Ad Layout: Indicating copy and artwork
Now, let's get back to the layout sheet. Layout sheets usually come in pads of paper, sometimes in a couple of sizes-standard 8.5 x 11 sheets as well as a larger size to accommodate the larger ads. These layout sheets are marked with a grid that corresponds to the column width of the newspaper, as well as some sort of horizontal lines that correspond to the units of depth your newspaper uses to measure the height of the ad, usually inches.

Using the information and guidance given to you by the advertiser, the first thing you need to do is create a layout using one of these sheets. Basically, you draw a box the exact size of the ad you're creating, using the column and inch markings as a guide. Next, working from the information the advertiser gave you, begin writing the information in the box as indicated in the figure.

Usually there's a dominant headline, photo and logo the advertiser will want in the ad. Write the headline in the box, indicate where the photo should go and where the logo, if any, should go by either sketching the logo into the ad or even copying the logo and pasting it into the ad. Most copy machines in newspaper advertising departments have reduction/enlargement capabilities in case any element you'd like to paste directly into the layout is different.

Continue entering the information you want in your ad. If you've got small type in the ad and you can't write that small, don't worry. Simply indicate where you want the small type with horizontal lines, again, as indicated in the figure on this page. This may in fact be the way they want you to enter all type, and in some cases, even the headline, as we've done here.