Re: Spaces after full stop

Subject: Re: Spaces after full stop
From: "Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>
To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2007 13:59:22 -0700

Up until the 1970's (the last time I worked with typeset
documents),
the printing standard was 1.5 spaces following a colon or
the end
of a sentence, a practice that was referred to as "French
spacing."
Two spaces was the standard for "French spacing" in
typewritten
manuscripts that would be set, because it provided a visual
cue to
the setters that enabled them to work quickly without having
to
read everything they set (and, of course, because you can't
lay
down 1.5 spaces with a manual typewriter).

The first electronic typesetting system I worked with
distinguished
between a "period," which was automatically followed by 1.5
spaces,
and a "point" (as in decimal point), which was followed by
no space,
by using separate characters on a customized keyboard. The
only
circumstance in which a period/point was followed by exactly
one
space was initials, and this was achieved by using the
"point"
character followed by a hard (typed) space. This was all
pre-DTP,
of course.

Gene Kim-Eng



----- Original Message -----
From: <brianlindgren -at- aol -dot- com>
To: <lt34 -at- csus -dot- edu>; <dossy -at- panoptic -dot- com>;
<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 12:16 PM
Subject: Re: Spaces after full stop


> Actually, typesetting had the rule of a single space after
> a period. It was typewriting that had two spaces -- again,
> because of the monotype issue (Courier font in the case of
> a typewriter).
>
> Not sure about the rule for old hot type typesetting, but
> for all electronic typesetting, the rule was to use a
> single space after punctuation.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.


References:
Re: Spaces after full stop: From: brianlindgren

Previous by Author: Re: Inflammable vs. flammable
Next by Author: Re: Spaces after full stop
Previous by Thread: Re: Spaces after full stop
Next by Thread: Re: Spaces after full stop


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads