> > this should be covered by my above definition (text above > > 16\baselineskip, float area 6\baselineskip, text after > > 42-(16+6)\baselineskip). > > as one possibility for specification (not the actual values but the concept: > which is fixed starting position with a given vertical size and one area > only). my question is what others should/could be supported? not one area but areas which can be in 0 to n columns with and without spans. > > I thought this was what I'd proposed. > > yes, I think so, you proposed option 2. But what about: > > > > * ...other ideas... > > is there any kind of reasonable rule set that is not covered > by my initial variations and should perhaps be supported as well? I don't think so. O.k., maybe we can think of an explicity given vertical offset which is added or subtracted after each column, e.g. tttt tttt tttt or tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt AAAA tttt tttt tttt tttt AAAA AAAA tttt tttt tttt tttt AAAA tttt AAAA tttt tttt AAAA tttt tttt AAAA tttt tttt AAAA tttt tttt tttt AAAA AAAA tttt tttt tttt tttt AAAA AAAA tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt tttt a magazine designer might like this idea to have picture material going like a sinus wave from page to page ... ;-) Or picture material always going in the outside column and going down somewhat after each chapter (like an index thumb). I will zap through some design books -- maybe I will find some other interesting variations. Ulrich