Fundamentals
of Document Design
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typography terminology |
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Em: A relative measure equal to the size (width and height) of an uppercase “M” so that 12 - pt type will have an "em" space that measures 12 pts. Half of an “em” is an “en.” Em–dashes and em–spaces are used in appropriate situations, along with dashes, non–breaking spaces, and thin–spaces, among others (see “The Elements of Typographic Style” for usage guidelines).
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Justified: Text appears as straight vertical edges on both the left and right hand margins. Horizontal spacing between words is the most important element to be aware of when setting text “justified” because this usually results in uneven horizontal spaces between words, creating visual “rivers” which disrupt the rhythm of reading. This is largely due to the software algorithms. Never use default settings in page layout applications if you can help it. You can correcting “rivers” by adding extra space between characters and words and breaking lines so that there are no more than 2 consecutive hyphens. The problem with this is that after editing, all the above will need to be done again. So the best advice is to avoid justified text whenever possible. Left Justified: Text that is also referred to as “raggedright” is aligned so that the vertical straight edge is on the left and the right margin is ragged. This is the justification usually used with body text. It is best to set left justified text “hard” ragged with fixed word spacing, no minimum line length, and no hyphenation except normally hyphenated words. Narrow measures may require “soft” ragged settings with limited hyphenation and minimum line length. Right Justified: Text that is also referred to as “ragged–left” is aligned on the right so that the left margin is ragged. Use right-justification for special case situations such as mastheads, movie credits, or a playbill list of characters. General guidelines when setting text ragged (left or right justified):
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