Parts of a document, one layout problem at a time

The list of things being charged for, which has as many rows as the order had lines and therefore no idea in advance how many pages it will take.

Subtotal, tax and grand total, sitting immediately below the thing most likely to overflow and therefore constantly at risk of being cut in half by a page break.

A small table showing taxable amount and tax for each distinct rate in the document, which exists because a single tax line stops being enough as soon as an invoice mixes rates.

A total repeated in a second currency, usually because the document is issued in one currency and has to be settled or reported in another.

Rows that reduce or increase the amount without being goods or services, which have to be legible as adjustments rather than as more items.

The running figure printed at the foot of each page and repeated at the top of the next, so a multi-page table can be checked page by page instead of only at the end.

A column on a transaction table showing the balance after each movement, which turns a list of events into something a reader can audit line by line.

The three narrow columns between the description and the amount, which are the first things to break when a description gets long or a unit of measure gets spelled out.

An image with a numbered caption beneath it, which has to stay with its caption and has to be referable from the text that mentions it.

A plotted chart placed in the document flow, which has to survive being printed at a size it was not drawn for and in colours that may not be there.

Notes anchored to a marker in the text and printed at the foot of the page, which is a typesetting feature that renderers have implemented unevenly for years.

The total written out as text as well as digits, which appears on cheques, receipts and contracts because a word cannot be altered with a pen the way a digit can.

Identifiers attached to a delivered item, printed under the line they belong to, where one line can carry one identifier or four hundred.

Length, width, height, gross and net weight and volume, printed for a package or a consignment, usually in two systems of units at once.

Previous reading, current reading, the difference and the charge, printed for one or several meters on a utility-style bill.

A likelihood by consequence grid with cells scored and coloured, used in method statements, assessments and permits.

Rows of start time, end time and elapsed duration, with a total, used on timesheets, service reports and anything billed by the hour.

A column of rates, shares or variances, sitting next to columns of money and needing to be distinguishable from them at a glance.

The same set of figures for two periods, printed adjacent so the difference between them can be read without arithmetic.

A price list keyed by activity and unit of measure, referred to from elsewhere in the document rather than totalled at the bottom.

Three to five headline numbers across the top of a report, each with a label, giving the summary before the detail.

Prices that change with quantity, printed as bands, where the boundary between one band and the next is the thing that gets read wrong.

Opening figure, the movements against it, and the closing figure, laid out so the arithmetic can be followed line by line to its end.

Values given in two systems of units side by side, on a datasheet or a specification that will be read in more than one country.

Name, street, locality, postcode and country, set as a block, where any of the middle lines may be absent for a given record and none of the gaps should show.

Two address blocks presented as a pair, where one is who pays and the other is where it goes, and the pair has to stay legible when the two are the same and when they are wildly different lengths.

An addressee block placed at an exact position on the page so it lines up with the cut-out in a standard window envelope when the sheet is folded.

Phone, email, reference number and website, usually set small under a name or in a footer, and usually the block that overflows first.

Dispatch date, expected arrival, carrier, consignment reference and delivery terms, gathered into one block near the top of a despatch document.

Purchase order number, contract reference, project code, job number and whatever else both parties use to match this document to their own records.

A document between more than two parties, where each needs identifying and the relationship between them has to be clear.

Names, roles and organisations of the people present at a meeting, inspection or signing, sometimes with a signature space each.

Where work is to happen, which is often not a postal address and usually needs a reference, a grid position and a note about getting in.

A machine-readable payment code beside the amount and reference, so a payer can scan instead of typing an account number.

Account number, sort code or routing number, IBAN and BIC, set so that a person copying them into a banking screen gets them right the first time.

The line that says when the money is due and what happens if it is not, which is short, easy to write and easy to place somewhere nobody reads.

A detachable panel at the bottom of the page carrying the reference, the amount and the payee, meant to be torn off and returned with a payment.

A table of dated payments making up a total, used on staged contracts, payment plans and deposit-plus-balance arrangements.

A block that subtracts what has already been received from the invoice total and states the remaining amount, which is the only figure the payer should act on.

A form section collecting account details, a signature and a date, to be filled in on paper and returned.

A list of payments received, each matched to the invoices it settled, printed so a customer can reconcile their own records against yours.

A band across the top of a reminder saying how overdue the amount is, sitting above an otherwise ordinary invoice layout.

The amount being credited or refunded, on a credit note, laid out so nobody reads it as another bill.

Rule, printed name, title and date, laid out to be signed by hand, and required to stay attached to the text it is signing.

The block of standard terms, usually on the reverse or at the end, which has to fit in a fixed space without becoming unreadable.

Hierarchical clause numbering, where 4.2.1 has to stay correct through every edit and has to be findable from a cross-reference elsewhere in the document.

Small boxes for a signatory to initial each page or enter a date by hand, used where every page has to be shown to have been seen.

Registered company name, number, registered office and any regulatory statement, set small at the foot of every page because it has to be on every page.

Three or four named roles with a signature space, a date and sometimes a stamp, showing who produced a document and who released it.

The document's revision letter or number, its date, and often a short change note, printed so that anyone holding a copy can tell whether it is current.

The short clause naming the law that applies and the courts that will hear a dispute, usually near the end of an agreement.

A classification such as confidential or commercial in confidence, printed on every page so a single sheet carries its own handling instruction.

A statement the reader agrees to, with a box or a signature recording that they did, on a form completed by hand or pre-filled.

What a quote, warranty or scope does not cover, printed alongside what it does, so the boundary is stated rather than implied.

What is warranted, for how long, from when, and what voids it, printed as one block on a warranty card or the back of a certificate.

Insurer, policy number, cover type, indemnity limit and expiry date, printed where a client or a principal contractor needs to verify cover.

The first page of a long document, which usually wants different margins, no running header and no page number, and therefore needs its own page rule.

A list of headings with the page each one starts on, which cannot be written by hand because the page numbers do not exist until the document has been laid out.

The folio, printed in a page margin box, usually as a number and a total, and usually required to be absent from the first page.

A line at the top of each page carrying the document title and, ideally, the section the reader is currently inside.

Supporting material at the end of a document, numbered separately from the body so it can be added to without renumbering anything.

The word continued, printed at the foot of a split block or in the repeated header of a table, so a reader knows the page is not the whole thing.

A page carrying only a part number and title, used to separate the major sections of a long document.

A list of documents that accompany this one, with enough identification that a reader can tell whether they have received everything.

Defined terms with their definitions, set so a reader can find a term by scanning down the left edge.

Short forms with their expansions, usually at the front of a technical document, set compactly because there are often a lot of them.

Owner, status, issue date, review date and reference, gathered into one block near the front of a controlled document.

Names, roles and copy numbers of everyone the document was issued to, printed so a recipient can see who else has it.

A final page carrying contact details, a document reference and nothing else, so a reader can tell the document has ended.

A short block near the front saying what the document contains, which parts matter to which reader, and what to do next.

An alphabetical list of subjects with the pages they appear on, at the end of a long reference document.

Two or three lines at the start of a long section saying what it concludes, so a reader can decide whether to read the rest.

A large word set diagonally behind the content on every page, used to mark a document as a draft, a copy or a specimen.

The organisation's name, mark and address at the head of a document, usually on the first page only, with the body starting below it.

A decorative rule or ornamental frame drawn around the whole page, used on certificates, awards and formal documents.

A reserved clear area where a rubber stamp, an embossed seal or a wet signature will be applied after printing.

Extra artwork beyond the finished page edge and the short rules that show a trimmer where to cut, needed for anything printed oversize and cut down.

A grid of photographs with numbered captions, used in surveys, inspections and incident reports where the images are the evidence.

A list of items each with a box to be ticked, used on inspection sheets, handover forms and anything filled in on paper.

An open area carrying whatever somebody typed into a notes field, which may be empty, may be one line, and may be four pages.

A boxed note set apart from the body text, carrying a warning, a definition or an aside.

A short note set in the outer margin beside the text it refers to, used for cross-references, dates and editorial comments.

A short extract set large and apart from the body, used to break up a long document and signal what matters in it.

Faint marks at the page edge showing where a sheet will be folded or punched, so nothing important lands under a crease or a hole.

A single page turned on its side to hold a wide table or drawing, inside a document that is otherwise portrait.

Running text set in two columns for the length of a document or a section, rather than for a short list.

An image occupying an entire page with no margin, used as a divider, a cover or a plate in a document that will be trimmed.

An open area of ruled lines for somebody to write on, on a form completed by hand.

A legend mapping colours to meanings, beside a chart, a plan or a coded table.

An ordered procedure with prominent numbers, followed by somebody holding the document while doing something else.