Page:The practice of typography; correct composition; a treatise on spelling, abbreviations, the compounding and division of words, the proper use of figures and nummerals by De Vinne, Theodore Low, 1828-1914.djvu/214

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How to vary the spacing of words

letters, like d, b, g, y, and the capitals, about three fourths; others, like j and Q, nearly the full height of the type body. Some are upright, like I and H; others are angled, like A and L, or Y and W. When a word ends with the letter d, and the next word begins with the letter h or H, the space between

them may be wider than it is between a word ending with e and the next word beginning with o. On the contrary, a word ending with y when followed by another word beginning with W should have a thinner space between them. Short letters like o, e, s, c, at ends and beginnings of words take thin spaces. Irregular characters, like ., ', that fill but a small portion of the body, and angled characters, like y, w, A, L, Y, V, etc., at the ending and beginning of words, should have the bits of blanks made by their irregularities reckoned as a part of the spacing. It is not practicable to make these distinctions with small types, but a discrimination in the selection of spaces is desirable and even necessary with types larger than twelve-point.

These niceties are possible in hand composition only. In the work of automatic type-setting and justifying machines a special adjustment of spaces between words in the same line is impossible. In