Tips for improving source file usability

Working with other people’s documents can sometimes be a nightmare, especially when layers aren’t named, grouped or indicative of what they are.

Here are a few tips to ensure that your source files are easy for you (and other people) to read;

  1. Use your margins and guides to ensure accuracy and clarity within your document. This also prevents the likeliness of error, especially when aiming to keep elements aligned in print work.
  2. Try not to introduce too many colours into an existing colour scheme. If a client specifies different colours, they don’t necessarily mean ‘more’, perhaps they might even mean ‘different colours’.
  3. Keep the logo pure. Designers spend countless hours labouring over a logo and its styleguide, and changing parts of the logo for no reason, or to suit your design is a huge no no.
  4. Pick a justification, and stick with it. From a usability standpoint, having to readjust our eyes to read text — and as a result documents become much harder to read, and the information just wont be absorbed.

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