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Most Common Typesetting Mistakes

Anyone typesetting should know basic grammar, punctuation, and the basic rules of typesetting to make any and every product look professional.

Here are seven of the most common errors to avoid in typesetting:

1. Dashes made with two hyphens (--) instead of an em dash—a dash the length of the letter “M.”

2. Don't put Two spaces after a mark of punctuation. (Two spaces should only belong with our black note boxes!) Remember that typesetting does not follow the rules of typing.

3. Underlining words instead of using italics. Underlining is the way people who type a manuscript indicate to the typesetter that certain words or phrases should be italicized. When typesetting, underlining should only be used as a design device and for our websites (not for e-mail addresses!

Don't forget that book titles should always be italicized when mentioned in the text.)

4. "Inch marks" (also called tick marks) used instead of book, or closed quotations. Book or closed quotations have a little “curl” to them.

5. The last word on a page should be hyphenated. Use even breaks between frames.

6. Don't leave a single word or a one-line end of a sentence dangling by itself at the top or bottom of a page, which is called an orphan and widow.

7. Another error to avoid, which is actually a punctuation problem, is a comma or period placed “after”, instead of “before,” closing quotation marks.