RE: word spacing & justification

[Esmond Pitt <esmond.pitt@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Friday, June 22, 2001 3:36 PM, Lindsey Thomas Martin 
[SMTP:lmartin@sfu.ca] wrote:
> It changes when one applies spread in Paragraph Designer > Default
> Fault.  +/- 1% = +/- .01 em standard space. I assume that the default
> setting of .25 em at 0% spread was a more or less arbitrary but
> informed choice of the designers of the application. 4 to the em is a
> pretty good measure to start from when calculating word spacing; en
> and em are obviously too big, 5 to the em might work but 6 to the em
> and smaller would be much too narrow.

Not quite right. +/- 1% is +/= 0.025 ems, because 100% is M/4.

Historically, i.e. in metal fonts, spaces were provided as em spaces (M), 
en spaces (M/2), and M/3, M/4, M/5, M/6, with M/4 being seen as 'normal. 
Its appearance this way in Frame therefore isn't arbitrary.

M/6 is not "much too narrow" at all. Geoffrey Dowding's book 'Finer Points 
in the Spacing and Arrangement of Type', p.10, recommends M/6 as minimum, 
and M/5 as normal. My recent book on Java RMI (ISBN 0-201-70043-3) is set 
this way. The book looks fine to me and to the publisher & printer.

In Frame this corresponds to minimum=66%, normal=80%. Try it!

I'd also recommend against using non-standard spread (or letter spacing), 
when setting text, except as a last resort. (Frequently done in display 
typography, which is another whole thing.)

EJP

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