typography Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...

, leading ( ) is the space between adjacent lines of type; the exact definition varies. In hand

typesetting Typesetting is the composition of text for publication, display, or distribution by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or '' glyphs'' in digital systems representing '' characters'' (letters and other ...

, leading is the thin strips of

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

(or

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

) that were inserted between lines of type in the

composing stick In letterpress printing and typesetting, a composing stick is a tray-like tool used to assemble pieces of metal type into words and lines, which are then transferred to a ''galley'' before being locked into a ''forme'' and printed. Many composi ...

to increase the vertical distance between them. The thickness of the strip is called leading and is equal to the difference between the size of the type and the distance from one baseline to the next. For instance, given a type size of 10

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

and a distance between baselines of 12 points, the leading would be 2 points. The term is still used in modern page-layout software such as

QuarkXPress QuarkXPress is desktop publishing software for creating and editing complex page layouts in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) environment. It runs on macOS and Windows. It was first released by Quark, Inc. in 1987 and is still owned and p ...

, the Affinity Suite, and

Adobe InDesign Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing and page layout designing software application software, application produced by Adobe Inc., Adobe and first released in 1999. It can be used to create works such as posters, flyers, brochures, magazines, ...

. Consumer-oriented word-processing software often talks of line spacing or, more accurately, interline spacing.

Origins

The word comes from

strips that were put between set lines of lead type, hence the pronunciation "ledding" and not "leeding". The practice became popular in the eighteenth century.

Practices

Leading can be used to enhance the legibility of a page or block of text. In ''The Elements of Typographic Style'',

Robert Bringhurst Robert Bringhurst Appointments to the Order of Canada (2013). (born 1946) is a CanadianWong (1999). poet, typographer and author. He has translated substantial works from Haida and Navajo and from classical Greek and Arabic. He wrote ''The El ...

recommends more leading for longer measures, and for typefaces with darker weight, larger x-height, a vertical axis, or no serifs. The typographer Matthew Butterick recommends leading between 20% and 45% of the font size. Line spacing comparison

Double spacing is an entrenched practice due to the era of

typewriters A typewriter is a Machine, mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of Button (control), keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an i ...

and, in academic settings, to allow the addition of handwritten comments and

proofreading Proofreading is a phase in the process of publishing where galley proofs are compared against the original manuscripts or graphic artworks, to identify transcription errors in the typesetting process. In the past, proofreaders would place corr ...

. Typewriters had a limited number of options for leading, and double spacing was chosen as a default. Double spacing increases the amount of unused white space on a page and reduces the number of lines on a page. Too much leading can cause continuity problems, as the eyes of the reader are required to travel a greater distance between lines of text. Text set "solid" (no leading) appears cramped, with ascenders almost touching

descender In typography and handwriting, a descender is the portion of a grapheme that extends below the Baseline (typography), baseline of a typeface, font. For example, in the letter ''y'', the descender is the "tail", or that portion of the diagonal li ...

s from the previous line. The lack of white space between lines makes it difficult for the eye to track from one line to the next, makes

rivers A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it ru ...

more obvious, and hampers readability.

Issues

Leading can be affected by a series of issues, all of which can be rectified or used to the printer's advantage. Negative leading applies only to digital type. An example of negative leading is (12/10) where 2 points are removed from the default leading. A negative leading could be viewed as a hindrance to readability. It would cause the text to be harder to read, as lines would be forced together, lessening room between lines and hindering readability. However, for short bursts of text a negative leading can enhance the message of the text and can create a more effective text. Negative leading can be affected by ascenders and descenders on certain letters. Letters with high ascenders and low descenders can interfere with one another between lines, if the leading is small enough to allow them to touch one another. Written texts with several portions that demand separate leading can lead to issue of text continuity. Written texts should have a standard leading that does not deviate from page to page. There are instances that call for a change in leading, such as when a block quote is placed within a written text. The lines on the front of a page and the

verso ''Recto'' is the "right" or "front" side and ''verso'' is the "left" or "back" side when text is written or printed on a leaf of paper () in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet. In double-sided printing, each leaf h ...

(back) should line up vertically, line for line. If there are several leadings contained on one page, this convention can be completely negated. Fonts can also affect the need for leading. No two fonts are exactly alike, and for that reason many have characteristics that demand a certain leading. Fonts that are darker require a wider leading than those that are lighter. As well, fonts that are

serif In typography, a serif () is a small line or stroke regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter or symbol within a particular font or family of fonts. A typeface or "font family" making use of serifs is called a serif typeface ( ...

should be leaded wider than those that are

sans serif In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif (), gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than ...

. Languages can decide the leading that a printer uses as well. Leading is an important issue to consider when printing, as it can enhance readability, but it can also affect the number of pages, as larger leadings decrease the number of lines per page. In this way the leading of a page can have a profound effect on the written text.

Examples

This block of text has default leading:

''Typography'' (Greek: ''typos'' "form", ''graphein'' "to write") is the art and technique of setting written subject matter in type using a combination of typeface styles, point sizes, line lengths, line leading, character spacing, and word spacing to produce typeset artwork in physical or digital form.

The same block of text set with 50% leading:

''Typography'' (Greek: ''typos'' "form", ''graphein'' "to write") is the art and technique of setting written subject matter in type using a combination of typeface styles, point sizes, line lengths, line leading, character spacing, and word spacing to produce typeset artwork in physical or digital form.

The same block of text at 100% leading:

''Typography'' (Greek: ''typos'' "form", ''graphein'' "to write") is the art and technique of setting written subject matter in type using a combination of typeface styles, point sizes, line lengths, line leading, character spacing, and word spacing to produce typeset artwork in physical or digital form.

On the World Wide Web

In CSS, leading refers to the difference between the content height and the value of the line-height
/code> property. Half the leading is called the half-leading. User agents center glyphs vertically in an inline box, which adds half-leading on the top and bottom. For example, if a piece of text is "12pt" high and the line-height value is "14pt", 2pt of extra space should be added: 1pt above and 1pt below the text (this applies to empty boxes as well, as if the empty box contained zero-height text).

Feathering

The leading may be increased to align the bottom line of text on a page in a process known as feathering, carding, or vertical justification.

Bastard fonts

In metal typesetting some fonts have default increased or decreased leading. To achieve this, a smaller font face is cast on the body of a larger font or vice versa. Such fonts are usually called "bastard" fonts or types. The usual way of indicating such a font is to write the face size first, then a slash and the body size: 10/12 means a 10-point face on a 12-point body, and 12/10 means a 12-point face on a 10-point body.

References

{{Typography terms Typography Whitespace pl:Leading (typografia)

Origins

Practices

Issues

Examples

On the World Wide Web

Feathering

Bastard fonts

See also

References