There are a lot of elements that go into putting a newspaper together that people don’t think about when they’re reading it, nor should they. So, I’m going to give you a glimpse at how layout works.

For starters, it’s actually called pagination, and it’s like putting a giant puzzle together filled with graphic elements, text components and pictures. And of course, the advertising that goes on, but the editorial staff the Telegraph doesn’t layout the advertising. That’s done in by our creative services department. Basically, we build our editorial section around the ads.

Page 1 is our grandest page because it’s the first thing you see when you pick up the paper, and a lot of thought goes into how it will look. Will there be a banner story across all six columns the top, or will we take the center piece story and move it to the top? Do we flush the center piece to the left or the right, or do we split it down the center and run a story on each side of it? Or do we do that and run a banner story across the top? It depends, and when we do lay out the front page, we generally don’t like it to have the same layout as the previous week – whether it’s a complete change-up or just moving a picture box. It could be putting a subhead on a top story where the previous week didn’t have one, or just positioning the subheads differently in the layout.

One thing about headlines is that we also have to make sure that the text is larger for the stories up top, and none of the headlines for the stories below them have the type the same point size or larger.

What goes into the centerpiece is usually the best or most compelling art for the week, and usually drives the page. I’ll talk more about center piece art in my next blog entry.

Picture placement and the kind of picture we use to lay down in print is important too. We don’t want to lay out a picture with someone facing off the page – we want them looking into it. On rare occasion we can sometimes get away with it when it artistically works, but that way more the exception than the rule.

Generally, it’s our goal to have one graphic element for each story, and we strive to do that, but you won’t always see that in that we do have space limitations. Believe me, we hate putting together grey pages just as much as you don’t like looking at them. So we do go in with the intent of making each page look nice and while still being informative.

One of my headaches when putting a page together is dealing with what we call the legs of a column. Basically, you have a story that spans several columns, and sometimes the bottoms of the text in each column don’t line up going straight across because of a graphic element in a story, such as a picture or the story writer’s byline box. Sometimes the boxes needed to be adjusted, or sometimes the kerning and leading needs to be adjusted. Sometimes in one column, or sometimes in all the columns, and there are instances when it can be a real time consuming process.

It gets really frustrating on a page with community briefs when the legs don’t line up and they have to be adjusted because on those pages are all the briefs. Sometimes adjusting a leg will affect the next column, and then we’ll find a headline sitting at the bottom of a column, and the information starting at the top of the next. That’s a major no-no. So, yes, it can be quite time consuming.

Type and how it’s presented does mean something. When a story justified to the right and left, which means that the columns are in a straight line going down the right side, it means that it’s a news story. When a story has a ragged right edge, it means that it’s a feature story, a news feature or a column. And the headline font indicates that too. When a sans serif font is used in the headline for our style purposes, it means that the story is news. When a serif font is used, it means a column or feature story. A sans serif font is a font without out the curls in letters like “g” (not sure what font you have your browser set up to read your screen with) or other cutesy marks in the letters. An example of a san serif font would be Arial, while a serif font would be Times New Roman. Basically, your serif fonts are your pretty fonts.

Editorials, which run on the opinion page, use a ragged right font, but the point size is usually larger than other normal print sizes in the paper. And while both opinion pieces, there is difference between an editorial and column. A column is the opinion of the writer, while an editorial reflects the opinion of the newspaper.

Overall, pagination is an art, and like all art, it’s subjective. I’ve seen some pretty bad layouts, and some everyday layouts, and I’ve seen some experimental layouts. Hat’s off to those who are bold enough to experiment. Everyday layouts are safe, but it’s good to try to push the envelope every once in a while. I’ve been known to do that from time to time. For those with bad layouts, well, there’s always room to grow.

If you have any questions or comments about pagination, please drop me a line or comment on this blog.

Philip Wood is the photographer and paginator for the Telegraph. He may be reached at philipw@goldcountrymedia.com.