Table of Contents

Foreword.


Introduction.

I. TYPOGRAPHIC BASICS.

1. The State of the Art and How We Got Here.
The Building Blocks of Type. Evolution and Automation. Desktop Publishing Alters the Rules. Output Resolution and Type Quality.2. Units of Typographic Measurement.
Absolute Measurements. Relative Units. Other Units of Measure.3. About Typefaces.
Definitions: Font versus Typeface. Type Design and the Em Square. Type Anatomy. Optical Aspects of Typeface Design. Size Changes Everything. Principal Features of Typefaces. Typefaces as Role Players: Text, Display, and Decorative. Classifying Typefaces by Historical Period. Typeface-Naming Issues.4. About Fonts.
The Two Basic Kinds of Fonts: Outline and Bitmapped. What's in a Font? Cross-Platform Font—Compatibility Issues. Finding the Characters You Need. Identifying Font Formats. The Basics of Font Management. Font-Editing Programs.5. The Basics of Using Typefaces.
Readability. Traditional Roles for Seriffed and Sans Serif Types. Expressing Emphasis. Uses for Condensed and Extended Faces. Using Display Type. Using Decorative Type. Type in Color. Reverses.6. Typesetting versus Typewriting.
Pages Sizes and Line Lengths. Word Spaces. Line Endings and Carriage Returns. Typeface Choice and Point Size. Unavailable Characters. Tabs.7. Setting Type on a Personal Computer.
Typesetting and the Word Processing Legacy. How WYSIWYG Works. How Operating Systems Manage Fonts. Font Embedding. Font Copyright Issues.8. What Make Good Type Good (and Bad Type Bad).
Legibility and Readability. Type Color. Optical Effects and Alignment Problems. The Eyes Have It.

II. HOW TO SET TYPE.

9. Measure, Point Size, and Leading.
Line Length, or Measure. Leading. Typeface-Specific Considerations.10. Controlling Hyphenation and Justification.
What Hyphenation and Justification Means. Controlling Word and Letter Spaces. Controlling Hyphenation. How Measure Affects H&J. Specifying Word-Space Ranges in Ragged-Margin Type. Specifying Word-Space Ranges in Text with Justified Margins. Specifying Letter-Space Ranges. Altering Character Widths during H&J. Testing Your H&J Values. Fixing and Avoiding Composition Problems. Aesthetic Rags.11. Kerning and Tracking.
Definitions: Kerning and Tracking. Kerning in Practice. Using Tracking Controls.12. Managing Indention and Alignment.
Kinds of Indents. Skews and Wraps. Alignments of Characters and Text Blocks. Visual Alignment.13. Special Characters and Special Situations.
Extended Character Sets. Small Capitals. Old-Style Numbers. Ligatures, Logotypes, and Diphthongs. Swash Characters. Superiors, Inferiors, and Ordinals. Fractions. Dashes. Points of Ellipsis. Common Pi Characters. Accented Characters. Character-Specific Spacing Issues. Initial Capitals.14. Document Structures and Typographic Conventions.
Structural Elements. Navigation Tools. Independent Text Units. Indexes. Bibliographies.15. Tables.
The Structure of Tables. Table-Setting Techniques. Faking It.16. Language-Specific Issues.
Character Sets. Hyphenation. Time Expressions. Currency Symbols. British English versus American English. French Typographic Conventions. Spanish Typographic Conventions. Italian Typographic Conventions. German Typographic Conventions.17. Typesetting with Style Sheets.
How Style Sheets Work. Creating Style Sheets. Using Style Sheets.18. Output-Resolution Issues.
The Advantages of High-Resolution Output. Type Onscreen. Typography and the World Wide Web.Glossary. Index. Further Reading.

Promotional Information

With traditional type shops gone the way of the typewriter, the knowledge base that resided there is fast disappearing as well. It's not surprising, then, that when James Felici began writing a type column for Adobe's Web site, he was asked repeatedly to recommend a book that could answer these questions. But nothing fit the bill. Design books, yes, but no broad historical and practical reference about typesetting. This, is that book. Presented in a beautifully illustrated design format, The Big Type Book is the ultimate typesetting reference for publishing pros and educators. Part One of the book, Typographic Basics, moves from the first typesetting and printing systems all the way to the digital age. Included are chapters on the history and evolution of type, typefaces and fonts, setting type on personal computers, and more. Part Two, How to Set Type, gets down to the nitty-gritty with step-by-step instructions in all aspects of typesetting--from setting line length, point size, and letting, to kerning and tracking, nonstandard type treatments, and more. Beginners will want to read The Big Type Book from cover to cover, while more experienced type pros can go straight to the index to find focused answers to specific questions. For anyone who deals with type-publishing professionals, educators, students, and more--The Big Type Book provides historical perspective, practical guidance, and focused solutions.

About the Author

James Felici has worked in the publishing industry-in both editorial and production-for over 30 years. A veteran journalist and former managing editor of Publish magazine, he has set type by hand as well as on systems from IBM, Linotype, Compugraphic, CCI, and Magna. His other books include The Desktop Style Guide (Bantam/ITC), How to Get Great Type Out of Your Computer (North Light), and contributions to The Macintosh Bible (Peachpit Press). He writes for numerous publications including PC World,Macworld, and The Seybold Report, and is a featured speaker at Seybold Seminars, Macworld Expo, and other events worldwide.