Style sheet
Encyclopedia
A Style sheet is a feature in desktop publishing
programs that store and apply formatting to text. Style sheets are a form of separation of presentation and content
: it creates a separate abstraction
to keep the presentation isolated from the text data.
Style sheets are a common feature in most popular desktop publishing and word processing programs, including Arbortext, Corel Ventura
, Adobe
InDesign, Scribus
, PageMaker, QuarkXPress
and Microsoft Word
, though they may be referred to using slightly different terminology.
Individual styles are created by the user and may include a wide variety of commands that dictate how a selected portion of text is formatted:
In most programs with style sheets, there is a window or menu listing the style sheets the user has associated with the document. For example, a newspaper may have a style sheet for its story text called "Body copy" that sets the type at 10 point Nimrod with 11 point leading and justified alignment.
Most programs allow users to name their own styles. Usually easy-to-remember names are used that describe what the style is used for. Common names might include "headline," "subhead" and "byline."
To apply a style to a portion of text, most programs allow users to select the text with their
Some programs split style sheets into two classes: Paragraph and Character.
Paragraph style sheets are applied to an entire paragraph while Character styles are applied to only a select number of characters. Character styles are useful when a user needs to format only a small portion of a paragraph. For example, a newspaper may publish lists of current movies by starting with the name of a movie in a bold, sans serif typeface. Then, without starting a new paragraph, the review starts in the standard story text format. In this case, the designer could highlight the movie title and select the appropriate character style to apply the formatting only to the title. The rest of the paragraph can then be styled independently.
More advanced layout programs allow users to format more complex paragraphs with a single paragraph style. Using our movie review example above, say the newspaper always places a colon after the movie title and runs 10 short movie reviews as one large story. In this case, the style could be programmed to apply the bold, sans serif typeface at the start of a new paragraph until it encounters a colon. After the colon, the style switches to the standard story text style. Therefore, the designer could highlight the entire collection and apply only one style that will automatically format the entire story without having to go through and apply separate character styles to each of the 10 reviews.
Desktop publishing
Desktop publishing is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal computer.The term has been used for publishing at all levels, from small-circulation documents such as local newsletters to books, magazines and newspapers...
programs that store and apply formatting to text. Style sheets are a form of separation of presentation and content
Separation of presentation and content
Separation of presentation and content is a common idiom, a design philosophy, and a methodology applied in the context of various publishing technology disciplines, including information retrieval, template processing, web design, web development, word processing, desktop publishing,...
: it creates a separate abstraction
Abstraction (computer science)
In computer science, abstraction is the process by which data and programs are defined with a representation similar to its pictorial meaning as rooted in the more complex realm of human life and language with their higher need of summarization and categorization , while hiding away the...
to keep the presentation isolated from the text data.
Style sheets are a common feature in most popular desktop publishing and word processing programs, including Arbortext, Corel Ventura
Corel Ventura
Ventura Publisher was the first popular desktop publishing package for IBM PC compatible computers running the GEM extension to the DOS operating system. The software was originally developed by Ventura Software, a small software company founded by John Meyer, Don Heiskel and Lee Jay Lorenzen, all...
, Adobe
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
InDesign, Scribus
Scribus
Scribus is a desktop publishing application, released under the GNU General Public License as free software. It is based on the free Qt toolkit, therefore native versions are available for Linux, Unix-like operating systems, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and OS/2...
, PageMaker, QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress is a computer application for creating and editing complex page layouts in a WYSIWYG environment. It runs on Mac OS X and Windows. It was first released by Quark, Inc...
and Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS , the Apple Macintosh , the AT&T Unix PC , Atari ST , SCO UNIX,...
, though they may be referred to using slightly different terminology.
Individual styles are created by the user and may include a wide variety of commands that dictate how a selected portion of text is formatted:
- TypefaceTypefaceIn typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
or fontFontIn typography, a font is traditionally defined as a quantity of sorts composing a complete character set of a single size and style of a particular typeface... - Boldfacing
- Italicizing
- UnderliningUnderlineAn underline, also called an underscore, is one or more horizontal lines immediately below a portion of writing. Single, and occasionally double , underlining was originally used in hand-written or typewritten documents to emphasise text...
- JustificationJustification (typesetting)In typesetting, justification is the typographic alignment setting of text or images within a column or "measure" to align along both the left and right margin...
(left, right, center, justify, force justify) - Space before and after paragraphs
- Tab stopTab stopA tab stop on a typewriter is a location where the carriage movement is halted by mechanical gears. Tab stops are set manually, and pressing the tab key causes the carriage to go to the next tab stop...
s and indentationIndentationAn indentation may refer to:* A notch, or deep recesses; for instance in a coastline, or a carving in rock* The placement of text farther to the right to separate it from surrounding text.... - Type size
- LeadingLeadingIn typography, leading refers to the distance between the baselines of successive lines of type. The term originated in the days of hand-typesetting, when thin strips of lead were inserted into the formes to increase the vertical distance between lines of type...
- KerningKerningIn typography, kerning is the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result. Kerning is the adjustment of the space between individual letter forms vs. tracking which is the uniform adjustment of spacing applied over a...
- TrackingTracking (typography)In typography, letter-spacing, also called tracking, refers to the amount of space between a group of letters to affect density in a line or block of text....
- ColorColorColor or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
- Borders or strokes
- Superscript or subscript
- Dropcaps
- Letter caseLetter caseIn orthography and typography, letter case is the distinction between the larger majuscule and smaller minuscule letters...
- Strike through
- Outline font style
In most programs with style sheets, there is a window or menu listing the style sheets the user has associated with the document. For example, a newspaper may have a style sheet for its story text called "Body copy" that sets the type at 10 point Nimrod with 11 point leading and justified alignment.
Most programs allow users to name their own styles. Usually easy-to-remember names are used that describe what the style is used for. Common names might include "headline," "subhead" and "byline."
To apply a style to a portion of text, most programs allow users to select the text with their
Some programs split style sheets into two classes: Paragraph and Character.
Paragraph style sheets are applied to an entire paragraph while Character styles are applied to only a select number of characters. Character styles are useful when a user needs to format only a small portion of a paragraph. For example, a newspaper may publish lists of current movies by starting with the name of a movie in a bold, sans serif typeface. Then, without starting a new paragraph, the review starts in the standard story text format. In this case, the designer could highlight the movie title and select the appropriate character style to apply the formatting only to the title. The rest of the paragraph can then be styled independently.
More advanced layout programs allow users to format more complex paragraphs with a single paragraph style. Using our movie review example above, say the newspaper always places a colon after the movie title and runs 10 short movie reviews as one large story. In this case, the style could be programmed to apply the bold, sans serif typeface at the start of a new paragraph until it encounters a colon. After the colon, the style switches to the standard story text style. Therefore, the designer could highlight the entire collection and apply only one style that will automatically format the entire story without having to go through and apply separate character styles to each of the 10 reviews.