🚀 go-pugleaf

John, 

      I'm not trying to copy cast the book.




But, in essence, you are. And you're working in the dark. Your client's work process might work for him, but it doesn't work well for you. Not today. Not with the advantages of today's electronic typesetting.

To improve the workflow and save time and energy, what I would do is follow a best-guess spec based upon my experience, using set-up styles, and seeing how the book falls -- instead of a full-blown, detailed spec. And then -- ask that the initial galleys be delivered to you first for overnight review and spec revision. Then corrections are run out and sent to the publisher and author for review. At least then you are working from practical knowledge and a good visualization of what the book looks like. To my way of seeing, it saves time and a lot of acid indigestion.

I'm sure you already know the relative specs of commonly requested fonts. You could do sample settings on your own for a quick reference as a cheat sheet for both copy length and readability at specific sizes and leadings.

One more point: your spec can't be perfect or anticipate all contingencies from cover to cover. Who does the resets or corrections at that time? Who fixes widows and orphans?

I've paid my dues -- I've spec'd annual reports for Linotype, Monotype, Intertype, Ludlow, wood and foundry composition and had to be on the money or slightly under (under could always be leaded out). Nothing like finding a complex multi-column 42 pica-wide financial statement is running four lines deeper than the page it's supposed to be fit -- after it's been set. Or that the anticipated 16 pages of notes with embedded charts turns out to be 16-1/2.

I didn't have the luxury of playing with the fonts, font sizes, or leading. Tracking and leading could only be used to open up a line. And if I drew the short straw and wound up with a bunch of widows, my total line count was off. You can't know for sure. If I were lucky, the author or client would do a quick edit to fit. Otherwise, the penalty for mistakes was lost time -- and perhaps a costly reset by the type shop.

Those are my thoughts on how I'd want to handle this if it were my responsibility.

Neil