Alignment and Proximity

Nothing should be placed randomly. Every element should line up with something — the edge of a margin, another block of text, or the centre. In Photoshop, guides, smart guides and the Align buttons help you do this exactly.

• Left alignment is easiest to read for several lines of text.
• Centre alignment suits short, formal headings — but long centred paragraphs are hard to read.
• Pick one main alignment and stick to it.

Designers often divide the page with a grid of columns and keep a margin round the edge. For an A3 poster, a margin of about 10–15 mm keeps text safely away from the edge, where printers may trim.