skills/minimax-docx/references/typography_guide.md

Professional Document Design & Typography Guide

Table of Contents

1. Font Pairing
2. Font Sizes by Document Type
3. Line Spacing
4. Paragraph Spacing
5. Page Layout
6. Table Design
7. Color Schemes
8. Visual Hierarchy
9. Quick Reference Defaults

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Font Pairing

Recommended Pairs

Headings	Body	Style	Best For
Calibri Light	Calibri	Modern sans	Corporate reports
Aptos	Aptos	Office 365 default	Modern business docs
Cambria	Calibri	Serif + sans	Academic-corporate hybrid
Times New Roman	Times New Roman	Traditional serif	Academic, legal
Arial	Arial	Clean sans	Memos, internal docs
Georgia	Garamond	Classical serif pair	Formal reports

Rules

• Limit: 2 font families max (3 if CJK mixed)
• Contrast: Pair serif with sans-serif, OR use weight contrast within one family
• Consistency: Same font for all body text, same font for all headings

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Font Sizes by Document Type

Document Type	Body	H1	H2	H3	Footnotes
Business report	11pt	18-20pt	14-16pt	12-13pt bold	9pt
Business letter	11-12pt	—	—	—	9-10pt
Memo	11pt	14pt bold	12pt bold	11pt bold	9pt
Contract / Legal	12pt	14pt bold caps	12pt bold	12pt bold	10pt
Academic (APA 7)	12pt	12pt bold center	12pt bold left	12pt bold italic	10pt
Resume / CV	10-11pt	14-16pt	12pt bold	11pt bold	8-9pt
Chinese 公文	三号(16pt)	二号(22pt)	三号(16pt)	四号(14pt)	小四(12pt)

OpenXML w:sz Values (half-points)

Point Size	w:sz Val	Common Use
9pt	18	Footnotes, captions
10pt	20	Compact body text
10.5pt (五号)	21	CJK body small
11pt	22	Standard body (Calibri)
12pt (小四)	24	Standard body (TNR), CJK
14pt (四号)	28	CJK body, subheading
16pt (三号)	32	CJK heading, western H2
18pt (小二)	36	Western H1
22pt (二号)	44	CJK document title
26pt (一号)	52	Large title

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Line Spacing

Spacing	OpenXML w:spacing line	When to Use
Single (1.0)	line="240" lineRule="auto"	Tables, footnotes, captions
1.08 (MS default)	line="259" lineRule="auto"	Modern Office documents
1.15	line="276" lineRule="auto"	Business reports — best general default
1.5	line="360" lineRule="auto"	Some academic, drafts for markup
Double (2.0)	line="480" lineRule="auto"	APA/MLA manuscripts, legal briefs
Fixed 28pt	line="560" lineRule="exact"	Chinese 公文 (GB/T 9704)

lineRule values: auto = proportional (240 = 1 line), exact = fixed height, atLeast = minimum.

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Paragraph Spacing

Element	Space Before (DXA)	Space After (DXA)
Body paragraph	0	120-160 (6-8pt)
Heading 1	480 (24pt)	120-240
Heading 2	360 (18pt)	120
Heading 3	240 (12pt)	80-120
List items	0	40-80 (2-4pt)
Block quote	120-240	120-240
Table/Figure caption	240	240

Principle: Space before a heading > space after, so heading visually "belongs to" content below (2:1 or 3:1 ratio).

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Page Layout

Margins by Document Type

Document Type	Top	Bottom	Left	Right	DXA Values
Standard business	1 in	1 in	1 in	1 in	1440 all
Academic (APA/MLA)	1 in	1 in	1 in	1 in	1440 all
Thesis (binding)	1 in	1 in	1.5 in	1 in	T/B:1440 L:2160 R:1440
Chinese 公文	37mm	35mm	28mm	26mm	T:2098 B:1984 L:1588 R:1474
Narrow modern	0.75 in	0.75 in	0.75 in	0.75 in	1080 all
Wide	1 in	1 in	2 in	2 in	T/B:1440 L/R:2880

Page Sizes

Size	Width × Height	DXA Width × Height
US Letter	8.5 × 11 in	12240 × 15840
A4	210 × 297 mm	11906 × 16838
Legal	8.5 × 14 in	12240 × 20160
A3	297 × 420 mm	16838 × 23811

Rule: A4 for international audiences, Letter for US-only.

Page Numbers

Convention	Placement	Common In
Bottom center	Footer, centered	Academic, government
Bottom right	Footer, right-aligned	Business reports
"Page X of Y"	Footer, right-aligned	Contracts, legal
Bottom outside	Alternating L/R for odd/even	Books, bound reports
Chinese 公文	Bottom center, format "-X-"	Government documents

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Table Design

Style Patterns

Style	Description	When to Use
Three-line (三线表)	Top rule + header-bottom rule + bottom rule only, no vertical lines	Academic, scientific — gold standard
Banded rows	Alternating white/light-gray, no borders	Modern corporate
Light grid	Thin 0.5pt gray borders all cells	Business reports
Header-accent	Dark/colored header row, no other borders	Modern templates
Full border	All cells bordered	Financial tables, forms

Border Weights (OpenXML w:sz in eighths of a point)

Visual	Size value	Points
Hairline	2	0.25pt
Thin	4	0.5pt
Medium	8	1pt
Thick	12	1.5pt

Cell Padding

• Minimum: 0.05 in (28 DXA) — too tight for most uses
• Recommended: 0.08-0.1 in (57-72 DXA) top/bottom, 0.1-0.15 in (72-108 DXA) left/right
• Spacious: 0.12 in (86 DXA) top/bottom, 0.19 in (137 DXA) left/right

Header Row Best Practices

• Bold text, optionally SMALL CAPS
• Background: light gray (#F2F2F2) or dark with white text (#2F5496 + white)
• Repeat header row on each page (w:tblHeader on w:trPr)
• Right-align number columns, left-align text columns

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Color Schemes

Corporate / Business

Element	Hex	Notes
Primary heading	#1F3864	Dark navy, authoritative
Secondary heading	#2E75B6	Medium blue
Body text	#333333	Near-black (softer than #000)
Table header bg	#4472C4	With white #FFFFFF text
Alternate row	#F2F2F2	Subtle gray banding
Hyperlink	#0563C1	Standard blue

Academic

All text #000000 (black). Color only in figures/charts.

Chinese Government (公文)

Element	Color
All body text	Black (required)
红头 agency name	Red #FF0000
红线 separator	Red #FF0000
公章 seal	Red

Accessibility

• Minimum contrast ratio 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text (WCAG AA)
• Never use color as sole means of conveying information
• Ensure distinguishable in grayscale for printed documents

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Visual Hierarchy

Heading Levels by Document Length

Pages	Recommended Levels
1-5 (memo, letter)	1-2 levels
5-20 (report)	2-3 levels
20-100 (long report)	3-4 levels
100+ (thesis)	4-5 levels max

Numbering Systems

Decimal (ISO 2145) — technical, international:

1 → 1.1 → 1.1.1 → 1.1.1.1

Traditional outline (US legal):

I. → A. → 1. → a. → (1) → (a)

Chinese government (公文):

一、(黑体) → （一）(楷体) → 1.(仿宋加粗) → (1)(仿宋)

Typography Emphasis

Format	Use For	Avoid
Bold	Key terms, headings, emphasis	Entire paragraphs
Italic	Titles, foreign words, mild emphasis	Long passages (hard to read)
Underline	Hyperlinks only (digital)	General emphasis (archaic)
SMALL CAPS	Legal defined terms, acronyms	Body text
ALL CAPS	Very short headings	Long text (reduces readability 15%)

CJK note: Chinese/Japanese have no true italic. Use bold for emphasis.

List Formatting

Bullets (unordered): • → ○ → ■ by level

Numbers (ordered): 1. → a. → i. by level

• Indent each level 0.25-0.5 in (360-720 DXA)
• Hanging indent: number hangs, text aligns consistently
• Spacing between items: 2-4pt (less than paragraph spacing)

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Quick Reference Defaults

Business Report (Safe Default)

Parameter	Value	OpenXML
Body font	Calibri 11pt	sz="22", RunFonts Ascii="Calibri"
H1	18pt Bold Dark Blue	sz="36", Bold, Color="#1F3864"
H2	14pt Bold Dark Blue	sz="28", Bold
H3	12pt Bold Dark Blue	sz="24", Bold
Line spacing	1.15	line="276" lineRule="auto"
Para after	8pt	after="160"
Margins	1 in all	1440 DXA all
Page size	Letter or A4	12240×15840 or 11906×16838
Page numbers	Bottom right, 10pt

Academic Paper (APA 7th)

Parameter	Value	OpenXML
Font	Times New Roman 12pt	sz="24"
Line spacing	Double	line="480" lineRule="auto"
First-line indent	0.5 in	ind firstLine="720"
Margins	1 in all	1440 DXA all
Page numbers	Top right	Header, right-aligned

Chinese Government (公文 GB/T 9704)

Parameter	Value	OpenXML
Body font	仿宋_GB2312 三号	sz="32", EastAsia="FangSong_GB2312"
Title	小标宋 二号 centered	sz="44"
L1 heading	黑体 三号	sz="32", EastAsia="SimHei"
L2 heading	楷体 三号	sz="32", EastAsia="KaiTi_GB2312"
Line spacing	Fixed 28pt	line="560" lineRule="exact"
Margins	T:37mm B:35mm L:28mm R:26mm	T:2098 B:1984 L:1588 R:1474
Page size	A4	11906×16838
Page numbers	Bottom center, 宋体 四号, "-X-"	sz="28"
Chars/line	28
Lines/page	22