Line spacing
The line spacing is the distance between the baselines of successive lines of a text represented by means of font in a multi-line text column (font). The line spacing results from the cone height (line height) or font size (font size) plus the leading . It is usually given in the same typographical unit as the font size or the font size, mostly in points . The line spacing is common today in word processing and typesetting, in metal typesetting times the leading was used.
The line spacing is essential for the legibility of a text, as both too small and too large spacing ( called "picket fence" among typographers ) makes it difficult to track line breaks. Together with the typeface, it determines the gray value of a text block, which is important for the design of a text.
Until the invention of phototypesetting , the minimum line spacing was determined by the height of the font of a letter (not to be confused with the capital height). A document with this minimum spacing is called a compress . If the line spacing was to be increased, the lines in the lead type had to be provided with leading - non-printing blank material that fills the desired spacing between the fonts. Fonts with a larger line spacing than kompress are therefore called interleaved sentences.
The usual line spacing for continuous text is in the range of 120% of the font size or the conical height of a font, which results in a line spacing of 12 points for a 10-point font. In technical terms, such a text is set to “10 on 12 points”; Compress would be set at “10 to 10 points”. Closer line spacing was only technically possible thanks to phototypesetting and its successors, but because of the severely restricted legibility, they are rarely used for longer texts.
Web link
- Wolfgang Beinert: Line spacing and leading . In: Typolexikon.de. The Lexicon of Western European Typography. Retrieved September 18, 2012