The Preparation of Illustrations for Reports of the United States Geological Survey: With Brief Descriptions of Processes of ReproductionRidgway, John L.
Science
The Preparation of Illustrations for Reports of the United States Geological Survey: With Brief Descriptions of Processes of Reproduction
Ridgway, John L.
Illustration of books
Sections designed to show the relative thickness of beds of coal,
arranged in groups for publication either as plates or figures, should
be drawn in columns three or four tenths of an inch wide and reduced
one-half, as shown in figure 4. These sections, whether correlated or
not, should be drawn to some definite vertical scale and should show
the thickness of the coal beds, preferably by numbers indicating feet
and inches, the other material being symbolized and the symbols
explained graphically, as shown in figure 4. The vertical scale should
always be stated for the use of the draftsman. A bar scale may be
used instead of figures showing the dimensions of the individual beds.
LITHOLOGIC SYMBOLS.
The symbols used to indicate the various kinds of rocks illustrated in
sections and diagrams are shown in Plate III. The units or elements of
these symbols may be spaced more openly in generalized diagrammatic
sections than in sections that show great detail.
Symbols should be used consistently throughout a report, and in order
to make them consistent a set showing the symbol to be used for each
kind of rock to be indicated should be prepared before the original
drawings are made. Some inconsistencies may be unavoidable on account
of the small size of some areas shown and the contrast needed between
others; but the deviations from the set of symbols adopted should be
minimized.
USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS AS ILLUSTRATIONS.
ESSENTIAL FEATURES.
The foundation of a good photographic print is a good negative, and
the best prints for reproduction as illustrations are those made from
negatives in which the illumination is evenly distributed and the
details are sharp--such negatives as are obtainable only by the use of
small stops and correct focusing. A good print should not present too
sharp contrasts between its dark and its light parts; if it does, the
printed reproduction will show a loss of detail in both. Sufficiency
of detail depends largely on focus, stopping down, and timing;
brilliancy is the direct result of ample illumination by sun or
artificial light, without which a photograph will be dull or "flat"
and generally unsatisfactory for reproduction. Bad weather may prevent
good field exposures, yet even in bad weather acceptable negatives may
be obtained by judicious focusing, stopping down, and timing. If a
negative is overexposed it may be full of detail, but flat and too
thin to print well. If underexposed it will show no details in its
lighter parts and the shadows will be black; and a black shadow is
nothing less than a blemish. Some detail should appear in all shadows
and in the middle tones, and some should appear in the high lights;
and a print in which these are evenly developed and in which the
illumination is distributed uniformly is technically perfect.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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