1. Outside production service. Turn over the ad to an outside service and let them do everything else. This is the easiest way to go, and not too expensive.

2. Desktop publishing. If you are very skillful at using your computer to set type, try to typeset the ad yourself. But unless the end result looks as good as professional typesetting, turn it over to the pros.

3. Typesetting by your medium. If your advertisement will run in a single magazine or newspaper, find out if the publication offers a typesetting service and at what cost. Often, this is free or low-cost, and many publications take pride in doing a fine job as part of their overall service. Some of these publications will even permit you to run ads they set in other media, so check on that, too.

4. Professional typesetting. Professional typesetting, which was a thriving industry when our article was first published, has largely disappeared as a standalone enterprise. Designers and design studios have taken this business in-house and the remaining “typesetters” now tend to offer design services also. Typesetting does exist at many quick printing and copy locations, but the majority lack the knowledge of typography that made old-fashioned typesetters such a valuable helper to the do-it-yourselfer. Whether your type is set in-house or outside, here are a few things you should do and know in dealing with typesetters:

Things You Should Do

• Explain that you are using your sample ad as a model only; it must not be copied so exactly that you might get sued.

• Get a cost quotation. Find out if the cost includes any changes and, if not, how changes are charged.

Things You Should Know

• Typos. Mistakes by the typesetter, called typos, are corrected without any charge to you.

• Alterations. Alterations are the changes you make after the manuscript and layout are delivered and the type is set. They are at your expense. There will be a minimum charge for any alteration—even a single comma.

• Manuscript. The best way to avoid charges for alterations is to make sure that your manuscript is clean, that is, exactly as you want it. But be prepared to make a few changes even so. Typesetting seldom comes out exactly as we’d like. So make whatever changes you must, but try very hard to make them all at once. That minimum charge comes back each time you request another set of alterations! Before deciding which typesetting option to choose, you may wish to know more about type itself. What’s involved in deciding on a particular typeface and why you might pick one over another are covered in the next section.

Type: Faces, Weight, and Sizes There are thousands of different styles (faces) of type from which to choose, but there is no need to work with more than a very few. To see some obvious differences among them. You may not find the exact same faces on your computer, but they will be close. Major Type Families Every typeface belongs to one of three families:

• Cursive type imitates script or handwriting. It has little use in the body of an ad but is sometimes used for headline or logo.

• Serifs are the small curlicues or fine lines at the tops and bottoms of letters. This article is set in a serif face.

• Sans serif means “without serif” and is any type in that family. The “Major type Families” above is a sans serif face.

The Serif Advantage. Most adults find serif type easier to read than sans serif, with a group of serif designs known as “reader faces” easiest of all. Of the tens of thousands of articles, magazines, and newspapers published in the United States, practically every one uses such a reader-friendly type. The Sans Serif Advantage. Sans serif, too, has its advantages, chief among them the following:

• Compressibility. Sans serif condenses, or compresses, type better than serif does. That is, you can get more letters per inch without distorting the type. • Contrast. Often, it pays to be different. If everyone else is using a serif face, at least consider the alternative. Or you may want to draw particular attention to one portion of your ad, such as a special offer.

• Everyone else is doing it. If everyone else advertising to your audience is using sans serif faces, try to find out why. Ask the representatives of the media where the ads run and the advertisers themselves. Better yet, run the same ad both ways and track the results. Unlike designers or authors of articles, your interest isn’t in typography; it’s in sales. Do whatever works!

• Reverse type. White or light-colored type on a dark background is easier to read in sans serif than serif (although it is generally harder to read.