How You Like Your Journal Lined

[notgiven]

Hi everyone.

 

Can you tell me how you like your journal/notebook lined? The more detail, the better! Thanks in advance.

 

Border?

Margin?

Page number?

Place for title/date?

Solid lined/dotted lined?

Spacing between horizontal lines?

Any details will be appreciated!

 

I'm on a quest to make very good journals/notebooks to share with friends and family. I am using the best materials accessible to me, and make the whole thing from scratch. I already found some great quality fountain pen friendly papers for $28 a ream. Bought many new book binding materials. I have some experience binding books, so hopefully everything will be fine.

 

The papers have been cut and ready to be printed on. Thanks for any suggestion.

[Pensfan]

For me... faded dots similar to the #16 Rhodia Dot Pads.

 

Currently I am using the Rhodia lined but would LOVE a journal with the dots.

 

[beak]

I'm always on the lookout for lines that are not at all obtrusive - very lightly-printed - can't stand lines that compete with the script. Don't like lines that are too close either; generous spacing for me. Oh, and some sort of header to indicate the subject of the page, but again, unobtrusive. Never needed a margin. Good luck.

[welch]

I like 4-to-the-inch grid...something like the old Levenger Notabilia grid. I use the vertical lines as a guide to indentation; 5-to-the-inch grid makes the horizontals too narrow.

[Aunt Jill]

I make 4.5"x5.5" notebooks from folded half sheets of letter-size paper printed with very pale grids or dots. The cover is a folded half sheet of cardstock. I print on the 22-lb 92 brightness AA paper from Office Depot that we were discussing here a month or so ago.

 

I found the patterns online—you can download lines, columns, dots, grids, etc., from any of several websites that have been posted here. You can change the color of the dots and grids and make them as dark or light as you want, using whatever photoshop-type program you have.

 

If you're making journals for specific people you might give them different papers with lines, dots, squares and whatnot and see what they like best.

 

—Jill

[mrloco]

I use this one (attached) I put together in openoffice / libreoffice Calc - just set the cells real small and put a "." in each square...then tweaked the font and grayness to light enough dots. I print and cut for my pocket journal and print full size for scratch paper and notes--the scratches go on the back of whatever printed stuff I'm recycling.

Dot-Template1.pdf

[wallylynn]

I asked basically the same question a few months ago:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/172098-line-spacing/

 

My day-to-day notes are on 1/5 inch weighted grid. But I find I'm enjoying the 1/4 inch row height in my journal as I practice my cursive. I'm also getting used to using the modified french rule.

[notgiven]

For me... faded dots similar to the #16 Rhodia Dot Pads.

 

Currently I am using the Rhodia lined but would LOVE a journal with the dots.

 

 

 

I like 4-to-the-inch grid...something like the old Levenger Notabilia grid. I use the vertical lines as a guide to indentation; 5-to-the-inch grid makes the horizontals too narrow.

 

Thanks for all the details.

I always see that dot pad and grid are closely related, but are the spacing similar?

[notgiven]

I'm always on the lookout for lines that are not at all obtrusive - very lightly-printed - can't stand lines that compete with the script. Don't like lines that are too close either; generous spacing for me. Oh, and some sort of header to indicate the subject of the page, but again, unobtrusive. Never needed a margin. Good luck.

 

Thanks. That is what I lookout for too. I'm thinking of a thicker line with very light colored. I notice some people like to write double space on a narrow ruled paper, but I generally like more space between lines.

 

I make 4.5"x5.5" notebooks from folded half sheets of letter-size paper printed with very pale grids or dots. The cover is a folded half sheet of cardstock. I print on the 22-lb 92 brightness AA paper from Office Depot that we were discussing here a month or so ago.

 

I found the patterns online—you can download lines, columns, dots, grids, etc., from any of several websites that have been posted here. You can change the color of the dots and grids and make them as dark or light as you want, using whatever photoshop-type program you have.

 

If you're making journals for specific people you might give them different papers with lines, dots, squares and whatnot and see what they like best.

 

—Jill

 

I cut my papers into 8.5"x5.5", and 5.5"x4.25". I think these are good size for pocket book and journal at home. Bought some sunflower colored card stock . The paper I am using is 32lb, 120g/m^2 98 brightness, that I am liking right now. I will definitely look into the Office Depot 22lb paper.

 

I will make customized journal for family and friends, but some of them don't mind how the journal lined or looked.

[dannoffs]

I absolutely love a 5mm dot pattern like on Rhodia products, so much so that I print out paper with this pattern and bound it into my journal!

[AlecG]

for me it's a white, unmarked page.

It's the most flexible system. I can write the long side/landscape and hold it against me when standing outside, I can write it in portrait when sitting at a desk, you can sketch in it ( I won't do that very much) and you can glue all kind of things inside (which I do occasionally).

If you want you can put a sheet behind the page you are writing, with printed lines on them, so you can easily write straight, but I don't care for that very much.

[kazoolaw]

un

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

unlined that is

 

gary

[Chris Chalmers]

for me it's a white, unmarked page.

It's the most flexible system. I can write the long side/landscape and hold it against me when standing outside, I can write it in portrait when sitting at a desk, you can sketch in it ( I won't do that very much) and you can glue all kind of things inside (which I do occasionally).

If you want you can put a sheet behind the page you are writing, with printed lines on them, so you can easily write straight, but I don't care for that very much.

 

+1

 

I'm using the medium Ciak sketch book - just perfect!

[notgiven]

I use this one (attached) I put together in openoffice / libreoffice Calc - just set the cells real small and put a "." in each square...then tweaked the font and grayness to light enough dots. I print and cut for my pocket journal and print full size for scratch paper and notes--the scratches go on the back of whatever printed stuff I'm recycling.

 

Thanks for the template .

 

I asked basically the same question a few months ago:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/172098-line-spacing/

 

My day-to-day notes are on 1/5 inch weighted grid. But I find I'm enjoying the 1/4 inch row height in my journal as I practice my cursive. I'm also getting used to using the modified french rule.

 

Thanks for the link. Besides the regular lined paper, I am also curious about dot pad, grit, and others. What do you mean by modified french rule?

[Joe in Seattle]

I like Moleskines narrow ruling the best.

[AlecG]

Allan's journal has à 4mm ruled notebook on union paper. That's As narrow as usuable afaik.

How small is the moleskins?

[wallylynn]

Thanks for the link. Besides the regular lined paper, I am also curious about dot pad, grit, and others. What do you mean by modified french rule?

I'm using a minor modification. Normal French Rule is 3 lines and a 4th (and 0th) heavier line. I made mine with a (solid,) dotted, dashed, dotted, solid. The idea was to divide the box in half and fourths, whereas normally it's just fourths. They're also much less visible than standard French Rule. I also angled the vertical lines at the top. The idea was to use it as a guide for practicing business writing. That hasn't happened yet.

 

Under the french rule, I have a 1/4 inch dot grid which is hard to see. I was supposed to use it for drawing. That hasn't happened yet either. I just journal on all of it now. Not sure if I have a preference for any of the styles in particular yet.

 

At work, I use a weighted grid: normal horizontal, light vertical lines. I can take notes and also record data neatly. I find it gives myself an air of professionalism since grids are so orderly.

[Aunt Jill]

I use this one (attached) I put together in openoffice / libreoffice Calc - just set the cells real small and put a "." in each square...then tweaked the font and grayness to light enough dots. I print and cut for my pocket journal and print full size for scratch paper and notes--the scratches go on the back of whatever printed stuff I'm recycling.

 

The file is a PDF, which I can't tweak. How did you access it—with the full Adobe? or does openoffice make it possible to work with PDF documents?

[notgiven]

I use this one (attached) I put together in openoffice / libreoffice Calc - just set the cells real small and put a "." in each square...then tweaked the font and grayness to light enough dots. I print and cut for my pocket journal and print full size for scratch paper and notes--the scratches go on the back of whatever printed stuff I'm recycling.

 

The file is a PDF, which I can't tweak. How did you access it—with the full Adobe? or does openoffice make it possible to work with PDF documents?

 

I am not sure if PDF can be tweak, but if you follow timestamp's method, you can create one to your liking from scratch. Set up a table with small square cells, and put a "." in each cell. Make the border of the table clear.

[Aunt Jill]

I use this one (attached) I put together in openoffice / libreoffice Calc - just set the cells real small and put a "." in each square...then tweaked the font and grayness to light enough dots. I print and cut for my pocket journal and print full size for scratch paper and notes--the scratches go on the back of whatever printed stuff I'm recycling.

 

[Question showing I totally misunderstood what mrioco was saying]

 

I am not sure if PDF can be tweaked, but if you follow mrioco's method, you can create one to your liking from scratch. Set up a table with small square cells, and put a "." in each cell. Make the border of the table clear.

 

Oh my gosh! I just went to Excel and tinkered around and now there's a nice dotty page coming out of my printer—in teal, of course. Hardly took any time at all. Thanks, folks!

 

—Jill