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The 'body' of type
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Legibility of text is affected by the parts of the anatomy.
A higher x-height, relative to the cap height,
generally means greater legibility.
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Multiple lines of text are measured from baseline to
baseline - see leading
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Watch out for ascenders of one line touching the descenders
of another.
Type sizes
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Traditional
text is measured in points, the standard unit of measure in
software programs for creating printed documents. There are
72 points to an inch and 12 points to a pica (picas are typically
used to measure text widths, images, etc.)
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Typical
body copy sizes are 8 to 12 points, headlines from 14 points
and up.
- Web
type doesn't use these traditional units of measure within the
HTML tags: <H> (headline), <P> (paragraph) and <FONT>.
This is changing, however, with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
The suggested unit of measure for most consistent display across
platforms and browsers is pixels. Check out the Web
Design Group's CSS Reference for more information.
Leading
(line spacing)
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Leading
is space between lines of text. Extra leading aids body copy
a great deal by making type look more open and friendly, less
daunting. Too much leading makes it hard to 'jump' from line
to line.
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Leading
is expressed in a ratio of size to leading, e.g., '10 on 12.'
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Typical leading, or 'auto' settings in most page layout programs,
is around 20% more than the size of the type, such as 10 on
12.
- HTML
type typically doesn't typically give control over line spacing.
This is changing, however, with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
This example
shows CSS linespacing.
Check out the great CSS tutorial at http://www.w3schools.com/css/
for more information.
Spacing
between letters
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Tracking
or letterspacing applies to whole lines of text. Add or
subract tracking to give text a looser or tighter feel. Letterspacing
is not possible with HTML, but this example
shows how letterspacing is done with CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Letterspacing may be controlled in all graphics programs.
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Kerning applies to the space between individual letters.
Certain combinations of letters typically leave too much space
between the characters, such as capital "A" and "W."
These examples have already been kerned, bringing the letters
closer together:
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