Text

Multimedia Technology
Learning Outcome
• Able to define text
• Able to differentiate between typeface and font
• Able to define text legibility.
• Able to identify different font categories.
• Able to explain the implementation of text in multimedia
• Able to identify the advantage and disadvantages of using text
in multimedia.
Text
• Basic media for many multimedia systems.
• Texts in the form of words, sentences and paragraphs is used to
communicate thoughts, ideas and facts in nearly every aspect
of our lives.
Text
• Made up of letters, numbers and special characters.
• Text elements can be categories into:
• Alphabet characters : A – Z
• Numbers : 0 – 9
• Special characters : Punctuation [. , ; ‘ …] , Sign or Symbols [* & ^
% $ £ ! /\ ~ # @ .…]
• Also known Character Sets
• It may also include special icon or drawing symbols,
mathematical symbols, Greek Letter etc.
Text Legibility
• The factors affecting legibility of text.
• Size
• The size of the text
• Background and Foreground color
• The color in which the text is written in / on.
• Style
• Also known as typeface and font
• Leading
• Refers to the amount of added space between lines of type.
• It’s pronounced ledding – as in lead, the metal. In this case, lead is referring to
the strips of lead once used to create space between lines of text in the days of
mechanical typesetting
Exercise
• Identify and demonstrate usage of text legibility available in
Microsoft Word.
Linear vs Non-linear Text
• Digital text can be linear and non-linear.
• Linear text
• A single way to progress through the text, starting at the beginning
and reading to the end.
• Non-linear text (Hypertext)
• Information is represented in a semantic network in which
multiple related sections of the text are connected to each
other
• A user may then browse through the sections of the text,
jumping from one text section to another.
Font and Typeface
Font
• A font is a collection of characters of a particular size and
style belonging to a particular typeface family.
• Usually vary by type sizes and styles.
• The sizes are measured in points.
• This includes the letter set, the number set, and all of the
special character and diacritical marks you get by pressing the
shift, option, or command/control keys.
Arial Fonts
Typeface
• A typeface is a family of graphic characters that usually
includes many type sizes and styles.
• A typeface contains a series of fonts. For instance, Arial, Arial
Black, Arial Narrow and Arial Unicode MS are actually 4 fonts
under the same family.
Arial Typefaces Family
Font and Typeface
• The technology of fonts and typefaces include the following:
• Font styles - boldface, italic, underline, outline
• Font sizes - point, kerning (space between letter), leading (space
between lines)
• Cases – uppercase, lowercase, intercap
• Font categories – Serif, San-serif, script and decorative/display.
• Font Effects - The technology of font effects in bringing viewer’s
attention to content. This includes embossed and shadow text.
Cases
• When type was set by hand, the type for a font was kept in a
drawer or case.
• The upper drawer held the capital letters, and the lower drawer
held the smaller letters.
• From this we get the terms uppercase and lowercase.
Case sensitive
• Passwords are case sensitive (“home” is different from
“HOME”).
• It’s easier to read words that have a mixture of upper and lower
case letters rather than all upper case.
• Computer terms use an intercap for readability ex: FirstName,
LastName, PageMaker. It is sometimes referred as Camel Case
as well.
Type properties
Kerning
• It referred to space between pairs of characters, usually as an
overlap for improvement appearance
Leading
• Space between lines of text.
Font Categories
Font Category
• Serif – fonts with corner or little
line.
• Sans-serif – fonts without corner or
little line.
• Script – fonts in italic and cursive
form.
• Decorative/Display – fonts in a
decorative form.
Serif
• Serif fonts have little “corner” or lines attached the ends of their
letters.
• They are commonly used whenever you wanted something look
more serious or traditional.
• They often found in the body text of newspapers.
• They are also a permanent fixture in books and magazines
which require exceptionally legible texts.
Sans-Serif
• Fonts that do not have the extra lines on the ends of letters or
“corner”.
• It commonly used to mean for look more modern and
streamlined.
• Commonly used in recent years especially in advertising.
Script
• Fonts that look cursive or handwriting-style fonts.
• They generally have connecting letters.
• Different script font represent different styles, from elegant, to
fun and casual, to hand-drawn.
• They are perfect for invitations, greeting cards, headlines or
very short, expressive texts.
Decorative/Display
• It is sometimes also referred to as font categorized as
decorative, display, or novelty
• It commonly used to catch attention.
• They are not commonly used.
• It should only be used in small doses and for a specific effect or
purpose
Text in Multimedia
Text in Multimedia
• Menus for navigation
• Interactive buttons
• Fields for reading
• Icons
Menu for Navigation
• A Multimedia product should include:
• Contents or information
• Menus to direct the user to the contents or
information (user navigates through them by
using mouse clicks, key presses, touch screen)
• Some indication or map of where the user is in the
presentation
Buttons
• Buttons are objects that make things
happen when they are clicked
• Use common button shapes and sizes
• Label them clearly
• Verify button work properly
Field of Reading
• Reading from a computer screen is
slower than from a book
• People blink 3-5 times/minute when
using a computer and 20-25
times/minute when reading a book
• This reduced eye movement causes
fatigue, dryness, and possibly damage
to the eyes
• Try to present only a few paragraphs
per page
Field of Reading
• Monitor uses wider-than-tall orientation called landscape
• Most books uses taller-than-wide orientation called portrait
• Don’t try to shrink a full page onto a monitor

Landscape
Portrait
Icons
• Icons act like “visual words” to convey meaning
• Icons and sounds are more easily remembered than words
• It is useful to label icons for clarity
Advantages and
Disadvantages
Advantages
• Is relatively inexpensive to produce
• Present abstract ideas effectively
• Clarifies other media
• Provides confidentiality (password)
• Is easily changed or updated
Disadvantages
• Is less memorable than other visual media
• Requires more attention from the user than other media
• Can be cumbersome – not elegant in expression