14: Visuals in Business Documents

Formatting Requirements

In its simplest form, a table is a group of rows and columns (horizontal and vertical groups of cells, respectively.) At the top of each column is a column heading, which defines or identifies the contents of that column (and indicates the unit of measurement when applicable). On the left edge of the table may be row headings, which define or identify the contents of that row. Things get tricky when rows or columns must be grouped or subdivided. In such cases, you have to create row or column subheadings.

Traditionally, the title of a table is placed on top of the table or is the first row of the table. If the contents of the table are obvious and there is no need to cross-reference the table from anywhere else in the report, you can omit the title.

When formatting tables for a business document, keep the following guidelines in mind:

• Explain the general significance of the data in the table; don't expect readers to figure it out entirely for themselves.
• Don't overwhelm readers with an enormous 11-column, 30-row tables. Simplify the table data down to just that amount of data that illustrates your point while making sure that this does not distort or misrepresent the data.
• Don't put the word or abbreviation for the unit of measurement in every cell of a column. For example, in a column of measurements all in millimeters, don't put "mm" after every number. Put the abbreviation in parentheses in the column or row heading.
• Right- or decimal-align numbers in the columns. If the numbers 156 and 4 were in the same column, the 4 should appear right below the 6, not the 1.
• Normally, words in columns are left-justified (although you will occasionally see columns of words all centered).
• When there is some special point you need to make about one or more of the items in the table, use a footnote instead of clogging up the table with the information.

Producing Tables

When conducting research, you may find data in a table that you wish to incorporate into your own work. If it's a simple table without too many rows and columns, you can retype it yourself into your own document (but remember to document where the data came from in the figure title). However, if it is a large table with lots of data, you can scan, screen-capture, or photocopy it and bringing it into your report that way.

Occasionally, in report drafts, information is presented in regular running-text form that could be better presented in table (or tabular) form. Be sure and look back over your rough drafts for material that can transformed into tables.

Formatting Requirements

When you create charts and graphs, keep these formatting tools in mind:

• Axis labels. In bar charts and line graphs, don't forget to indicate what the x and y axes represent. One axis might indicate monetary increments while the other shows time in five or ten-year segments over a specified targeted period of interest. Make sure to include what is being measured and units of measurement.
• Keys (legends). Bar charts, line graphs, and pie charts often use special color, shading, or line styles (solid or dashed) to distinguish between two or more sets of data. Be sure to indicate what these mean by translating them onto a key in some unused place in the chart or graph.
• Figure titles. For most charts and graphs, you'll want to include a title. In many cases, this will be a numbered figure, as seen throughout this chapter. Readers need some way of knowing what they are looking at.
• Cross-references. Whenever you use a chart or graph, don't forget to put a cross-reference to it from the related text. With that cross-reference, provide some explanation of what is going on in the graphic, how to interpret it, what its basic trends are, and so on.
• Documentation. When you borrow information to create a graphic, be sure to use the standard format to indicate the source. It does not matter how you import the graphic into your report—it is all borrowed information, which some brave and noble soul worked hard to develop and who deserves credit for that effort.

Producing Charts and Graphs

As with tables, you can screen-capture, scan, or photocopy charts and graphs that you find to use in your work. You can also generate your own graphics with many types of software. If you use programs like OpenOffice, Word, or WordPerfect, familiarize yourself with their table-generating tools since they will be able to draw the lines and create other formatting details automatically. Free charting and graphing tools are also available online if you want even more design control. Some helpful resources for creating your own charts and graphs include the following:

• Online Chart Tool
• Chart Chooser
• Creating Charts in Word

Formatting Requirements

When you use an illustration in a report, there are several design considerations to keep in mind:

• Labels. Just about every illustration should contain labels—words and phrases with pointers to the parts of the objects being depicted.
• Keys. If the illustration has certain shadings, colors, line styles, or other such details that have a special meaning in the illustration, these should be indicated in a key—an area in an unused corner of the illustration that deciphers their meaning.
• Titles. Illustrations should have specific titles that briefly describe the image, and these titles should be numbered (Figure 1, Figure 2, and so on). If there is only one graphic element in the document, the title may be omitted.
• Cross-references. Illustrations should be referred to at the relevant point in the discussion. Identify the figure by its number, and discuss the illustration a bit—focus readers' attention on the key details of the illustration.
• Location within the report. Ideally, illustrations should be placed just after the point where they are needed. However, sometimes because of the pagination (the way the text falls on the pages) and the size of the illustrations, this close placement is not possible. When this happens, just put the illustration at the top of the next page.
• Size of illustrations. Illustrations should be between one-half to one-quarter of the vertical size of the page, and should fit on the page with other text. In fact, that's what you really want—to intersperse text and graphics in a report. Avoid appending the illustration to the back of the report; if your reader has to go searching for it, the image will not be as useful.
• Placement within margins. Make sure that your illustrations fit neatly and comfortably within standard margins. You don't want the illustration spilling over into the right or left margins. Allow the equivalent of at least one blank line above and below each illustration.
• Level of technical detail. Illustrations should be at the appropriate technical level for your readers. Remember to be mindful of your audience when creating and selecting images.

Producing Illustrations and Photographs

Technology has made capturing and manipulating images easier than ever, and most computers and smartphones come equipped with basic photo editing tools. Digital clip art and stock photography are also readily available on from a number of websites. Even if you are not taking and editing your own pictures or using existing digital images, there are still several options available: scanning, using computer graphics software, and hand-drawing. No matter which method you choose, don't forget that you must indicate the source of any borrowed graphics.

• Scanning is the best way to pull graphics from printed materials into your document files. Universities and colleges usually make scanners available to students and faculty. Print shops will allow you to scan for a fee. Save your graphics as graphic-format files (such as .jpg or .png) then copy them into your document files.
  Note: When you scan a graphic, trim off the title, caption, and any other written content from the original if possible. This will prevent any issues with legibility in the text. Retype the information directly into your document or replace it with words of your own.
• Using computer graphics software has become more user-friendly in recent years. With a little practice, you can create graphics like the ones shown in the figure below in OpenOffice Writer or Microsoft Word (and of course GIMP and Illustrator). With a computer-graphics drawing like the keylock mechanism in Figure 9, you are at the very edge of what OpenOffice Writer or Microsoft Word can do.

• Drawing images by hand is also an option. You can trace shapes to get rough images to start, then sketch over this lightly with a soft-leaded pencil. Keep working until you have the drawing the way you like, then use a black marker to ink in the lines that you want, erasing any stray pencil markings. Once the drawing is complete, just scan the image following the method described above.