A collection of 24 typographical terms accompanied by their definitions and visual examples of each.
Typographic Glossary s e a n edg a r
Old Style 1. Kerning 2. Baseline 3. Leading 4. Counter Form 5. X-height 6. Point Size 7. Small Capitals 8. Rivers 9. Margins 10. Column Gutter 11. Ragged Setting 12. Type Weight 13. Serif 14. Paragraph Indent 15. Justified Setting 16. Tracking 17. Word Space 18. Ligatures 19. Hyphen 20. Line Measure 21. Widows & Orphans 22. Apostrophe 23. En-dash 24. Old Style Figures
Kerning To alter the fit of certain letter combinations so that the limb of one projects over or under the body or limb of another.
Over Kerning 01
Baseline The line on which letterforms rest. Round letters like “e” and “o” normally dent it, pointed letters like “v” and “w” normally pierce it, and letters with foot serifs like “h” and “l” usually rest precisely upon it.
Wxy 02
Leading Originally a horizontal strip of soft metal (such as lead) used for vertical spacing between lines of type. Now meaning the vertical distance, negative or positive, of the baseline of one line to the baseline of the next from a solid setting.
03
Counter Form The white space enclosed by a letterform, whether wholly enclosed (as in “d” or “o”) or partially (as in “c” or “m”).
enter 04
x-height The distance between the baseline and the midline of an alphabet, normally the approximate height of the unextended lowercase letters (a, c, e, m, n...).
exit 05
Point Size A point is a unit of measurement used to measure typefaces. It equals one twelfth of a pica, which is .3515mm, or .01383 of an inch. There are 72 points per inch.
50pt
Tall 06
Small Capitals Small capitals (usually abbreviated small caps) are uppercase (capital) characters set at the same height and weight as surrounding lowercase (small) letters or text figures.
Small 07
Rivers Rivers, or rivers of white, are gaps appearing to run down a paragraph of text, due to a coincidental alignment of spaces. The Amazon River in South America is the second longest in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined (not including Madeira and Rio Negro, which are tributaries of the Amazon). The Amazon, which has the largest drainage basin in the world, about 7,050,000 square kilometres (2,720,000 sq mi), accounts for approximately one-fifth of the world’s total river flow.
08
Margins In Typography, a margin is the space that surrounds the content of a page. The margin helps to define where a line of text begins and ends. The Amazon River in South America is the second longest in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined (not including Madeira and Rio Negro, which are tributaries of the Amazon). The Amazon, which has the largest drainage basin in the world, about 7,050,000 square kilometres (2,720,000 sq mi), accounts for approximately one-fifth of the world’s total river flow.
09
Column Gutter The space between columns of type, usually determined by the number and width of columns and the overall width of the area to be filled. Sometimes a rule is used instead of blank space. For example, this column, is column one. It is the exact same size and has the same formatting as column two.
This is column two. The space between column one and two (highlighted in red) is the column gutter.
10
Ragged Setting The side of a column that the text is not aligned to i.e. if the type is set flush left, it would be ragged right.
For example, this column, is aligned flush right and is therefore ragged left.
This column, however is aligned flush left and is therefore ragged right.
11
Type Weight The line on which letterforms rest. Round letters like “e” and “o” normally dent it, pointed letters like “v” and “w” normally pierce it, and letters with foot serifs like “h” and “l” usually rest precisely upon it.
1g 10g 100g 1000g 12
Serif A stroke added to the beginning or end of one of the main strokes of a letter.
13
Paragraph Indent To indent is to start a line of text further in on the page than the other text around or below it. Professionally printed material typically does not indent the first paragraph, but indents those that follow.
14
Justified Setting In typesetting, justification (can also be referred to as ‘full justification’) is the typographic alignment setting of text or images within a column or “measure” to align along both the left and right margin. Text set this way is said to be “justified”.
15
Tracking Adjusting the letterspacing and wordspacing of a range of characters by the same amount. This is in addition to any kerning adjustments made.
E xo sphere
16
Word Space Word spacing in typography refers to the size of the space between words in a sentence, paragraph, header and so on.
An exosphere is the uppermost layer of an atmosphere.
17
Ligatures Two or more letters tied into a single character to perfectly design their spatial interaction.
18
Hyphen The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word.
x-ray 19
Line Measure Measure in typography refers to the width of a block or column of text from the left margin to the right margin. Punctuation should preferably hang outside the measure. A tape measure or measuring tape is a flexible form of ruler. It consists of a ribbon of cloth, plastic, fiber glass, or metal strip with linear-measurement markings. It is a common measuring tool. Its flexibility allows for a measure of great length to be easily carried in pocket or toolkit and permits one to measure around curves or corners.
20
Widows & Orphans A widow is the final line of a paragraph that is left over onto the top of the next column. Whereas, an orphan is a single word that is left over on the last line at end of paragraph. A widow is a spouse has died. woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents.
21
Apostrophe The apostrophe is a punctuation mark that serves the purpose of the marking of the omission of one or more letters and the marking of possessive case.
Don’t 22
En-dash En Dash gets its name from its length. It is one ‘N’ long (En is a typographical unit that is almost as wide as ‘N’). En Dash is used to express a range of values or a distance.
1–0 23
Old Style Figures Oldstyle figures are a style of numeral which approximate lowercase letterforms by having an x-height and varying ascenders and descenders. Oldstyle figures have more of a traditional, classic look.
96 24