Measurement unit used in typography
"Small text" redirects here. Not to be confused with
Microprinting
.
In
typography
, the
point
is the smallest
unit of measure
. It is used for measuring
font
size,
leading
, and other items on a printed page. The size of the point has varied throughout printing's history. Since the 18th century, the size of a point has been between 0.18 and 0.4
millimeters
. Following the advent of
desktop publishing
in the 1980s and 1990s,
digital printing
has largely supplanted the
letterpress printing
and has established the
desktop publishing
(
DTP
)
point
as the
de facto
standard
. The DTP point is defined as
1
⁄
72
of an
inch
(
1
/
72
× 25.4 mm ? 0.353 mm
)
and, as with earlier American point sizes, is considered to be
1
⁄
12
of a
pica
.
In metal type, the point size of the font describes the
height
of the metal
body
on which the
typeface
's characters were cast. In digital type, letters of a font are designed around an imaginary space called an
em
square
. When a point size of a font is specified, the font is scaled so that its em square has a side length of that particular length in points. Although the letters of a font usually fit within the font's em square, there is not necessarily any size relationship between the two, so the point size does not necessarily correspond to any measurement of the size of the letters on the printed page.
[1]
[2]
History
[
edit
]
The point was first established by the
Milanese
typographer
,
Francesco Torniella da Novara
(
c.
1490
? 1589) in his 1517 alphabet,
L'Alfabeto
. The construction of the alphabet is the first based on logical measurement called "Punto," which corresponds to the ninth part of the height of the letters or the thickness of the principal
stroke
.
[3]
[4]
Notations
[
edit
]
A measurement in points can be represented in three different ways. For example, 14 points (1 pica plus 2 points) can be written:
- 1P
⁄
2p
(12 points would be just "
1P
⁄
")?traditional style
- 1p2 (12 points would be just "1p")?format for desktop
- 14pt (12 points would be "12pt" or "1pc" since it is the same as 1 pica)?format used by
Cascading Style Sheets
defined by the
World Wide Web Consortium
.
[5]
Varying standards
[
edit
]
Various point definitions
Name
|
Year
|
mm
|
inch
|
?
0.350 mm
|
Fournier
[6]
|
1737
|
? 0.345
|
0.0135
|
American
|
1886
|
?
0.3515
|
=
0.013
837
|
Japanese
[7]
|
1962
|
=
0.3514
|
?
0.013
835
|
TeX
pt
|
1982
|
= 0.
351
459
80
|
?
0.013
837
|
=
1
⁄
72.27
|
PostScript, CSS
pt
, TeX
bp
|
1984
|
= 0.352
7
|
= 0.013
8
|
=
1
⁄
72
|
?
0.375 mm
|
Didot
|
1783
|
?
0.375
972
|
?
0.0148
|
Berthold
|
1878
|
? 0.376
|
?
0.014
801
|
DIN actual,
[8]
TeX
dd
|
1964
|
=
0.376
065
|
?
0.014
806
|
DIN nominal,
[8]
TeX
nd
|
1984
|
=
0.375
|
?
0.014
764
|
Other
|
Truchet
|
1694
|
? 0.188
|
?
0.007
401
|
L'Imprimerie Nationale nominal
|
1810
|
= 0.400
|
?
0.015
748
|
L'Imprimerie Nationale actual
|
1810
|
= 0.398 77 mm
|
?
0.0157
|
DIN,
[9]
Japanese, CSS
q
|
1999
|
=
0.250
|
?
0.009
842
|
There have been many definitions of a "point" since the advent of typography. Traditional continental European points at about
0.375 mm
are usually a bit larger than English points at around
0.350 mm
.
French points
[
edit
]
The
Truchet point
, the first modern typographic point, was
1
⁄
144
of a
French inch
or
1
⁄
1728
of the
royal foot
. It was invented by the
French
clergyman
Sebastien Truchet
.
During the
metrication of France
amid its
revolution
, a 1799 law declared the
meter
to be exactly 443.296
French lines
long. This established a length to the
royal foot
of
9000
⁄
27
706
m or about 325 mm.
The Truchet point therefore became equal to
15
625
⁄
83
118
mm or about
0.187
986
mm
.
It has also been cited as exactly 0.188 mm.
The
Fournier point
was established by
Pierre Simon Fournier
in 1737.
[10]
[11]
[12]
: 60?66
The system of Fournier was based on a different French foot of c. 298 mm. With the usual convention that 1 foot equals 12 inches, 1 inch (
pouce
) was divided into 12 lines (
lignes
) and 1 line was further divided into 6 typographic points (
points typographiques
). One Fournier point is about 0.0135 English inches.
Fournier printed a reference scale of 144 points over two inches; however, it was too rough to accurately measure a single point.
[11]
The Fournier point did not achieve lasting popularity despite being revived by the
Monotype Corporation
in 1927.
[
citation needed
]
It was still a standard in
Belgium
, in parts of Austria, and in Northern France at the beginning of the 20th century.
[12]
: 66
In Belgium, the Fournier system was used until the 1970s and later. It was called the "mediaan"-system.
The
Didot point
, established by
Francois-Ambroise Didot
in 1783,
[13]
was an attempt to improve the Fournier system. He did not change the subdivisions (1 inch = 12 subdivisions = 72 points), but defined it strictly in terms of the
royal foot
, a legal length measure in France: the Didot point is exactly
1
⁄
864
of a French foot or
1
⁄
72
of a French inch, that is (by 1799)
15
625
⁄
41
559
mm or about
0.375
972
mm
. Accordingly, one Didot point is exactly two Truchet points.
However, 12 Fournier points turned out to be 11 Didot points,
[11]
: 142?145
giving a Fournier point of about
0.345 mm
; later sources
[12]
: 60?61
state it as being
0.348
75
mm
. To avoid confusion between the new and the old sizes, Didot also rejected the traditional names, thus
parisienne
became
corps
5,
nonpareille
became
corps
6, and so on.
[11]
: 143
The Didot system prevailed because the French government demanded printing in Didot measurements.
[14]
[
better source needed
]
Approximations were subsequently employed, largely owing to the Didot point's unwieldy conversion to metric units (the
divisor
of its conversion ratio has the
prime factorization
of
3
×
7
×
1979
).
In 1878,
Hermann Berthold
defined 798 points as being equal to 30 cm, or 2660 points equalling 1 meter: that gives around
0.376 mm
to the point.
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
A more precise number,
0.376
065
mm
, sometimes is given;
[16]
this is used by TeX as the
dd
unit. This has become the standard in Germany
[8]
and Central and Eastern Europe.
[19]
This size is still mentioned in the technical regulations of the
Eurasian Economic Union
.
[20]
Metric points
[
edit
]
pdfTEX, but not plain TeX or LaTeX, also supports a
new Didot point
(
nd
) at
3
⁄
8
mm or
0.375 mm
and refers to a not further specified 1978 redefinition for it.
The
French National Print Office
adopted a point of
2
⁄
5
mm or
0.400 mm
in about 1810 and continues to use this measurement today (though "recalibrated" to
0.398
77
mm
).
[21]
[22]
[23]
Japanese
[24]
and German
[9]
[16]
[18]
standardization bodies instead opted for a metric typographic base measure of exactly
1
⁄
4
mm or
0.250 mm
, which is sometimes referred to as the
quart
in Japan. The symbol
Q
is used in Japanese after the initial letter of
quarter millimeter
. Due to demand by Japanese typesetters, CSS adopted
Q
in 2015.
[25]
[26]
ISO 128
specifies
preferred
line thicknesses for
technical drawings
and
ISO 9175
specifies respective pens. The steps between nominal sizes are based on a factor of √2 ? 1.414 in order to match
ISO 216
paper sizes
. Since the set of sizes includes thicknesses of 0.1 mm, 0.5 mm, 1 mm and 2 mm, there is also one of 0.35 mm which is almost exactly 1 pica point. In other words, 2
?1.5
mm =
1
⁄
√8
mm approximates an English typographic point rather well.
American points
[
edit
]
The basic unit of measurements in American typography was the pica,
[12]
[27]
[28]
usually approximated as one sixth of an inch, but the exact size was not standardized, and various type foundries had been using their own.
[12]
During and after the
American Revolutionary War
,
Benjamin Franklin
was sent as commissioner (Ambassador) for the United States to France from December 1776 to 1785.
[29]
While living there he had close contact with the Fournier family, including the father and
Pierre Simon Fournier
. Franklin wanted to teach his grandson
Benjamin Franklin Bache
about printing and typefounding, and arranged for him to be trained by Francois Ambroise Didot. Franklin then imported French typefounding equipment to Philadelphia to help Bache set up a type-foundry. Around 1790, Bache published a specimen sheet with some Fournier types.
[30]
[31]
After the death of Franklin, the matrices and the Fournier mould were acquired by Binny and Ronaldson, the first permanent type-foundry in America. Successive mergers and acquisitions in 1833, 1860 and 1897 saw the company eventually become known as MacKellar, Smith & Jordan. The Fournier cicero mould was used by them to cast pica-sized type.
Nelson Hawks
proposed, like Fournier, to divide one American inch exactly into six picas, and one pica into 12 points. However, this saw an opposition because the majority of foundries had been using picas less than one sixth of an inch. So in 1886, after some examination of various picas, the Type Founders Association of the United States approved the pica of the
L. Johnson & Co.
foundry of Philadelphia (the "
Johnson pica
") as the most established.
[27]
The Johnson foundry was influential, being America's first and oldest foundry; established as Binny & Ronaldson in 1796, it would go through several names before being the largest of the 23 foundries that would merge in 1892 to form the American Type Founders Co.
[32]
The official definition of one pica is 0.166044 inches (4.2175 mm), and one point is 0.013837 inches (0.3515 mm). That means 6 picas or 72 points constitute
0.996
24
standard inches. A less precise definition is one pica equals 0.166 inches (4.2 mm), and one point 0.01383 inches (0.351 mm).
[27]
[33]
It was also noticed that 83 picas is nearly equal to 35 cm, so the Type Founders Association also suggested using a 35 cm metal rod for measurements, but this was not accepted by every foundry.
[27]
This has become known as the
American point system
.
[27]
[33]
The British foundries accepted this in 1898.
In modern times this size of the point has been approximated as exactly
1
⁄
72.27
(
0.013
837
000
138
37
) of the inch
[34]
by
Donald Knuth
for the default unit of his
TeX
computer typesetting system and is thus sometimes known as the
TeX point
, which is 0.
351
459
80
mm.
Old English points
[
edit
]
Although the English Monotype manuals used 1 pica = .1660 inch, the manuals used on the European continent use another definition: there 1 pica = .1667 inch, the Old English pica.
As a consequence all the tables of measurements in the German, Dutch, French, Polish and all other manuals elsewhere on the European continent for the composition caster and the super-caster are different in quite some details.
The Monotype wedges used at the European continent are marked with an extra E behind the set-size: for instance: 5-12E, 1331-15E etc. When working with the E-wedges in the larger sizes the differences will increase even more.
[35]
Desktop publishing point
[
edit
]
The
desktop publishing point (DTP point)
or
PostScript point
is defined as
1
⁄
72
or 0.013
8
of the international inch, making it equivalent to
25.4
⁄
72
mm = 0.352
7
mm. Twelve points make up a pica, and six picas make an inch.
This specification was developed by
John Warnock
and
Charles Geschke
when they created
Adobe PostScript
. It was adopted by Apple Computer as the standard for the
display resolution
of the
original Macintosh
desktop computer and the print resolution for the
LaserWriter
printer.
[36]
[37]
In 1996, it was adopted by
W3C
for
Cascading Stylesheets
(CSS) where it was later related at a fixed 3:4 ratio to the
pixel
due to a general (but wrong) assumption of 96
pixel-per-inch
screens.
[
citation needed
]
Apple point
[
edit
]
Since the advent of high-density
"Retina"
screens with a much higher resolution than the original 72 dots per inch, Apple's programming environment
Xcode
sizes
GUI
elements in
points
that are scaled automatically to a whole number of physical
pixels
in order to accommodate for screen size, pixel density and typical viewing distance. This
Cocoa
point
is equivalent to the
pixel
px
unit in
CSS
, the
density-independent pixel
dp
on
Android
[38]
and the
effective pixel
epx
or
ep
in Windows
UWP
.
Font sizes
[
edit
]
In lead typecasting, most font sizes commonly used in printing have conventional names that differ by country, language and the type of points used.
Desktop publishing software and word processors intended for office and personal use often have a list of suggested font sizes in their user interface, but they are not named and usually an arbitrary value can be entered manually. Microsoft Word, for instance, suggests every even size between 8 and 28 points and, additionally, 9, 11, 36, 48 and 72 points, i.e. the larger sizes equal 3, 4 and 6 picas. While most software nowadays defaults to DTP points, many allow specifying font size in other units of measure (e.g., inches, millimeters, pixels), especially code-based systems such as TeX and CSS.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Phinney, Thomas (16 August 2012).
"Point Size and the Em Square: Not What People Think"
.
Phinney on Fonts
. Retrieved
26 February
2018
.
- ^
"15.7. Font size: the 'font-size' property"
,
Cascading Style Sheets Level 2 Revision 2 (CSS 2.2) Specification
, World Wide Web Consortium, 12 April 2016
, retrieved
26 February
2018
- ^
Mardersteig, Giovanni (1971).
The alphabet of Francesco Torniello da Novara [1517]: Followed by a comparison with the alphabet of Fra Luca Pacioli
. Officina Bodoni.
- ^
Healey, Robin (2011).
Italian Literature Before 1900 in English Translation: An Annotated Bibliography, 1929-2008
. University of Toronto Press.
ISBN
9781442642690
.
- ^
"4.3.2. Lengths"
,
Cascading Style Sheets, level 2 CSS2 Specification
, World Wide Web Consortium, 12 April 2016
, retrieved
26 February
2018
- ^
Various sources give different sizes, namely: ?
0.0135 in
, ?
0.0137 in
, ?
0.345 mm
, (exactly)
0.348
75
mm
, ?
0.349 mm
, ?
0.35 mm
.
- ^
JIS Z 8305.
活字の基準寸法
. Dimensions of Printing Types.
- ^
a
b
c
DIN 16507-1:1998 and its predecessors, at least since 1964, for lead typecasting defined 2660 points to measure 1000.333 mm at 20 °C, but for public communication it later introduced a rounder value.
- ^
a
b
DIN 16507-2 (1984, 1999) does not specify a custom unit for electronic typography, but measures using a module.
- ^
Fournier, Pierre Simon (1764).
Manuel typographique
. pp.
125
?138.
- ^
a
b
c
d
De Vinne, Theodore Low (1900).
The practice of typography
. Vol. 1. New York: Century Co. pp. 133?145.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Legros, Lucien Alphonse; Grant, John Cameron (1916).
Typographical Printing-Surfaces
. London and New York: Longmann, Green, and Co. pp. 57?60.
ISBN
9785872323303
.
- ^
Baines, Phil; Haslam, Andrew (2005).
Type & Typography
. Laurence King Publishing. p. 93.
ISBN
978-1-85669-437-7
.
- ^
L. Ronner,
Van leerling tot Zetter
, 1913, N.V.De nieuwe Tijd, Amsterdam, pag 30.
- ^
Smalian, Hermann (1899). "Type Systems of To-day".
The British Printer
.
XII
(68): 130?131.
They commissioned for this purpose the well-known Berlin brass rule manufacturer, H. Berthold, who supplies brass rules not only to most of the German foundries but also to many foreign houses, and he, in conjunction with Prof. W. Furster, the chief director of the Berlin Observatory, agreed that 2660 typographical points of the Didot system should correspond to one metre. Accordingly the Standard Gauge Commission in Berlin in 1879 arranged a standard measure of 30 centimetres = 133 nonpareil or 798 typographical points, and gave a copy to all the German foundries, and since that time disputes about the Didot depth were unknown in Germany.
- ^
a
b
c
Brekle, Herbert E. (1994).
"Typographie"
.
Schrift und Schriftlichkeit / Writing and its Use
. Walter de Gruyter. p. 210ff.
ISBN
978-3-11-020323-3
.
- ^
Funke, Fritz (1998).
Buchkunde
. De Gruyter. p. 194.
ISBN
978-3-11-094929-2
.
- ^
a
b
Blana, Hubert (1999).
Die Herstellung: Ein Handbuch fur die Gestaltung, Technik und Kalkulation von Buch, Zeitschrift und Zeitung
. Walter de Gruyter. p. 101.
ISBN
978-3-11-096787-6
.
- ^
"§1.3".
GOST
3489.1-71. Printing types (Russian and Roman graphic bases). Group arrangement. Indexing. Base line. Characters per 4 picas
ГОСТ 3489.1-71. Шрифты типографские (на русской и латинской графических основах). Группировка. Индексация. Линия шрифта. Емкость
(in Russian).
Кегль измеряется в типографских пунктах. Типографский пункт равен 0,376 мм.
- ^
(in Russian)
Статья 8. Пункт 11. //
ТР ТС 007/2011. Требования безопасности издательской (книжной и журнальной) продукции, школьно-письменных принадлежностей.
- ^
Mosley, James (1997). "French academicians and modern typography: designing new types in the 1690s".
Typography Papers
(2): 5?29.
The point in current use at the Imprimerie Nationale measures 0.39877 mm. This appears to be the result of a 'recalibration', for which no date can be given, of the point of 0.4 mm.
- ^
Bulletin du bibliophile
. Promodis. 2002. p. 73.
ISBN
9782765407768
.
These latter figures give the size in the 'points millimetriques' of about 0.4 mm that are said to have been introduced at the Imprimerie imperiale by Firmin Didot and which are the basis for the 'point IN' used today at the Imprimerie nationale.
- ^
"Type bodies compared"
.
Typefoundry
. 30 April 2008.
- ^
JIS X 4052:2000, JIS Z 8125:2004
- ^
"CSS Values and Units Module Level 3"
.
World Wide Web Consortium
. 29 September 2016.
- ^
"CSS Values and Units Module Level 3"
.
World Wide Web Consortium
. 11 June 2015.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
De Vinne, Theodore Low (1900).
The practice of typography
. Vol. 1. New York: Century Co. pp. 145?156.
- ^
Hyde, Grant Milnor (1920).
Newspaper Editing: A Manual for Editors, Copyreaders, and Students of Newspaper Desk Work
. New York and London: D. Appleton and Company. pp. 226?227.
- ^
Benjamin Franklin papers
,
Kislak Center for Special Collections
, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania
- ^
Updike, I, p. 257, II pp. 152-3
- ^
Allen Huet,
Fournier the compleat typographer
, 1972, London, Frederik Muller Ltd, page 3, 4, 62, 63
- ^
Shaw, Paul.
"From the Archives no. 12?The Formation of American Type Founders"
.
Blue Pencil
. Retrieved
September 6,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
"The American Point System"
.
American Printer and Lithographer
.
11
: 89. 1890.
- ^
Knuth, Donald E. (1990).
The TeXbook
(17th revised ed.). Addison-Wesley. p. 58.
- ^
Rich Hopkins, Origin of the American Point system for Printers; Type Measurement, Jill & Dale private Press, Terra Alta, West Virginia, 1976, 2e impression 1989
- ^
Tucker, H. A. (1988).
"Desktop Publishing"
. In Ruiter, Maurice M. de (ed.).
Advances in Computer Graphics III
. Springer. p. 296.
ISBN
3-540-18788-X
.
- ^
Spring, Michael B. (1991).
Electronic printing and publishing: the document processing revolution
. CRC Press. p. 46.
ISBN
0-8247-8544-4
.
- ^
"Support different pixel densities"
.
Android Developers Documentation
. Retrieved
21 June
2022
.
Further reading
[
edit
]