The typography

Typography
Design problems
Typography
Research by Fady El-Masry

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Typography (from the Greek words τύπος (typos) = form and γραφή
(graphe) = writing) is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make
language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces,
point size, line length, leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between
groups of letters (tracking) and adjusting the space between pairs of letters
(kerning). Type design is a closely related craft, which some consider distinct
and others a part of typography; most typographers do not design typefaces,
and some type designers do not consider themselves typographers. In modern
times, typography has been put into motion — in film, television and online
broadcasts — to add emotion to mass communication.
Typography is performed by typesetters, compositors, typographers, graphic
designers, art directors, comic book artists, graffiti artists, clerical workers,
and anyone else who arranges type for a product. Until the Digital Age,
typography was a specialized occupation. Digitization opened up typography
to new generations of visual designers and lay users, and it has been said that
“typography is now something everybody does.
Working in the media of engraving and the flexible steel pen, eighteenth-centurywriting
masters such as George Bickham created lavishly curved scripts as well finely detailed
roman capitals rendered in high contrast. Such alphabets influenced the typeface designs of
Baskerville, Didot, and Bodoni.
Typography
The Dutch designer Wim Crouwel published his designs for a “new alphabet,” consisting of
no diagonals or curves, in 1967.

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Movable type was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in fifteenth-century Germany. His
typography took cues from the dark, dense handwriting of the period, called “black letter.”
Specimen of Trajan typeface, based on the letterforms of capitalis monumentalis or Roman
square capitals, as used for the inscription at the base of Trajan's Column from which the
typeface takes its name

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The type historian Rob Roy Kelly created this chart to illustrate how the square serif was
manipulated to create ornamental variations.

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History
Typography traces its origins to the first punches and dies used to make seals
and currency in ancient times. The typographical principle, that is the creation
of a complete text by reusing identical characters, was first realized in the
Phaistos Disc, an enigmatic Minoan print item from Crete, Greece, which
dates between 1850 and 1600 BC. It has been put forward that Roman lead
pipe inscriptions were created by movable type printing, but this view has
been recently dismissed by the German typographer Herbert Brekle.
The essential criterion of type identity was met by medieval print artifacts
such as the Latin Pruefening Abbey inscription of 1119 that was created
by the same technique as the Phaistos disc. In the northern Italian town of
Cividale, there is a Venetian silver retable from ca. 1200, which was printed
with individual letter punches. The same printing technique can apparently
be found in 10th to 12th century Byzantine staurotheca and lipsanotheca.
Individual letter tiles where the words are formed by assembling single letter
tiles in the desired order were reasonably widespread in medieval Northern
Europe.
Modern movable type, along with the mechanical printing press, was invented
in mid-15th century Europe by the German goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg.
His type pieces from a lead-based alloy suited printing purposes so well that
the alloy is still used today. Gutenberg developed specialized techniques for
casting and combining cheap copies of letterpunches in the vast quantities
required to print multiple copies of texts. This technical breakthrough was
instrumental in starting the Printing Revolution. Typography with movable
type was separately invented in 11th-century China. Metal type was first
invented in Korea during the Goryeo Dynasty around 1230. Both hand
printing systems, however, were only sporadically used and discontinued after
the introduction of Western lead type and the printing press.
The painter and designer Geofroy Tory believed that the proportions of the alphabet
should reflect the ideal human form. He wrote, “the cross-stroke covers the man’s organ of
generation, to signify that Modesty and Chastity are required, before all else, in those who
seek acquaintance with well-shaped letters.
Whereas humanist designers such as Geofroy Tory were inspired by the human body, this ideal
letterform was created along quasi-scientific lines. These engravings by Louis Simonneau is
from an alphabet commissioned by Louis XIV in 1693. The engravings were the basis of a
royal typeface (romain du roi) designed by Philippe Grandjean.

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The traditional storage of fonts in two cases, one for majuscules and one for minuscules,
yielded the terms “uppercase” and “lowercase” still used today.
Garamond typefaces, based on the Renaissance designs of Claude Garamond, sixteenth
century

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The types of the eighteenth-century English printer William Caslon are characterized by
crisp, upright characters that recall the fluid strokes of the flexible steel pen and the pointed
quill.
In the late eighteenth century, the English printer John Baskerville created type with such
contrast between thick and thin elements that his contemporaries are said to have accused
him of “blinding all the Readers of the Nation; for the strokes of [his] letters, being too thin
and narrow, hurt the Eye.”

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Text typography
In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, coherent, and
visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, without the awareness of the
reader. Even distribution of typeset material, with a minimum of distractions
and anomalies, is aimed at producing clarity and transparency.
Choice of font(s) is the primary aspect of text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction,
editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiritual and commercial
writing all have differing characteristics and requirements of appropriate
typefaces and fonts. For historic material established text typefaces are
frequently chosen according to a scheme of historical genre acquired by
a long process of accretion, with considerable overlap between historical
periods.
Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art serif fed
“text Romans” or “book Romans” with design values echoing present-day
design arts, which are closely based on traditional models such as those of
Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who created the model
for Aldine typefaces), and Claude Garamond. With their more specialized
requirements, newspapers and magazines rely on compact, tightly fitted
seriffed text fonts specially designed for the task, which offer maximum
flexibility, readability and efficient use of page space. Sans serif text fonts
are often used for introductory paragraphs, incidental text and whole short
articles. A current fashion is to pair sans-serif type for headings with a high-performance
seriffed font of matching style for the text of an article.
Typography is modulated by orthography and linguistics, word structures,
word frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructs and linguistic syntax.
Typography is also subject to specific cultural conventions. For example, in
French it is customary to insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or
semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it is not.

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Page printed by John Baskerville The French printer Firmin Didot took Baskerville’s initiatives to an extreme level by creating
type with a wholly vertical axis and razor-thin serifs.

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Color
In typography, color is the overall density of the ink on the page, determined
mainly by the typeface, but also by the word spacing, leading and depth of the
margins. Text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay of text with
white space of the page and other graphic elements combine to impart a “feel”
or “resonance” to the subject matter. With printed media typographers are also
concerned with binding margins, paper selection and printing methods.
The rise of advertising in the nineteenth century stimulated demand for large-scale letters
that could command attention in urban space. In this lithographic trading card from 1878, a
man is shown posting a bill in flagrant disregard for the law.

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Readability and legibility
Legibility is primarily the concern of the typeface designer, to ensure that
each individual character or glyph is unambiguous and distinguishable from
all other characters in the font. Legibility is also in part the concern of the
typographer to select a typeface with appropriate clarity of design for the
intended use at the intended size. An example of a well-known design, Brush
Script, contains a number of illegible letters since many of the characters can
be easily misread especially if seen out of textual context.
Readability is primarily the concern of the typographer or information
designer. It is the intended result of the complete process of presentation
of textual material in order to communicate meaning as unambiguously as
possible. A reader should be assisted in navigating around the information
with ease, by optimal inter-letter, inter-word and particularly inter-line
spacing, coupled with appropriate line length and position on the page, careful
editorial “chunking” and choice of the text architecture of titles, folios, and
reference links.
One of the clearest distinctions between the two concepts was presented by
Walter Tracy in his Letters of Credit. These … ‘two aspects of a type’ …
are … ‘fundamental to its effectiveness. Because the common meaning of
“legible” is “readable” there are those – even some professionally involved
in typography – who think that the term “legibility” is all that is needed in
any discussion on the effectiveness of types. But legibility and readability are
separate, though connected aspects of type. Properly understood … the two
terms can help to describe the character and function of type more precisely
than legibility alone. … In typography we need to draw the definition … of
legibility …to mean the quality of being decipherable and recognisable – so
that we can say, for example, that the lowercase h in a particular old style
italic is not legible in small sizes because its in-turned leg makes it look like
the letter b; or a figure 3 in a classified advertisement is too similar to the 8.
… In display sizes, legibility ceases to be a serious matter; a character that
causes uncertainty at 8 point size is plain enough at 24 point.’
Text typeset in Iowan Old Style roman, italics and small caps, optimized at approximately 10
words per line, typeface sized at 14 points on 1.4 x leading, with 0.2 points extra tracking.
Extract of an essay by Oscar Wilde The English Renaissance of Art ca. 1882.

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Note that the above applies to people with 20/20 vision at appropriate reading
distance and under optimal lighting. The analogy of an opticians chart, testing
for visual acuity and independent of meaning, is useful to indicate the scope
of the concept of legibility.
‘In typography … if the columns of a newspaper or magazine or the pages
of a book can be read for many minutes at a time without strain or difficulty,
then we can say the type has good readability. The term describes the quality
of visual comfort – an important requirement in the comprehension of
long stretches of text but, paradoxically, not so important in such things as
telephone directories or air-line time-tables, where the reader is not reading
continuously but searching for a single item of information. The difference in
the two aspects of visual effectiveness is illustrated by the familiar argument
on the suitability of sans-serif types for text setting. The characters in a
particular sans-serif face may be perfectly legible in themselves, but no one
would think of setting a popular novel in it because its readability is low.’’
Legibility ‘refers to perception’ and readability ‘refers to comprehension’.
Typographers aim to achieve excellence in both.
“The typeface chosen should be legible. That is, it should be read without
effort. Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size. More often
however, it is a matter of typeface design. In general typefaces that are
true to the basic letterforms are more legible than typefaces that have been
condensed, expanded, embellished, or abstracted.
“However, even a legible typeface can become unreadable through poor
setting and placement, just as a less legible typeface can be made more
readable through good design.”
Studies of both legibility and readability have examined a wide range of
factors including type size and type design. For example, comparing serif
vs. sans-serif type, roman type vs. oblique type and italic type, line length,
line spacing, color contrast, the design of right-hand edge (for example,
justification, straight right hand edge) vs. ranged left, and whether text is
hyphenated.
Legibility research has been published since the late nineteenth century.
Although there are often commonalities and agreement on many topics, others
often create poignant areas of conflict and variation of opinion. For example,
no one has provided a conclusive answer as to which font, serifed or sans
serif, provides the most legibility according to Alex Poole.

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Other topics such as justified vs unjustified type, use of hyphens, and proper
fonts for people with reading difficulties such as dyslexia, have continued to
be subjects of debate. Websites such as hgredbes.com, ban comic sans, UK
National Literacy Trust, and Mark Simsonson Studio have raised debating
opinions on the above subjects and many more each presenting a thorough
and well-organized position.
Legibility is usually measured through speed of reading, with comprehension
scores used to check for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed or careless read).
For example, Miles Tinker, who published numerous studies from the 1930s
to the 1960s, used a speed of reading test that required participants to spot
incongruous words as an effectiveness filter.
The Readability of Print Unit at the Royal College of Art under Professor
Herbert Spencer with Brian Coe and Linda Reynoldsdid important work
in this area and was one of the centres that revealed the importance of the
saccadic rhythm of eye movement for readability—in particular, the ability to
take in (i.e., recognise the meaning of groups of) around three words at once
and the physiognomy of the eye, which means the eye tires if the line required
more than 3 or 4 of these saccadic jumps. More than this is found to introduce
strain and errors in reading (e.g. Doubling).
These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical issues, or the
testing of specific design solutions (for example, when new typefaces are
developed). Examples of critical issues include typefaces (also called fonts)
for people with visual impairment, and typefaces for highway signs, or for
other conditions where legibility may make a key difference.
Much of the legibility research literature is somewhat atheoretical—various
factors were tested individually or in combination (inevitably so, as the
different factors are interdependent), but many tests were carried out in the
absence of a model of reading or visual perception. Some typographers
believe that the overall word shape (Bouma) is very important in readability,
and that the theory of parallel letterwise recognition is either wrong, less
important, or not the entire picture.
Studies distinguishing between Bouma recognition and parallel letterwise
recognition with regard to how people actually recognize words when they
read, have favored parallel letterwise recognition, which is widely accepted
by cognitive psychologists.

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Some commonly agreed findings of legibility research include:
Text set in lower case is more legible than text set all in upper case
(capitals), presumably because lower case letter structures and word
shapes are more distinctive.
Extenders (ascenders, descenders and other projecting parts) increase
salience (prominence).
Regular upright type (roman type) is found to be more legible than
italic type.
Contrast, without dazzling brightness, has also been found to be
important, with black on yellow/cream being most effective.
Positive images (e.g. black on white) are easier to read than negative
or reversed (e.g. white on black). However even this commonly
accepted practice has some exceptions, for example in some cases of
disability. (See UK National Literacy Trust for their findings in this
area.)
The upper portions of letters play a stronger part than the lower
portions in the recognition process.
Readability can also be compromised by letter-spacing, word spacing, or
leading that is too tight or too loose. It can be improved when generous
vertical space separates lines of text, making it easier for the eye to
distinguish one line from the next, or previous line. Poorly designed fonts and
those that are too tightly or loosely fitted can also result in poor legibility.
Typography is an element of all printed material. Periodical publications,
especially newspapers and magazines, use typographical elements to
achieve an attractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readers in navigating the
publication, and in some cases for dramatic effect. By formulating a style
guide, a periodical standardizes on a relatively small collection of typefaces,
each used for specific elements within the publication, and makes consistent
use of type sizes, italic, boldface, large and small capital letters, colors, and
other typographic features. Some publications, such as The Guardian and
The Economist, go so far as to commission a type designer to create bespoke
(custom tailored) typefaces for their exclusive use.
Different periodical publications design their publications, including their
typography, to achieve a particular tone or style. For example, USA Today
uses a bold, colorful, and comparatively modern style through their use of a
variety of typefaces and colors; type sizes vary widely, and the newspaper’s
name is placed on a colored background. In contrast, The New York Times
uses a more traditional approach, with fewer colors, less typeface variation,
and more columns.
Especially on the front page of newspapers and on magazine covers, headlines
are often set in larger display typefaces to attract attention, and are placed
near the masthead.
Experimental typography is defined as the unconventional and more artistic
approach to setting type. Francis Picabia was a Dada pioneer in the early 20th
Century. David Carson is often associated with this movement, particularly
for his work in Ray Gun magazine in the 1990s. His work caused an uproar
in the design community due to his abandonment of standards in typesetting
practices, layout, and design. Experimental typography places emphasis on
communicating emotion, rather than on legibility.

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Display typography
Display typography is a potent element in graphic design, where there is less
concern for readability and more potential for using type in an artistic manner.
Type is combined with negative space, graphic elements and pictures, forming
relationships and dialog between words and images.
Color and size of type elements are much more prevalent than in text
typography. Most display typography exploits type at larger sizes, where the
details of letter design are magnified. Color is used for its emotional effect in
conveying the tone and nature of subject matter.
This Dada poster uses a variety of typefaces as well as advertising “cuts”
(stock illustrations available in the printer’s shop). The layout is innovative
and dynamic, fighting against the grid. of letterpress. Iliazd, 1923.

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19th century John Wilkes Booth wanted poster printed with wood and metal
types
Fat Face is an inflated, hyper-bold type style developed in the early
nineteenth century. It is Bodoni on steroids.

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Display typography encompasses:
posters; book covers;
typographic logos and wordmarks; billboards;
packaging and labeling; on-product typography; calligraphy;
graffiti; inscriptional and architectural lettering;
poster design and other large scale lettering signage;
business communications and promotional collateral; advertising;
wordmarks and typographic logos (logotypes),
and kinetic typography in motion pictures and television; vending
machine displays; online and computer screen displays.
The wanted poster for the assassins of Abraham Lincoln was printed with lead
and woodcut type, and incorporates photography.
Advertising
Typography has long been a vital part of promotional material and
advertising. Designers often use typography to set a theme and mood in
an advertisement; for example using bold, large text to convey a particular
message to the reader. Type is often used to draw attention to a particular
advertisement, combined with efficient use of color, shapes and images.
Today, typography in advertising often reflects a company’s brand. Fonts used
in advertisements convey different messages to the reader, classical fonts are
for a strong personality, while more modern fonts are for a cleaner, neutral
look. Bold fonts are used for making statements and attracting attention.
Inscriptional and architectural lettering
The history of inscriptional lettering is intimately tied to the history of
writing, the evolution of letterforms and the craft of the hand. The widespread
use of the computer and various etching and sandblasting techniques today
has made the hand carved monument a rarity, and the number of letter-carvers
left in the USA continues to dwindle.
For monumental lettering to be effective it must be considered carefully in
its context. Proportions of letters need to be altered as their size and distance
from the viewer increases. An expert letterer gains understanding of these
nuances through much practice and observation of their craft. Letters drawn
by hand and for a specific project have the possibility of being richly specific
and profoundly beautiful in the hand of a master. Each can also take up to an
hour to carve, so it is no wonder that the automated sandblasting process has
become the industry standard.
To create a sandblasted letter, a rubber mat is laser cut from a computer file
and glued to the stone. The sand then bites a coarse groove or channel into the
exposed surface. Unfortunately, many of the computer applications that create
these files and interface with the laser cutter do not have many typefaces
available, and often have inferior versions of typefaces that are available.
What can now be done in minutes, however, lacks the striking architecture
and geometry of the chisel-cut letter that allows light to play across its distinct
interior planes.

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Glossary of Typographic Terms
This section provides a small glossary of terms frequently used in the type
world.
Alignment
The positioning of text within the text block or frame. Alignment can be
flush left, flush right, justified, or centered. Flush left and flush right are
sometimes referred to as left justified and right justified.
Ascender
The part of lowercase letters (such as k,b,and d) that ascends above the
x-height of theother lowercase letters in a font.
Adobe Type Manager’(ATM’)
ATM Light is a system software component for the Windows and Mac
OS platforms that automatically generates high-quality bitmapped
character shapes on a computer monitor from Postscript Type 1or Open
Type outline font data.ATM light also allows you to print PostScript
fonts on non-PostScript printers. ATM Deluxe is Adobe’s personal font
management application.
Baseline
The imaginary linen which the majority of the characters in a typeface
rest.
Body text
The paragraphs in a document that make up the bulk of its content.
Body text should be set in an appropriate and easy to read face,
typically at to or 12 point size.
Boldface
A typeface that has been enhanced by rendering it in darker, thicker
strokes so that it will stand out on the page. Headlines that need
emphasis should be bold face. italics are preferable for emphasis in
body text. Some publishing applications allow you to apply a computer-generated,
or fake, bold style to a regular weight font. Using this
technique is not recommended.
Bullet
A dot or other special character placed at the left of items in a list to
show that they are individual, but related, points.
Cap height
The height from the baseline to the top of the uppercase letter in a foot
This may or may not be the same as the height of ascenders. Cap height
is used in some systems to measure the type size.
Centered
Text placed at an equal distance from the left and right margins. Titles
are often centered. It is generally not good to mix centered text with
flush left or flush right text.
Character, character code
A single letter, punctuation mark, number, space, or any other object or
symbol in a typeface set. In the context of modern computer operating
systems, it is often defined as a code with a meaning attached to it. Poor
example, the decimal character code97 represents the letter a.Also see
character encoding keyboard layout, Open Type, Unicode.
Character mapping
See character encoding.
Character encoding
A table in a foot or a computer operating system that maps character
codes to glyphs in a font. Most operating systems are moving from a

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platform-specific single-byte encoding system that limited the number
of possible glyphs in a font to 156 to a new two-byte international
encoding standard called Unicode. Unicode allows for the inclusion of
up to 65,000 glyphs in a single font. Adobe’s Open Type fonts are based
on Unicode. Also see character, glyph, keyboard layout, Unicode.
Color
See typographic color.
Condensed
A narrower version of a font, used to fit a maximum number of
characters into a given space.
Contrast
A subjective feeling that graphic elements (such as fonts) are different
but work together well. This gives a feeling of variety without losing
harmony. Within a particular font, contrast also refers to the differences
of stroke thicknesses that make up the characters. For example, Myriad
has low contrast and Bodoni has high contrast
Copy fitting
The process of adjusting the size and spacing of type to make it fit
within a defined area of the page.
Decorative font
An appearance-based or usage-based category of fonts. Decorative
fonts are often ornate and attention-grabbing. in her book The Non-
Designer’s Design Book, Robin Williams has provided a useful working
definition of a decorative font:”...if the thought of reading an entire
book in that font makes you want to throw up, you can probably put it
in the decorative pot.”
Descender
The part of lowercase letters (such as y, p, and q) that descends below
the baseline of the other lowercase letters in a font. In some typefaces,
the uppercase J and Q also descend below the baseline.
Dingbats
Symbol characters such as decorations, arrows, and bullets.
Display fonts
Another category of fonts with characteristics similar to decorative
fonts. In some typeface families, a font is categorized as a display font
when it has been specifically designed for larger sizes (usually over 24
points) with thinner strokes, more delicate serifs, etc.
DPL
An abbreviation for dots per inch. Refers to the resolution at which
a device, such as a monitor or printer, can display text and graphics.
Monitors are usually 72 to 120 dpi or less, and laser printers are usually
6oo dpi or higher. An image printed on a laser printer looks sharper than
the same image on a monitor.
Drop cap
A design treatment in which the first capital letter of a paragraph is
set in a larger point size and aligned with the top of the first line. This
method is used to indicate the start of a new section of text, such as a
chapter. Also see raised cap.
Ellipsis
A punctuation character consisting of three dots, or periods, in a row. It
indicates that a word or phrase has been omitted.

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Em,em space,em
quad Common units of measurement in typography. An em is
traditionally defined as the width of the uppercase M in the current face
and point size. It is more properly defined as simply the current point
size. For example, in 12 point type, one em is a distance of 12 points.
En dash
A dash the length of an em, used to indicate a break in a sentence: His
friend-also an editor- thought the same thing
En,en space en
quad Common units of measurement in typography. An en is
traditionally defined as the width of the uppercase N in the current face
and the current point size. It is more properly defined as half the width
of an em.
En dash
A dash the length of an en, used to indicate a range of values: 1960-
1990.
Encoding
See character encoding.
Expert set. expert collection
A font that has a more refined, or expanded, set of typographic
characters than regular fonts. Expert sets may contain old style figures,
ligatures, small capitals, embellishments, fractions, or other unique
characters. Also see Open Type.
Face See typeface.
Family
A collection of typefaces that were designed and intended to be used
together. For example, the Utopia family consists of roman and italic
styles, as well as regular, semi bold, and bold weights. Each of the style
and weight combinations is referred to as a font or typeface.
Flush left
Text that is aligned on the left margin is said to be set ftu.sh left or flush
left, ragged right The term ragged right is sometimes used alone to
mean the same thing.
Flush right
Text that is aligned on the right margin is said to be set flush right or
flush right, ragged left. The term ragged left is sometimes used alone to
mean the same thing.
Font
One weight, width, and style of a typeface: Optima* Bold and
Helvetica Light Condensed are examples of fonts. Before digital type,
a font usually referred to a specific point size of a particular style of
a typeface. For example,48-point Helvetica Bold would have been
considered a font. Today, the terms font, typeface, and family are often
used interchangeably, though family usually refers to the general type
design, such as Helvetica, and font and typeface usually refer to the
specific weight, width, or style of a type design, such as Helvetica Bold
Font family See family.
Glyph In the context of modern computer operating systems, glyph is
often defined as a shape in a font that is used to represent a character
code on screen or paper. The most common example of a glyph is a
letter in a specific font, but the symbols and shapes in a font like lTC
Zapf Dingbats are also glyphs. Also see character, character encoding,
and keyboard layout.

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Hanging Indent
A document style in which the 6rstline of a paragraph is aligned
with the left margin, and the remaining lines are all indented an equal
amount. This is an effective way to display lists of information.
Headline
The short lines of emphasized text that introduce detail information
in the body text that follows. Also the category of typefaces that are
designed to work best in headline text.
Headline font
A font that has been designed to look good at large point sizes for use
in headlines. Headline fonts generally do not contain a complete set
of characters since they do not require a fullest of special symbols and
punctuation.
Hints
The mathematical instructions added to digital fonts to make them sharp
at all sizes and on display devices of different resolutions.
Italic
A slanting or script-like version of a face. The upright faces are often
referred to as roman. Some publishing applications allow you to apply a
computer-generated, or fake, italicized style to a roman font. Using this
technique is not recommended. Also see oblique.
Justified
A block of text that has been spaced so that the text aligns on both the
left and right margins. justified text has a more formal appearance, but
may be harder to read if not properly set.
Kerning
The adjustment of horizontal space between individual characters in
a line of text. Without kerning adjustments, many letter combinations
can look awkward. The objective of kerning is to create visually equal
spaces between all letters so that the eye can move smoothly along the
text. Some combinations of characters naturally have excessive space
between them (such as Ta or vo) and must be manually adjusted by the
designer or typographer. These adjusted combinations are called kerned
pairs. Kerning may be applied automatically by desktop publishing
programs based on tables of values built into the font. Some programs
also allow manual kerning to make fine adjustments. Adjustments in
kerning are especially important in large display and headline text lines.
Also see letter spacing.
Keyboard layout, keyboard mapping
A keyboard layout or mapping is a table used by a computer operating
system to govern which character code is generated when a key or key
combination is pressed. Sometimes known as a character mapping. Also
see character, character encoding, glyph.
Leading (pronounced ledding)
The amount of space added between lines of text to make the document
legible. The term originally referred to the thin lead spacers that printers
used to physically increase space between lines of metal type. Most
applications automatically apply standard leading based on the point
size of the font. Closer leading fits more text on the page, but decreases
legibility. Looser leading spreads text out to fill a page and makes the
document easier to read. Leading can also be negative, in which case
the lines of text are so close that they overlap or touch.
Letterspadng
Adjusting the average distance between letters in a block of text to fit
more or less text into the given space or to improve legibility. Kerning

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allows adjustments between individual letters, letter spacing is applied
to a block of text as a whole. Letter spacing is sometimes referred to as
tracking or track kerning. Letter spacing is often adjusted to open up the
look of a typeface or to add drama to a headline by stretching it across a
page. Also see kerning, tracking.
Ligature
Two or more letters combined into a single letterform. In some
typefaces, character combinations such as fiend B overlap, resulting
in an unsightly shape. The fi and fl ligatures were designed to improve
the appearance of these characters. Letter combinations such as ff, ffi,
and ffl are available in Adobe’s expert set fonts and in most Open1’ype
Pro fonts. Open Type fonts may also have other ligatures designed to
improve appearance of other letter combinations (such as Th) or for
artistic effect.
Multiple master
A class of PostScript font developed by Adobe that allows you
to modify and create new fonts based on a particular style. For
instance, you could create fonts that are bolder or expanded while
still maintaining the correct proportions, stroke width changes, and
other subtle design characteristics of the original typeface. Also see
PostScript, PostScript Type 1.
Oblique
A slanting version of a face. Oblique is similar to italic, but without the
script quality of a true italic. The upright faces are usually referred to as
roman. Also see italic.
Open Type
A cross-platform font file format developed by Adobe and Microsoft.
Open Type is an extension to the TrueType file format that can now
support PostScript font data and new typographic features. Based
on Unicode,Open1’ype fonts may include an expanded character
set and layout features to provide richer linguistic support and
advanced typographic control. Feature-rich Adobe Open1’ype fonts
are distinguished by the word Pro, which is part of the font name and
appears in application font menus.Open1’ype fonts can be installed
and used alongside PostScript 1’ype 1 and TrueType fonts. Also see
Unicode, True type, PostScript 1type 1.
Optical size
A specific typeface design that is tailored for the point size it is to
be used at Several of Adobe’s Open1’ype fonts include four optical
size variations-caption, regular, subhead, and display-that have been
optimized for use at specific point sizes. Although the exact intended
sizes vary by family, the general size. ranges include: caption (6-8
point), regular (9-13 point),subhead (14-24 point), and display (25-72
point).Several of Adobe’s Multiple Master fonts also include the ability
to select an optical size.
PFB file
The portion of a Windows PostScript Type 1font that contains the font’s
outline information.
PFM file
The portion of a Windows PostScript Type 1font that contains the font’s
metria information.
Paragraph rules
Graphic lines associated with a paragraph that separate blocks of text.
Rules are commonly used to separate columns and isolate graphics on a
page. Some programs allow paragraph styles to be created that include
paragraph rules above and/or below the paragra.ph.

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Pica
A unit of measure in typography. A pica is equal to 12 points. The 1/6
of an inch.
Picture font
A font that displays pictures or symbols instead of letters or characters.
Picture fonts are useful for making logos, borders or interesting
bullets. Like clipart, they can also be used as graphic raw material in
some graphics software packages, such as Adobe Photoshop or Adobe
Illustrator. Also known as pi fonts, symbol fonts, and dingbats.
Point
A unit of measure in typography. There are approximately 72 points to
the inch. A pica is 12 points.
Point size
The most common method of measuring type. The distance from the
top of the highest ascender to the bottom of the lowest descended in
points. In Europe, type is sometimes measured by the cap height in
millimeters.
PostScript
mathematically-based page description language that communicates
with your output device and conveys information regarding how to
create complex letter shapes and graphics. Developed by Adobe in
1985.
Post Script Type 1
A font format designed to conform to the PostScript page description
language. On Windows, PostScript Type 1fontsconsist of a PPB file that
contains the font’s outline information and a PFM file that contains the
font’s metrics. On the Mac OS platform, PostScript fonts are composed
of screen fonts (or bitmapped fonts) and printer fonts (or outline fonts).
PostScript fonts require a PostScript printer to render accurately or they
can be printed to a non-PostScript output device using Adobe Type
Manager. Also see PostScript font, Multiple Master.
Printer font
One of the two components of a PostScript font for the Mac OS. The
printer font contains mathematically-defined outlines for all characters
(or glyphs) in that font, and is downloaded to the printer when that font
is used in a document Also known as an outline font.
Proportional figures
Numerals that have different widths depending on their shape. When
setting body text, it is preferable to use proportional figures. Also see
tabular figures.
Raised cap
A design treatment in which the first capital letter of a paragraph is set
in a large point size and aligned with the baseline of the first line of text.
Also see drop cap.
Reverse
The technique of printing or displaying whiter lightcolored
text on a
black or dark background for emphasis. This technique greatly reduces
legibility, especially with small type.
Rivers
Word spaces that align vertically from line to line in poorly justified text
creating a distracting river of white space in a block of copy.
Roman
Commonly refers to the upright version of a face within a font family,
as compared to the italic version.

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Rule
A solid or dashed graphic line in documents used to separate the
elements of a page. Rules and other graphic devices should be used
sparingly, and only for clarifying the function of other elements on the
page.
Sans serif
A typeface that does not have serifs.
Screen font
One of two components for a PostScript font on the Mac OS platform.
These are created by sending electronic information to pixels (dots) on
the computer screen thus allowing you to view the font on-screen. Also
known as a bitmapped font.
Script font
Fonts that appear to have been hand lettered with a calligraphy pen or
brush,or sometimes with a pencil or technical pen.
Serif
A small decorative stroke at the end of a letter’s main strokes. Serifs
improve readability by leading the eye along the line of type.
Style
One of the variations in appearance, such as italic and bold, that make
up the faces in a type family.
Symbol font
A category of type in which the characters are special symbols rather
than alphanumeric characters.
Tabular figures
Numerals that all have the same width. This makes it easier to set
tabular matter. Most fonts have tabular figures. Also see proportional
figures.
Text font
Text fonts are used for body copy and are most commonly serif fonts.
In large families of typefaces these are often denoted with the suffixes
regular or book (for example, Utopia Regular or lTC Veljovic Book).
Tracking
Adjusting the average distance between letters in a block of text.
Generally, large type requires proportionally less space between letters
to appear subjectively right visually while small type requires more
letter spacing to appear right .Also see letter spading.
TrueType
An outline font technology developed by Apple Computer.
Type 1 See PostScript Type 1.
Type family See family.
Typeface
The letters, numbers, and symbols that make up a design of type. A
typeface is often part of a type family of coordinated designs. The
individual typefaces are named after the family and are also specified
with a designation, such as italic, bold, or condensed. For example, the
italic style of the Times family is referred to as a typeface or font.

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Typographic color
The apparent blackness of a block of text. Color is a function of the
relative thickness of the strokes that make up the characters in a font, as
well as the width, point size, and leading used for setting the text block.
Unicode
An international double-byte character encoding standard that
encompasses virtually all of the world’s languages. Supported by many
of the leading hardware and software manufacturers, Unicode assigns
a unique value teach of the characters (or glyphs) in all of the world’s
languages.
Unjustified
Depending on alignment, this term refers to text that is set Rush left,
Rush right, or centered.
Weight
The relative darkness of the characters in the various typefaces within
a type family. Weight is indicated by relative terms such as thin, light,
bold, extra-bold, and black.
White space
The blank areas on a page where text and illustrations are not printed.
White space should be considered an important graphic element in page
design.
Width
One of the possible variations of a typeface within a font family, such as
condensed or extended
Word space
Adjusting the average distance between words to improve legibility or
to fit a block of text into a given amount of space.
X-height
Traditionally, x-height is the height of the lowercase letter L It is also
the height of the body of lowercase letters in a font, excluding the
ascenders and descanters. Some lowercase letters that do not have
ascenders or descanters still extend a little bit above or below the
x-height as part of their design. The x-height can vary greatly from
typeface to typeface at the same point size.

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References
ASTM International D7298 Standard Test Method of Comparative Legibility
by Means of Polarizing Filter Instrumentation
Brekle, Herbert E. (2005), Die Prüfeninger Weihinschrift von 1119. Eine
paläographisch-typographische Untersuchung (brief summary), Regensburg:
Scriptorium Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, ISBN 3-937527-06-0
Brekle, Herbert E. (2010), “Herstellungstechniken von Inschriften auf
römischen Wasserleitungsrohren aus Blei”, in Hanneforth, Thomas; Fanselow,
Gisbert, Language and Logos. Festschrift for Peter Staudacher on his 70th
birthday, Berlin: Akademie Verlag, pp. 1–20
Bringhurst, Robert (2002). The Elements of Typographic Style (version
2.5). Vancouver: Hartley & Marks. ISBN 0-88179-133-4. Often referred to
simply as “Bringhurst”, Elements is widely respected as the current authority
on typographic style for Latin typography. (excerpts). Well-paired with
Tschichold’s The Form of the Book, below, from the same publisher.
Febvre, Lucien; Martin, Henri-Jean (1997), The Coming of the Book: The
Impact of Printing 1450–1800, London: Verso, ISBN 1-85984-108-2
Hupp, Otto (1906), “Die Prüfeninger Weiheinschrift von 1119”, Studien aus
Kunst und Geschichte, Festschrift für Friedrich Schneider, Freiburg i. Br.:
Herder
Man, John (2002), The Gutenberg Revolution: The Story of a Genius and an
Invention that Changed the World, London: Headline Review, ISBN 978-
0747245049
McLuhan, Marshall (1962), The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of
Typographic Man (1st ed.), University of Toronto Press, ISBN 978-
0802060419
Pace, Pietrantonio (1986), Gli acquedotti di Roma e il Aquaeductu di Frontino
(2nd ed.), Rome: Art Studio S. Eligio
Tracy, Walter Letters of Credit 1986 Gordon Fraser
Tschichold, Jan (1991). The Form of the Book: Essays on the Morality of
Good Design. Vancouver: Hartley & Marks. ISBN 978-0881790344. A
comprehensive collection of essays on the typographic art. A more classic
companion to Bringhust, above.
Lexique des règles typographiques en usage à l’Imprimerie nationale, French:
Imprimerie nationale, 2002, ISBN 2-7433-0482-0, for French typography.
Swanson, Gunnar Graphic Design and Reading: explorations of an uneasy
relationship (c) 2000, Allworth Press, Allworth Communications, New York.
ISBN 1-58115-063-6. The Crystal Goblet, or Printing Should Be Invisible
Beatrice Warde; Improving the Tool Hrant H. Papazian.
Alexander Lawson, Anatomy of a Typeface, first published in 1990, devotes
entire chapters to the development and uses of individual or small groupings
of typefaces. ISBN 978-0879233334
White, Alex W. (1999). Type in Use – Effective typography for electronic
publishing (version 2.0). W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York. ISBN
0-393-73034-4 (pbk).
Mestres, Josep M.; Costa, Joan; Oliva, Mireia; Fité, Ricard. Manual d’estil.
La redacció i l’edició de textos. 4a ed., rev. i ampl. Vic / Barcelona: Eumo /
UB / UPF / Rosa Sensat, 2009. For Catalan typography.

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