Sunday, 19 November 2017

Typesetting: Rules, Theories, and practical uses

Typesetting

Typesetting is the composition of texts by means of arranging physical types or the digital equivalents. Stored letters and other symbols (called sort in mechanical systems and glyphs in digital systems) are retrieved and ordered according to a language's orthography for visual display.

Orthology: The conventional spelling system of a language. In use: a spoken language which has as yet no sanctioned orthography.


As you read, the movements from the eyes are called saccades. These movements alternate with fix periods lasting 0.2- 0.4 seconds.

The perception of the line are in series of saccades, consequently includes a large saccade of when the eye jumps back to the left to start the next line. Information are absorbed in these fixed periods.

Only 3-4 letters of the word are focused on sharply during a fixed period. The rest are perceived by the eye indistinctly and their context. If the word is unclear the eye travels back to reinterpret the text.

Typography includes 3 elements: The letter- design of the individual characters/glyphs and anatomy.

The word-how these glyphs fit together.

The line-combination and arrangement of words in a body or sequence.

The history of Typesetting 



Letterpress

Letterpress is a form of print using a printing press. The process creates many copies produced by repeating a direct impression of ink against paper. Letterpress was the first way of producing printed letterforms, it was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in mid 15th century. It was mainly used for newspapers and books for education.

To create letterpress by hand, hold the composing stick and place the metal type. Place Lead between each line of type. To line up each line of type, place the longest line first then line up the shorter lines of type. Ensure you place the type from left to right. With spacing material, the prompts are called ‘em spacing’ which are the same size as a lowercase o. To lock the type in place Quoins, this will stop the type falling out. The ink used for printing is oil based ink. To clean up use vegetable oil to remove the oil based ink.

Industry have developed digital resources to speed up the process of type setting. This is through desktop publishing and digitalisation.



Adobe Type



Adobe softwares have developed options such as pt size, metric/ optical kerning, leading, tracking, scale and skewing options. 

Typography is not an art form, or an exact science, but rather a craft.


Hiarchy

In every communication, some messages are more important compared to others. Different qualities are applied onto type such as size, style, weight, colour and, treatment. These qualities are applied to emphasize the elements that require it. 

This hierarchy of different type sizes, styles and weights, can be used to initiate the levels of importance for individual lines. 


Alignment

Left Text

Left alignment is a most common arrangement of text as it allows easy reading and typesetting. 

Justified Text

Justified text ensures a clean and classic finish. A careless set can give a distorted aesthetic. Proper justification is a tricky technique to master. 

Centred and Right Alignment

Centred and right alignment is not commonly used and is hard to read. 

Rag is referred to the irregular or uneven vertical margin of a block of type, often on the right edge. 


The Rag/ Ragged Edge 








Paragraphs 

A consistent paragraphs style will help cement the look and feel of your typography. Type alignment and paragraph breaks both affect the overall look. For greater control paragraphs styles are set up in digital type setting. 

Indented

In successive paragraphs the first line is indented. Indented examples is a space before the sentences begins. 

Full line break 

An alternative to identing is using a full line break to separate paragraphs of texts. 





Letting spacing: Leading

Leading refers to the distance between the baseline of successive lines of type. The term originates from letter pressing of pieces of lead being used to space out the distance between the lines.  Text that is set with bad leading appears cramped with the ascenders and descenders almost touching. A lack of white space makes it hard to read. 

Text that is set with bad leading appears cramped with the ascenders and descenders almost touching. A lack of white space makes it hard to read. 


Tracking

Tracking refers to the amount of space between a group of letters. Readability decreases when a negative track is applied. Wide tracking opens up the type, giving it a spacious feel. However this can become less readable if it is used intensely. As a rule below -40 and above +40 tracking are not advised. 

Kerning 

Kerning is the process of adjusting the space  between individual characters/ letterforms in a proportional way, to achieve a visual pleasing result. With some letter pairings, often letter overhang, kerning is applied with extra attention. 

Hidden Character

Invisible characters such as returns, spaces, tabs, only appear when you have 'show hidden characters' turned on. This is useful to identify the structure as well as double spaces and unintentional line breaks. 


Line Length 

For fluid reading depends on the line length. This includes characters between 40-75 characters, or 7-12 words. An overly short line length causes a more extreme and unattractive rag in a body of text. An overly long line length decreases legibility which makes the text hard to read. 



Widows and Orphans

Widows and Orphans are words left hanging from blocked text.

Dashes and Spaces

Hyphens are used for word division. 

En dash are used to indicate range, distance/ time. The En Dash is used to read as 'to' or 'through'.

The Em Dash can take the place of commas, parenthesis, or colons-in each case to slightly different effect. 

Grids 

Raster System: 

Josef Mulle- Brockmann

Grids are the most important and invisible part of design and typography. This is a fundamental part of specific graphic design such as Swiss and Modernist type. 

The Raster System presents a grid in 8-32 grid fields, which can be adaptable in design. Grids are used to organise type and control the overall appearance. 

Rivers

In typography, rivers are gaps in typesetting which run through paragraphs due to alignment of spaces. Rivers are most noticeable by text justification or monospaced fonts. 

Typographers test rivers by turning a proof sheet upside down to examine the text. This is done as text new less recognisable and the type is viewed as an overall pattern. 

A disadvantage to justified text. 

Baseline Grid

The baseline grid is a technique used in modernist typesetting. It aligns the text to a vertical grid where the bottom of each letter is positioned onto a grid. The layout is like a lined paper. The baseline grid is the same regardless of type size, weight , style, and spacing. The text will always sit on a a baseline. 

Hyphanate 

Hyphenation is a process of breaking u words to create a consistent flow across text. In left alignment text, hyphenation evens the the irregular right edge of the text, called the rag. 

This is optional as the rag will be irregular even with hyphenation. As the line length gets shorter the hyphenation becomes essential. 

Hyphenation is a subjective design choice. It is up to debate. 










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