Designing documents for print

Make your print documents accessible and easy to read.

Page size

A4 is the most commonly used page size for print documents, as it is physically easier to handle than A3 for people who need to hold the print close to their eyes.
For large graphics or more complex content, such as a wide table, a larger page size like A3 may be appropriate.

Keep to one column.
If using 2 or more columns, ensure that the space between them (the gutter) is sufficiently wide to clearly separate them visually.
Left and right margins should be at least 1.5cm, but larger is recommended, especially if the document is to be bound and opened completely flat by the reader.
Do not put important content inside the margin.

Use:

a standard, sans serif font with easily recognisable upper- and lower-case characters, such as Arial
a typeface that makes numerals easily distinguishable from letters, such as 0 (numeral) and O (letter), and 1 (numeral) and l (letter).

Avoid using:

complicated or decorative fonts, fonts that simulate handwriting, and serif fonts
typefaces with light weight options because there is less contrast between the paper and text
italics in long passages of text, as this can make text difficult to read for some people
all capital (upper case) letters in blocks of text, as the human eye finds it more difficult to recognise the shape of words in all capitals
underlining.

Left-align text and avoid justified text.
Words should be evenly spaced.
To accentuate pieces of text, use white spaces or boxes.
Make sure that there’s a strong contrast between the text and the background colours.
Line length should be about 60 characters.
Line spacing (leading) should be at least 1.2x the font size for a standard document. For font sizes greater than 14 point, use line spacing that’s 1.5x the font size.
Leave a space between paragraphs for ease of reading and keep this spacing consistent throughout the document. Paragraph spacing of 1.5x the line spacing is recommended.

Ensure that:

Avoid:

fitting text around images if this means lines of text start in different places and are difficult to find
using text over images or patterned backgrounds
using watermarks in the background of content, such as ‘draft’ and ‘confidential’ — instead, signal these clearly on the front page and include them in the running header or footer
complex diagrams
conveying information through graphics or colour alone — make sure there is a text equivalent
using colour shading and screens that reduce the contrast between text and background
using the following colour combinations as these combinations are particularly difficult for people with colour blindness:
- yellow with blue
- green with red
- green with yellow.

Do not allow an individual row to start on one page and finish on the next — keep the entire row on its own page.
If a table extends across more than one page, repeat the header row across those pages.
Provide extra space around text within table cells.
Left align text within each cell.
Right align numbers within each cell.

Provide plenty of space for responses or for signatures, as some people with low vision may have larger than average handwriting.
Place any tick boxes before their labels.

For long documents, add a table of contents.
In a table of contents, place page numbers close to their associated section title, or make sure that they’re easy to associate visually by using leader dots between the section title and its page number.
Put page numbers in the same place on each page.
Use heading styles to define heading levels so that the size of a heading consistently reflects its position in the hierarchy of content in the document.

Use matte, silk or uncoated paper rather than glossy paper.
Use paper of enough weight (thickness) so the print does not show through on the other side.
Choose a paper colour that will give an adequate contrast between the text and background.

Print documents should be bound so that they can be opened out flat.