[XeTeX] Font sizes and line spacings

[John Was]

Hi

I'll leave LaTeX users to respond on your technical points.  As to the point-size/interline space ratio, the decision will depend partly on the font (Baskerville has rather tall capitals but other fonts don't, and could tolerate a slightly reduced interlinear leading while still giving a reasonably comfortable effect for the reader).   The text-width of your document is also a very important consideration:  Something like 12/15 might be great for a large book at 32 picas width, but would be hopelessly too large for say a standard 24-pica text width, where perhaps 10/12 would be OK for a reasonably chunky font, maybe something like 10.5/13 for a more delicate font.  It's partly an aesthetic decision, but should always be taken with a view to the most comfortable experience for the reader:  the eye should not have to travel too far from the end of one line to the start of the next, and the lines should not be so tightly together that the reader has to strain to follow the text.  The best typography, like the best copy-editing, is (nearly) always invisible - readers shouldn't be aware of it as they absorb the content of the text.

Not that it's always easy to put the theory into practice!


John



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Meho R. 
  To: XeTeX 
  Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 2:23 PM
  Subject: JunkEmail: [SPAM] [XeTeX] Font sizes and line spacings


  Hi,

  I have couple of questions, one is general about a typographic topic, and others are about fonts and spacing in XeTeX:

  1. Which is the ideal ratio font_size/line_spacing? In some Adobe docs I saw that they mention (indirectly) 11/13 pt, 12/14 pt, 13/15 pt? On the other side, some apps automatically set 11/13.2 pt, 12/14.4 pt, 13/15.6 pt. So which one is recommended?

  2. How to change/set size of main font in XeTeX and retain line spacing (I mean default LaTeX line spacing)? I know that Scale option isn't for this because it doesn't add enough line space. So, how to do it? E.g. I want Adobe Garamond Pro for main font, exactly 13pt in size, with default LaTeX line spacing for that font size.

  3. Is there a mechanism to set ratios mentioned in point 1.: e.g. How to get 13/15 for Adobe Garamond Pro as main font in XeTeX? 

  4. If I set \lineskiplimit to negative value (-1000) and need to set spacing manually through \setstretch command (package setspace), how to calculate ratio from 1. and 3.?





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