Hey 42

[stacer]

Or anyone else who can tell me about typography.

Current paperback version of Earthsea that I'm looking at here has 10pt type and, as far as I can tell (don't know if I'm using the ruler correctly) 11pt leading. I'm looking at some books that are coming out recently, and the leading is so wide, that 15pts on my ruler is not measuring it (that's the highest it goes). Type is 12pt. Another has 8pt type, but the leading ruler still doesn't match with anything under 15 pt. Do you happen to know what the standard leading is nowadays on YA hardback fantasy? 16? 17?

I just got this pica ruler and haven't really ever known how to use it. Perhaps there's another place on the ruler that I can use to figure it out? How do you calculate leading--baseline to baseline?

FYI, this ruler has a leading gauge, a computer picas scale, inches, point size samples, rule thickness samples, and a computer point scale. But I really don't know what I'm doing with it.

[42]

Leading is defined as the distance from baseline to baseline.

With body type, the leading is usually 2 points higher than the text size.

But there is no standard rule. Leading and text size is something layout artist love to play with. Editors usually like to have standards for text and stuff but layout artist despise these. Also, marketing likes to play with body text as it can help sell a book if its a little different from what people would expect.

The trend right now is to use small text with lots of leading. Doesn't help with the continiuity of reading from one line to the next, but it does make reading the lines themselves easier.

In short, the standard is whatever the person doing the typography and layout thinks looks good.

[stacer]

Yeah, I guess I didn't word it right. I guess I wasn't looking for a standard so much as a general range. In other words, it could be more than the 15 pts my ruler will measure.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

You could try using a normal ruler and divide inches by 72 to get points.

Default leading in InDesign is 120% of font size. I don't think I have anything recent in ya hardback fantasy to check.

TOKYPOP uses font size+1pt for leading in manga, but that doesn't help you. The leading in Slayers is rather more but I don't know the exact number.

[42]

As I said, it's commonly about 2 points higher. Twice the font size is double spaced. So there is a lot of variance. Yes it can be more that 15 pt. There just isn't anything that is absolutely unacceptable. I would say that leading larger than three times the font size is getting rediculous. But I've seen it done in advertising.

[stacer]

Another typography question. If I emailed you a sample of text, would you be able to identify the font? I've run it through myfonts.com but it came up with about four different fonts that it could be.

[42]

go ahead and send it.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Did you try Identifont.com? Also, of the four fonts that Whatthefont thought it was, can you tell if one of them was right?

[stacer]

Didn't try identifont, but 42 was able to figure it out for me. I'll have to remember identifont.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Out of curiosity, what font was it, and did whatthefont get close?

I've got a font I'd love to identify, but it's a Japanese font, so I've got no clue  where to even start.

[42]

Vendetta Light

[Fellfrosch]

Vendetta is a sweet name for a font.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

Is it just a blockier Palatino? I like the look of it, a little angular and sinister, but still elegent.