Narrowcondensedfacesusedto becalled“compnxsed”.Theycram about
fivecharacteminthespacewherethreeusuallygo--ideal for spreadsheets.
An extendedface, particularlyon adot-matrix printer,goes by several
names:“expanded,
““enlarged”or’’double-width’’printing.Nomatterwhat
it’scalled,extendedprintiswiderthan itis high,andcan befairly effective
inpage headings.
Italiccharacters(sometimescalled“oblique”)areslanted.Ordinaryupright
charactemmoftencalled“reman”.YourStarLaserPrinter4comeswitha
built-inuprightCourier typeface.Moreover,from any of the Star Laser-
Printer4’s built-in typefacesyou can selectasubset of uprightsymbols
calledRoman-8.
Afont isacompletesetof charactersinaparticularsizeandtypeface.Inthe
worldoflaserprintm, thethreevariablesmentionedabove—weight,width
andstyle— areafew~ont attributes(sometimescalled“fontcharacteris-
tics”).Let’sconsiderthree moreattributes:fontheight,spacing andpitch.
3.1.2Font height
Thebizselineistheinvisiblelineuponwhichcharactemoftypesit.Sincethe
firstletterblocksweremadeof leadalloy,the distancefromonebaselineto
thenext iscalled Zeuding(pronounced“ledding”).Typeitselfis measured
fromthetopof anuscender(thepartextendingupinthebork, for example)
tothe bottomof adescender(thedown-strokeof theyor q).
Themeasurementsusedtodescribefontsarepoint,sandpicus(derivedfrom
themarksand lettersin medievalchurchalmanacs).Thereare 12pointsto
thepica,,andalmost exactly6picas(72 points)to the inch.
Laserprintersforcomputemmeasure~ontheightinpoints.Onlaserprinte~
the“white space”aboveascendersandbelowdescendemdependsonhow
the line is defined,so the line eonesponds to leading.This type you’re
readinghasafontheightof 12 points,andis spacedalittlelessthan 5lines
perinch.
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