The Terminology of Typesetting

1. An em space is the square of the body of the printed type being used. In twelve-point type an em would be 12 x 12 points, in ten-point type an em would be 10 x 10 points, and so on. The expression is derived from the letter "m" which is the widest letter in the lower-case alphabet.

2. An en space is one-half the width of an em space, but the height remains the same as the em.

3. A type font in conventional typesetting, is a set or family of characters necessary to form a complete alphabet with all its accessory characters. In the digital world, a type font is the character set itself, or the digital information encoding it.

4. Hinting is a function of digital font formats (TrueType and PostScript) in which instructions define which pixels are turned on to create the best possible character bitmap shape. A hint is a mathematical instruction added to the font to distort a character's outline at particular sizes. Hinting improves the shape and overall appearance of type when displayed at small sizes and low resolutions.

5. Kerning is the process of adjusting the spacing between type characters, usually by placing two letters closer together than normal. Kerning makes certain combinations of letters, such as WA, MW and VA look better. Only the most sophisticated word processors and desktop publishing systems perform kerning.

6. Leading is the operation of adding vertical space, or line-spacing between lines of type. The standard leading is two points greater than the point size of the type. For example, for a block of text in 12 point type, the leading would be 14 points. Leading can be a negative or positive value.

7. Letter-spacing is the placement of additional space between letters of a word to increase the space occupied by the word, or to make the white spaces between the letters appear uniform.

8. The pica is the printer's unit of measurement for expressing the dimensions of a page of type. There are approximately twelve points to a pica and six picas in an inch.

9. The point is the basic unit of measurement for type sizes and line-spacing. A point is slightly less than one seventy-second of an inch or 0.013837 inches.

10. The point system is the system of measurement used in typesetting to designate the size of type and the spacing used between lines of type. The point system is used primarily in North America and the Untied Kingdom.

11. Sans serif type fonts have letterforms without serifs, generally with a simple, geometric appearance. The fonts Helvetica, Triumvirate, News Gothic, and Futura are examples of this style.

12. Serif type is a style of type in which individual letters are somewhat ornate in design and have serifs (short cross lines or ticks) at the ends of the letter strokes. The fonts Times Roman, Century Schoolbook, and Palatino are examples of this style.

13. TrueType and PostScript are both digital font formats used in the desktop publishing industry. PostScript was developed by Adobe, and TrueType by Microsoft and Apple. Both treat fonts as outline shapes which can be scaled, stretched or rotated. Also, both formats are device-independent (multi-platform), which means they can be used and output on a variety of computer systems.

14. In traditional typesetting a typeface referred to the raised surface carrying the image of a type character cast in metal. Today, this term is used in the same sense as a type font.

Displaying Text on the Web

The Web contains a huge volume of information displayed in the form of text. What separates good from poor Web sites is clarity, accuracy, and quality of content. Great attention to type design and layout is not as significant as with the paper medium. Note that Web users can set their own default type fonts and type sizes in the browser preferences window.

The important consideration for Web design is to communicate the message clearly and accurately. Allowing spelling and grammar errors to occur in the text may cause readers to question the authoritative nature of the Web site as a whole.

• When viewing text on paper the eye prefers the flowing character of serif type fonts printed at high resolution. When viewing text on a computer monitor the sans serif type fonts are preferable. This is because serif type fonts tend to look messy when displayed on a monitor. Computer monitors have low resolution, resulting in aliasing. Aliasing causes serif type to look jagged.
• Avoid using all uppercase headings; they are more difficult to read. People read by recognizing the overall shape of words, not by interpreting each letter. Words formed with capital letters become monotonous rectangles that offer few distinctive shapes to catch the reader's eye.

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Case comparison

• Type displayed on a PC Windows system will look 2 to 3 points larger than the same type size and font, when displayed on a Macintosh system. Therefore, it is useful to test your text layout on browsers running on both operating systems.

Using Type on Maps

Geographical names and labels play an important role in cartography for the identification of features and the spatial orientation of the map user. The legibility of type on maps depends on a number of factors: typeface, size, colour, position, and arrangement in respect to other names.

Cartographic convention often dictates certain standards to be followed with respect to the use of type on maps. Traditionally, certain type fonts have been used to identify particular features. For example, it is widely accepted that italic type be used to identify meandering linear features such as rivers or roads. This style of type complements these features and may be either serif or sans serif. Different type fonts should be selected for different categories of features. The same feature-font relationship should be maintained throughout a map, or map series. This will help the map user to identify feature types quickly and easily.

The selection of type size is based on a number of factors: map scale, category of feature being identified, size of feature, and feature configuration. Type size should be appropriate to the scale of the map, and to the size and extent of the feature. The technique of spacing letters in a name helps to describe the extent of a large feature while avoiding the use of type that is too large.

Type colour is a useful design tool in map typography. Colour may be used to emphasize or subdue type. Also, the background colour for type is important to consider; the more contrast in colour the more legible the type will be. If the type and the map feature are in the same colour, an association is created between the two. For example, the names of drainage features are usually in the colour blue, in contrast to populated places and political names most often in black.

The positioning of type on a map deserves important consideration. Type well positioned enhances the readability and aesthetics of a map. However, typography on a map is always in competition with graphic information and background colour. Therefore, type on a map can rarely be positioned in a horizontal manner. If a map depicts a graticule (a network of longitude and latitude lines), then cartographic convention dictates that whenever possible, the type should be placed parallel with the lines of latitude. If a graticule is not present then type may be placed parallel with the neatline or frame surrounding the map.

Lettering on a map should be as upright as possible, for best legibility. Words should follow the standard writing direction of left to right, or clockwise.

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Figure 1. Direction of Lettering on a Map

When many features in a small area require identification, then a considerable amount of thought must be given to arranging the names. Names must be placed in a legible and aesthetic manner, while maintaining a clear association with their map features. Avoid, whenever possible, overlapping type, or having type cross or touch symbols. If it is necessary for type to cross linear features of the same colour, then the line symbol could be broken just at the point of crossing. Finally, names should be placed either entirely on the land or entirely on the water.

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Figure 2. Positional Preference in Labelling Point Symbols