC paragraph style?
• Use hidden layers or another method?

I'd love to know how people producing books with complex chapter opener designs handle this.

I'm setting up a baseline and modular grid in InDesign for a book layout.

My setup is:

• 14 pt baseline grid
• 34 baseline intervals in the live area
• 7 modular rows with 14 pt gutters

Everything aligns perfectly within the live area and the modular grid fits mathematically:

>7 rows × 4 baselines = 28 baselines
6 gutters × 1 baseline = 6 baselines

28 + 6 = 34 baselines

I've noticed that many InDesign and editorial design tutorials use equal margins on all sides when setting up a baseline grid. As a result, their baseline grids often extend much closer to the bottom edge of the page.

In my case, I'm using more traditional book proportions where the bottom margin is slightly larger than the top, inside, and outside margins. Because of this, my baseline grid aligns perfectly within the text area, but the last baseline (which I've marked in the image) doesn't reach the physical bottom edge of the page.

At the moment, everything in my grid system divides very cleanly and is easy to calculate. Most values are based on multiples of the baseline increment, which keeps the modular grid and spacing consistent and easy to work with.

I could adjust the setup so that the last baseline reaches closer to the bottom edge of the page, but doing so would force several other measurements into awkward decimal values and break the clean mathematical relationships that currently exist in the grid.

Is this considered normal practice in book and editorial design, or is it generally preferable to adjust the margins so that the last baseline aligns closer to the bottom of the page?

One thing I've found frustrating while learning this is that many tutorials seem to choose grid values without explaining the reasoning behind them, and questions about those choices often go unanswered.

I'm curious how experienced editorial designers approach these decisions. Is there an established methodology behind choosing margins, leading, baseline counts, and modular grids, or is it largely based on experience and visual judgment?

Thanks in advance for any insights.

​

Hey everyone, I’ve been trying to understand how experienced designers analyze and break down printed layouts like books, magazines, and newspapers.

For example, I have added printed page, how do you figure out things like:

• approximate font size

• leading

• margins and text block size

• grid structure

• spacing and hierarchy

Do designers use any tools for this, like typography rulers, overlays, websites, or measurement methods?

I’m also curious about how designers develop that visual intuition over time. Some people can look at a layout and instantly tell when the type size, spacing, or proportions feel off. What exactly are they observing to make those judgments?

Are you mainly looking at:

• x-height

• line length

• whitespace

•proportions

• text density

• baseline rhythm

Or is it mostly something you develop over time by training your eye through studying and recreating good layouts?

I’d love to know how professionals approach this process and train their eye over time.

Here is the link to the post - https://community.adobe.com/questions-671/error-when-updating-share-for-review-link-there-was-an-error-updating-the-artifact-887573?postid=7545124#post7545124