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DESIGN.C8
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** E-Mail Desktop Publishing Design Course **
***** Lesson 3C *****
The Point System
There are two point systems used in the printing industry: the
British American System and the Didot System. The Didot system is used
almost exclusively in continental Europe. Personal computers
approximate to the British American system.
The units of measurement are:
The POINT, the EN (half the square of the body size), and the EM ( the
square of the body size).
The units of measurement in personal computers are based on the 12
point body or PICA EM.
12 points = 1 pica or EM
So a column 15 picas wide will contain 180 points. A column 15-1/2
picas wide is said to be 15 picas 6 points.
Since many commercial printers use this measurement system, you should
be familiar with it in case your printer demands his specs in point
sizes for your document.
** A Little History Lesson on Measurement Systems **
The origin of the point system as is used today.
In the years previous to 1737 there was no standard as to the
different sizes of type. Each country's foundries made up its own
rules and names for the different sizes of type being used by their
printers.
In 1737, a printer (also operated a type foundry) by the name of
Pierre Simon Fournier published a paper on standardizing the sizes of
type. He proposed a "point" system whereby the body of the type could
be divided into equal measurements. He took as his standard his own
Pica type as 12 pt. in his new system. He further refined his system
over the years and finally offered to the printing public in 1764 a
"prototype". This was a metal ruler with 240 points engraved on it so
that all printers would use the same measurements. A few years later
Ambroise Didot decided the basis for Fournier's measurement was not
really a standard and used as a standard the French inch. In this
system 72 points equalled 1 French inch. This system is still in use
in Continental Europe today.
Up until 1886 North American printers used this system. Then the
United States Type-Founders Association decided to change their
standards to the Metric system. They chose a pica body (12 pt.) and
changed its dimension to equal the new standard of 83 picas = to 35
centimeters. This was then divided into 12 equal parts called points.
In 1898 England adopted this system and it has been called the British
American System since then.
Now, back to our regular lesson.
Type Families
Most typefaces, both for text setting or display, have a family of
weights and widths. These are usually derived from the original
medium-weight design. There are some faces for which a complete family
has not been developed beyond an italic, but the minimum expected of
any new typeface today would be a medium and bold weight, both with
italics.
A more complete family might include: light, medium (called regular,
book, or roman also), semi-bold, bold, and extra bold, all with italic
and together with condensed (narrow) and wide (expanded) versions of
all of them.
The advantages of these rather large ranges is that they can be
married up and used together on the same page so that all your
proportions will be equal and work together. It is much preferable to
use the same family rather than many different faces to get a more
harmonious look to your document.
This is probably the single largest error a new user makes. Trying to
show off his number of faces by putting too many different typefaces
on one page. This can only lead to confusing your reader and making
for an unprofessional document.
*** End of Lesson 3 ***
The next lesson will not really be a lesson, but a short glossary of
common DTP and printing terminology.
As always your questions and comments are invited.