Intro to Creating Professional Looking Documents

Most of the work you will be undertaking in Cmputing/ICT will be for a company, and it is very unlikely that a company would release documents into the world when they have typos, spelling mistakes, or they just look rubbish.

Making a document look professional isn't as difficult as it sounds, so long as you follow some simple rules. These rules can be applied to a number of different documents, you just need to decide if that rule applies to the document or not.

Text:

• One font, in one size, in one colour for all titles/main headings - this font can be a bit funkier, but it needs to stand out and catch peoples attention
• One font, in one size, in one colour for all sub headings (Ideally this should either be the same as the heading font or the main text font - but it should be a different size)
• One font, in one size, in one colour for all the main writing - this font needs to be clear and easy to read.

Colours:

• Two or three colours maximum (Pictures don't count towards this)
• Dark background - bright or light text
• Light background - dark text
• Bright background - just no in most sitations
• Main text colour needs to be easy to read, so stick to strong colours rather than shades.

Images:

• Make sure that the images you use are free from copyright where possible
• Edit out the white background, or put a border around the image.

Alignment:

• Align objects neatly
• This website explains it quite well with images. Make sure that you check it out because alignment is the most important thing in making a document look professional (or not).

Other rules:

• Make sure that what you are making is clear and stands out
• Try to make it have something unique about it that makes people stop and look
• If you are using a text box on a colour or image as a background, make sure that the background of the text box is partly opaque, or that it has a border around it.

If you are making a number of documents for a company, make sure that you come up with a house style and stick to it. Try to make sure that your house style is not too similar to that of another company.

This website has some really great tips on it. It is well worth having a look at it.