Re: space space

[Jim Grey <jwg -at- ACD4 -dot- ACD -dot- COM>]

LaVonna is lost in space:
>My editor yesterday told me to globally change my 2 spaces
>after each sentence to 1 space after each sentence.  The
>two-space habit is so engrained that I don't know if I
>can switch.  I also think this is a bit of personal preference.

>What do you think?

This two-space thing is a holdover from the typewriter days.  I
remember my 8th-grade typing teacher, Mrs. Brewer, harping on
the two-space rule as we banged away on our Olympia manuals.
(This was *just* before they bought PCs and Wordstar and suddenly
"Typing 1" became "Keyboarding 1".)

Supposedly, in this age of dtp, one space after the period is
supposed to do it.  But I just don't like the way it looks.  I
still think extra space is needed between sentences so they can,
I dunno, "breathe" or something.

I have a couple of books lying around here on typesetting, and
they give a real sense that text should strike the right balance
between density and readability.  I claim that, for the body-text
typefaces I regularly use (Times, New Century Schoolbook, and
Garamond), two spaces helps make that balance.

Peace,
jim grey
--
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