Chapter 2 • Text and Photos

Types of Web Sites

In the previous chapter we saw that publishers of photography need to consider the relative importance of text and photos.

Fixed-width sites. For a photo site where text is equally important as the photos and is designed to read like a book or magazine, a fixed-width web page that’s 1024px wide provides the same field of view as a sheet of letter-size paper viewed at standard viewing distance of 13–16 inches (33–38 cm).

A fixed-width web page can be created using a division, or <div>, tag with width set to 1024px or thereabouts. The division can be centered in the body of the page. Responsive design can be added using the @media rule so that the appearance can be tailored to cellphone screens.

Variable-width sites. A variable width site can be created by setting image width in percentage of the screen width. E.g., an image set to “width: 100%;” will fill the available width of the browser window. Images that resize with the browser window will give maximum impact to the photos.

Types of eBooks

ePub Reflowable. In this eBook we consider the opensource ePub format, which can be created in “reflowable” (RFL) and “fixed-layout” (FXL). The ePub-RFL format enables the text to adapt to various screen sizes and orientations of tablets and eReaders, along with desktop and laptop computers and cellphones. ePub-RFL is best for text-heavy documents, such as novels, non-fiction psychology books, business books, self-help books and the like. Many such books consist only of text, but photos and design effects can make these eBooks more interactive.

Photos in ePub-RFL are limited to the page width and may not have as much impact or controlled positioning and spacing as in the alternative format, the fixed-layout ePub (ePub-FXL). Nevertheless, photos shown in an ePub can be linked to the original file. When the reader clicks the photo, it will expand to the full screen width for easier viewing.

ePub Fixed-Layout. The fixed-layout (FXL) ePub format is somewhat antithetical to the legibility and accessibility of reflowable ePub. This format is well suited to eBooks where the photos and layout are of greater importance than the text. Examples include travel books, recipe books, and instruction manuals. Look at this beautiful photo of Jamaica, where we want to convince everyone to go! Recipe books may feature a gorgeous photo of that decorative margarita or vegetable stew, along with a list of ingredients and mixing procedure. The author wants the photos and text to be arranged consistently throughout the book, e.g., photo on the left and recipe on the right.

A key consideration with ePub-FXL is the legibility and therefore the accessibility of the text for readers with reading disabilities. Care should be taken to set type in a legible font, with sufficient size and background contrast.