Fig. 5
For ordinary measures a line of perfect 12-point quads will be a good gage. For very short measures, as in tabular column heads, 6-point quads should be used. A gage that will be more uniformly accurate is a line of 12-point letters (for short measures) or 24-point letters (for longer measures) from a font of foundry-cast type. These should be set in the stick with the nicks sideways, not in front as for composition. The body-size of cast type is the most accurate of any point-size material, and as 12-point and 24-point fonts are at hand in every composing room they furnish a convenient and reliable standard at all times.
Usually the knee should be set lightly against the gage when the thumbscrew is tightened. A good plan is to put a slip of paper at one end of the line of quads or letters (See A, Fig. 5), and to push up the knee firmly. A line of many separate types will not fit together as solidly as a line of a few quads; to allow for a little compression in the line when it is locked up later the slight fullness is given in setting the stick. In setting measures for tabular columns and for very short lines the slip of paper is not necessary.
Fig. 6
It is important that the outer end of the knee should be kept at a right angle to make the stick square, in order that the first and last lines of the stickful should be of exactly the same length. If there is any doubt about this, test the front of the stick by moving the gage line forward when the measure is adjusted. If the gage line is looser here than at the back, the outer end of the knee may be closed in by inserting a piece of card between the knee and the back plate, as is shown at A in Fig. 6.
When the measure is set, make the thumbscrew as tight as possible with the fingers. Do not use a wrench, as this is liable to give unnecessary force and break the small clamp.
Make it a practice to try the thumbscrew occasionally while using the stick to prevent the knee from becoming loose, as it may in case the lines are justified tightly.
Use of the Composing Rule
Lines of type are easier handled by the aid of a composing rule. It is not practicable to set small types in the stick without some support or to set a second line immediately next to another without a lead or rule to separate them. The composing rule furnishes a smooth surface against which to place the types as they are assembled and to keep them in line while the respacing and justifying is done. The rule is also convenient for lifting lines out into the galley and for handling them in later operations.
Sets of these rules can be purchased from supply houses or they may be made from a discarded strip of brass rule (2-point or 3-point), by trimming one end so as to leave a nib 10 points long.
Composing rules are not used now as much as formerly, owing to the fact that hand composition is largely in the nature of job work. A compositor in a day sets a great variety of line-lengths, many of them in large types, and he dispenses with the composing rule as a needless tool, using instead the ready-at-hand leads and slugs needed for the page. In many cases this is advisable. Yet when there are many lines of one length to set and to correct and later to make up into pages, the composing rule is recommended as a useful accessory.
Setting Type
With a correct plan of the case before him the beginner at typesetting may go at his work with confidence that one part of his work is simplified and he can devote his attention to the next steps, that is, to learn to hold the stick comfortably and to pick up the types and put them in line.
Fig. 7
The accompanying illustration shows the manner of holding the stick. Notice that it is held in the left hand, leaving the right hand free to pick up the letters. Type must be set right-handedly even by left-handed persons. The types are placed in the left corner of the stick with the nicks outward, and each type as it is placed is held gently by the thumb of the left hand.
The stick is always held with the open side slightly tilted up to allow the types to lie against the composing rule, and the left thumb follows each type along the line to keep it from falling out of place.
The beginner will usually try to read his first words in type by turning the stick so that the bottom of the line is toward him. This is not the way experienced compositors do, however. The printer reads his type lines up-side-down, with the top of the line toward him. In this way he reads the lines from left to right, just as he would the printed page except that the top of the type page is nearest to him.
It must be remembered that any printing form is the reverse of the printed sheet. The simplest way is to reverse the page from top to bottom rather than from right to left. Just turn this page face down on the table and you can readily imagine what the types that printed it would look like.
A compositor should always read his copy ahead of his setting and try to get the sense of the words. This will make it easier for him to carry in his mind a number of words at a time in advance of picking up the types. One who must constantly refer to his copy word for word will waste valuable time hunting for his place, will have greater difficulty in keeping the sequence of words, and will be far more liable to make mistakes. Concentration of mind is absolutely essential if he hopes to become a good compositor.
Fig. 8
The nicks on the type bodies are important in helping to pick them up in such a manner that they may be carried to the stick and put in place right side up quickly. Look for a particular type in the box and note the nick first. Select one that can be carried to the stick right side up with the fewest motions. While it is going to its place look for the next type and have the left thumb in the stick do its share of the team work. Fumbling for a type, picking it up and turning it over several times to find the nick before it can be put in the line is a habit that should be guarded against as a positive handicap. Study to avoid as much as possible all superfluous motions. Do not mistake nervous, fussy, trust-to-luck motions for speed; they are usually the reverse. Be deliberate and accurate, even if slow at the start. Learn first to do it right, then strive to do it quickly. Speed is important, but correctness is much more so.
Justifying the Lines
Each line of type must end with a completed word or a syllable. When the line is first set, however, it rarely happens that the types fill the line snugly without more or less changing of the spaces. If a little more room is needed to take in the last letter or two of a word, the spaces are changed for thinner ones until the word is brought in. On the other hand, if there remains a little space after the last word or syllable, the spaces are increased a little until the line is full. Just when to thin space and bring in a word or syllable or when to fill out the line with wider spaces depends upon whether the composition generally is to be thin spaced or is to be wide spaced.
Changing the spaces is done by pushing the top of the space from between the words with the one that is to be inserted in its place. The new space is dropped in and the old one picked out and put in the case where it belongs, the thumb in the stick meanwhile keeping the line from falling. Changing the spaces in this manner should be done with care in order to avoid injuring the face of adjoining types.
Another method of changing spaces is to lift up the wrong space by an upward pressure of the left thumb and pick it out with the right thumb and forefinger, afterward inserting the new space.
A line of type is well justified when it will stand up in the stick without other support than its own tightness. Lines that will fall down when the composing stick is slightly tipped forward are too loosely justified. On the other hand, they should not be so tight that they will be difficult to lift out when the stickful is taken out on the galley. Unnecessary tightness is liable to injure small types at the end of the lines. Careless compositors will sometimes force a type into place so tightly that it will shave a slight film of metal from the adjoining types, the metal remaining under the feet of the letters which will make them higher than the surrounding letters.
Long lines require a little firmer justification than short ones, because the greater number of pieces, especially if the type is old, will compress more than the fewer number in the short line when they are later locked up in the chase.
Leads and brass rules should not be so long that they bind tightly when they are placed in the measure. When this happens the type lines near them will rarely lock up tight without very great pressure in the chase.
The beginner at composition is not at first apt to realize the importance of careful justification. It is not till later when he must lock up the types for printing that he learns why they must be exactly upright to give the proper impression and carefully fitted together to hold solidly in the form.
The first point to note is that the types should be squarely on their feet in the stick when the line is justified. If they are leaning forward or backward and left this way the line will be short when the types are later straightened up on the galley or in the form. It is wise, therefore, before going to the next line to make sure that all types are on their feet when the final letter or justifying space is inserted.
Emptying the Stick
For the first few stickfuls, until the apprentice learns how to handle the lines without pi-ing, leads should be put between all the lines in the stick, even if they are to be taken out later to print the type as solid matter. A lead should be put at the top of the first line and after the last line in the stick. If a composing rule is used, this may or may not be kept with the lines. Many compositors insert the composing rule at the top of the first line while lifting the lines out of the stick, as the rule gives a good surface by which to take hold of the matter.
It is a good plan not to fill the stick too full before emptying. A few lines at first will be enough to practice with, until the knack of grasping the matter all around and lifting out is acquired.
Fig. 9
The galley should be placed on the case or on an adjoining stand or inclined support, with the head turned toward the right. If the lines have been properly justified, there is no need to open the measure of the stick to extricate lines that seem very tight. In this case take out the lines separately, but keep the measure unchanged till the work is done.
The stick is emptied in the following manner, as illustrated in the accompanying diagram: Lay the stick near the bottom of the galley, with the top line or back of the stick at the lower rim of the galley. The two forefingers are then placed in the stick after the last line and the two thumbs beside the top line. The second fingers, doubled up, are pressed against the ends of the lines at both sides. Thus holding the lines evenly all around, the top lines are lifted slightly with a turning motion to bring the feet of the type upward. This gives a chance for the thumbs to get a better hold down beside the top line. The small fingers are meanwhile holding the stick down against the upward motion of the matter, while the lines are taken out. The types should then be held in a horizontal position, while the compositor turns his right side to the galley. Still holding the lines firmly, he next turns them feet down in the lower corner, with the beginning of the lines at the lower rim. (Do not release hold until the matter is close against the rim of the galley, keeping the middle fingers at the ends of lines to prevent any types from dropping out of place. If any types should drop, take hold of the handful again and move it farther down the galley, pick up the loose type and then slide the lines to the head of the galley and insert the missing type.)
Fig. 11
When first placed on the galley the type is liable to be a little off its feet. Have a piece of good metal furniture 8 × 20 picas to place beside the lines, first at the bottom and then at the ends of the lines, and use this to square up the types on their feet.
An untrained compositor is prone to use more thin spaces than are necessary, and he quickly finds that there are not enough in the case to meet his wants. He puts in extra thin spaces to fill out the line instead of changing the spaces already in for thicker ones. He inserts 5-spaces beside 3-spaces through the line because this appears the easiest way, though in the end it is neither the quickest nor the best way. When wide spacing is necessary it is usually better to change the 3-spaces for en quads, and if the line does not then quite justify to put double spaces between long words or those having tall letters. Obviously it is not wise to put in two 4-spaces when there is a plentiful supply of en quads at hand. By using two thin spaces where one thick space will suffice the supply of thin spaces is soon exhausted, while there will be an over-supply of the thicker kinds left in the case. It often happens that the same kind of composition is set by an experienced workman with half the number of thin spaces used by a novice and it will show greater uniformity in spacing and justification.
Combinations of 3 5-spaces, 3 4-spaces, or 4 5-spaces should be used sparingly, and only when they are needed to justify the line. Two 3-spaces together are better than an en quad and a 5-space. There are usually more 3-spaces in the case, and they are easier to distribute than the thinner spaces.
A good general rule is never to use two or more pieces of material where one piece will suffice.
Tying Up the Page
When the composed lines are on the galley ready for proving they must be fastened temporarily. A column of type is placed on a long narrow galley in which a side-stick of wood is laid beside the lines. This is held in place by pushing in a few wooden wedges or quoins. The Hempel style of metal quoins are well adapted for this purpose.
Fig. 12
When the composition is relatively small the lines are usually tied up with a cord. This is done by winding the cord several times around the matter, the number of turns depending upon the size of the page and the stoutness of the cord. Printers’ supply houses call this string page cord. There is no standard thickness or brand. Any good cotton cord can be used. That which is known among twine dealers as Seine No. 12 is excellent for this purpose. Start the cord at the left top corner of the matter as it lies on the galley—that is, usually at the end of the last line. With the left hand hold an inch or less of the cord while the right hand winds it along the upper side, around the head, and down the lower side of the matter close to the rim of the galley, then back to the starting point. Here the cord is crossed over the first end so as to bind it, each turn of the cord at this point going below the preceding one. At the end of the cord turn in a loop just around the corner, pushing the cord between the types and the windings with the nib-end of the composing rule. Draw the loop up reasonably tight so that it will not slip out, and leave a short end out, to be found later when necessary to take the cord off. Hold the left hand on the page until the end of the cord is made fast, to avoid any unexpected movement of the page during the operation. When the page is fastened, move it a little from the lower rim of the galley and push the cords down to the middle of the type-height, especially if low leads, spaces, and quads are used in the matter. When the cord is tight around the upper part of the type there is liability of the page doubling up when it is pushed off to the imposing table or the proof press.
Fig. 13
If the galley has a high rim there may be some difficulty in getting the cord down over the lead at the top line and along the lower edge. In this case, when the first complete turn of the cord is made move the page carefully up on the galley so that the second and succeeding windings may come under the first one.
Do not leave long ends of the cord hanging out, as they are liable to get under the feet of the type and cause damage when the proof is made.
Special care should be taken to keep the feet of the type free from dirt or lumps of any kind. A good practice of many compositors, after tying up pages that are not too large to allow it, is to lift the page perpendicularly and hold it in the left hand while the bottom is brushed off with the right hand, and then to wipe off the surface of the press or imposing table before laying the page down.
In composing rooms where a great deal of job composition is done the time spent in tying up pages is considerable, and the work is often done carelessly. Each compositor should have at hand his own supply of page cords, kept in orderly manner for instant use. A ball of stout white twine every week or oftener costs much less than the time spent in a week to hunt for pieces of cords kept in no particular place. An assortment of the lengths most used, folded into little skeins and kept in the apron pocket, will save time and trouble. Avoid the pieced-up, knotted string around a page of type that is to be placed on the imposing table for locking up. Leave no long loose ends, but make the fastening loop so that it can be readily found after the furniture is placed around the page.
Stout new rubber bands of the right length may be used for tying up pages and jobs, but they must be managed carefully, especially in taking off, to avoid squabbling the type. They are suitable only for temporary tie-ups and should not be used if the pages are to be kept standing many days.
Taking Proofs
First proofs from composed types are taken for the purpose of correcting any errors. Later proofs are for verifying corrections and to note whether instructions have been followed in make-up and in various other matters necessary to get the type ready for printing.
Proofs are sometimes taken by using a proof planer and mallet, but more commonly by means of a proof press.
In any of the usual methods employed it is first necessary to spread ink on the type face with an ink roller. A small hand roller is used in combination with a smooth steel or stone surface on which to distribute the ink. The composition of the roller should be well seasoned and the roller should be well cleaned. A good grade of slow-drying black ink of the quality known as “book” ink is necessary for the usual work. A very thin ink or a very stiff ink is not suitable. The amount used should be just enough to give a clear impression of the type, and no more. This is graduated to the lightness or boldness of the face, and also to the finish of the paper. A glossy coated paper will need less ink than a machine-finish paper; while an antique-finish paper will need much more ink than either. As a general rule, proofs are made on smooth-finish paper with a minimum quantity of moderately stiff ink.
Proof Planer
Round-head Mallet
Fig. 14
Fig. 15. Proof Planer and Mallet in use
A proof planer is a block of wood about 8 inches long by 31⁄2 inches wide and 21⁄2 inches high, having its face covered with a piece of thick cloth or felt. A planer proof must be made while the type is on the imposing stone or some other solid surface. When ink has been rolled on the type a sheet of thin paper, slightly damp, is laid on the type and the planer is used for taking the impression. The sheet should be dampened evenly all over with a sponge, enough to be a little limp. The unsponged side of the sheet is laid on the type very carefully to avoid slurring the impression. The proof planer, held in the left hand, is placed steadily on top, and a mallet in the right hand is used to tap the planer. If the planer does not cover the whole page, it must be lifted from one part to another until the whole surface is covered. This requires some practice, to avoid a shifting of the sheet on the type and making a double or smeared impression.
A firm foundation for the type and a steady blow, graduated in force to the size of the printing surface, are necessary for a clean impression. The mallet should hit straight, without glancing sidewise, and the planer should be held level and steady.
The kind of type forms adapted for proving by this method are those with paragraphs of plain matter and strong faces which will not be easily battered. Those with large open spaces and small lines, and those with delicate lines like scripts and kerned italic letters, should not be proved with a planer if another method is available. Small groups of type standing alone, like page numbers and small imprints, require very careful treatment in proving, to avoid unnecessary impression which may batter the face or break off the kerns. When it becomes necessary to take proofs of fine or small types standing without surrounding support, it is a good plan to place near the type, on two sides if possible, type-high blocks upon which the planer may rest while the impression is being tapped.
The proof planer is not the common method of taking proofs, but is employed in places where there is no regular proof press, and also under conditions where a proof press cannot readily be used. The latter condition is in the case of a large form beyond the capacity of the proof press, locked up on the imposing stone, when a proof is required, either of a part or of the whole, for verification of some detail before sending the form to press for printing.
Fig. 17
The other and more common method of taking proofs is on one or another of the several kinds of proof presses, as described in text-book No. 5 of this series, “Proof Presses,” to which the reader is referred for a detailed consideration of the subject.
Making Corrections
When a line of type has been set in the composing stick it should be read over with care, compared with copy, and any mistakes corrected before the line is justified. A habit of doing this will make cleaner proofs and save a great deal of time and expense. An error corrected at this time saves a second justification of the line. If the error is an omitted word or syllable or a word inserted twice its detection will save the probable over-running of several lines or even of a whole paragraph later.
The lines should also be scanned before being taken from the stick to the galley. A turned letter or a wrong type overlooked in the first examination may be changed by lifting the line a little until the type can be picked out and the right one put in its place.
Do not try to correct a line in the stick when another line or part of a line is in front of it. If a correction makes necessary a change of spaces or a re-justifying of the line, take out all the lines in front, then correct and justify again. This allows the stick to be held in the hand and the types can be handled in the same manner as for the original setting. This will be more convenient than to lay the stick on the case while re-spacing a line in the middle of a stickful.
The use of a bodkin or tweezers is seldom necessary for correcting in the stick or on the galley, unless the type is very small and the measure is narrow.
A little care in revising the lines as they are set, before the first proof is taken, will result in cleaner proofs and will reduce the time for proofreading as well as for later corrections.
Even though the lines have been carefully revised while being set, errors of various kinds will probably be marked on the proof when it comes back from the proofreader. If there are many lines and a number of serious errors the corrections are made at the case. The galley is placed at one side of the case if possible, rather than on top of the case, with the head of the galley and the top of the lines toward the right. When only one stand can be used it may be well to put the type case in the rack under the working shelf and to put the galley on the shelf. This will permit free access to the case for the letters needed in correcting and will give a good resting place for the galley and composing stick.
The compositor stands with his right side to the galley and works with the tops of the lines toward him. The composing rule with a nib is useful at this time. Lines in which corrections are to be made should have leads or rules beside them to help keep them from pi-ing during the operation. If the lines are set solid, leads or rules should be inserted temporarily and taken out when the correcting is finished.
Simple errors like the exchanging of one type for another of the same width, the turning of an inverted character, or the transposition of letters or words, are corrected by pressing the line at both ends to lift it up about one-third of its height and picking out the wrong types with the finger and thumb. The line is then dropped in place and the right types put in.
A line in which there is a change of the spaces or of the justification should be lifted into a composing stick of the right measure for correction. Any important change in a line of type should always be made in a stick, where accurate justification is most readily secured. First place the composing stick conveniently at hand, with its back toward the compositor. Insert the composing rule down at the top of the line in the galley, press both ends of the line together, and raise it up gently; when it is clear of the other lines turn it so that the rule is under, and then transfer to the stick. As a rule, lines of type should be carried in a position which keeps the types themselves horizontal, not perpendicular. In this manner they are supported by the lead or rule underneath. If carried with the feet of the types down they are liable to drop out unless perfectly justified and firmly held.
Many careless compositors persist in correcting lines on the galley in a puttering, botchy manner which results in badly justified lines. The beginner is usually inclined to do the same thing because he has not yet learned to perform with ease and safety the trick of transferring lines back and forth from the galley to the stick. Instead of shirking this operation because it looks difficult, he should practice it until he can do it safely and quickly. A compositor who does not justify his lines properly is rated as a careless workman. If he has nothing to do with the later locking up of the forms for the foundry or the press he is prone to slight this part of his work and thus make additional duties for other workmen, as well as increase the risk of subsequent error or accident.
Corrections in type matter often call for the over-running of the lines; that is, the words must be taken from one line to another, requiring changes in other lines beside the one in which the correction was marked. This procedure takes time and is costly. It means that the entire matter thus re-arranged must be revised to see that new errors have not crept in.
There are two ways of handling the lines for over-running. When a few lines are to be thus changed lift them out one at a time and put them on an extra galley above the working galley, standing them in sequence along the lower rim with the nicks up. Put the first line into the stick, take out words or insert new ones as directed in the proof, then take the words in order from the galley, make any corrections called for, re-space and justify to the end. If the lines are long, a brass rule or composing rule of the right length should be used to measure off the new lines, and these may be taken into the stick a line at a time instead of a few words at a time.
Another method of over-running does not require the extra galley if there is some spare room at the bottom of the matter on its own galley. Insert the rule at the top of the line where the over-run commences and move the matter down the galley a distance equal to the length of the lines and an inch farther. Take the first line into the stick. Then turn a half dozen or more of the following lines so that the nicks of the type are toward the lower rim of the galley, keeping the ends of the lines against the matter farther down. Put a piece of 4-em metal furniture at the other end of the turned lines to prevent letters from falling down. Correct the line in the stick and proceed by taking the words in order from the turned lines. If more lines are to be over-run, take them from their regular position in the galley and turn them nicks down in the same way as the first lot.
The spacing of over-run lines should be done as carefully as for the original setting. Sometimes lines too thinly or too widely spaced in the original may be improved in the re-spacing. Unfortunately, much work of this kind is done in a rush and the second justification is neglected. Yet the difference in time taken to do good spacing and that spent on careless work is often very little.
Hand compositors now do a great deal of correcting and page make-up on type set by machines. This work is often in the nature of specialties, yet the general rules of good spacing and justifying apply here also. Usually greater speed is required, and this means more skill and oftentimes the employment of some special facilities adapted for the particular class of work in hand.
It is a rule that any lines of type pied during corrections and reset must have a mark around them on the revise proof to call attention to them for another reading to be sure that no new error has been made.
Importance of Uniform Spacing
The beginner will realize after he has set his first few stickfuls that the part of the operation which gives him the greatest trouble is not finding the types for the words of his copy, but it is getting uniform spaces between the words to justify the lines. To the uninitiated the words of a well-set page appear to be separated with spaces of equal thickness. This is far from the fact; it is only in rare instances that several lines in a page have spaces that are exactly alike. A close examination of a page will show a great variety of white spaces between words, although the difference may not be readily recognized by the ordinary reader.
In order to make the reading easy and legible the words should be spaced enough to make them quickly distinguishable at a glance. In order to make it comfortable and pleasing the words should be spaced uniformly and the lines arranged orderly, with neither undue huddling together nor unnecessary separation. Good typesetting means that the spacing must be approximately even and that the average space must be carefully proportioned to the style of the type face, the distance between the lines, and the size and shape of the page.
Uniform spacing between the words in a line is always desirable. A thin space on one side of a word and a wide space on the other is an inexcusable fault. An exception is made of the space between sentences, where the ending of one and the beginning of another occurs in the same line. In this case it is customary to leave a wide space after the period.
Lines should not be wide-spaced at one end and thin-spaced at the other. Absolute evenness may not be easily secured, but an appearance of uniformity may be given by observing some of the methods described further on in these pages.
Good spacing means also that all the lines of a composition should be spaced as nearly alike as is practicable. The extremes of a wide-spaced line and a thin-spaced line in the same paragraph, or of a wide-spaced paragraph and a thin-spaced paragraph of similar types on the same page, should be avoided.
The last line of a paragraph should not be spaced wider than the average spacing in the paragraph itself. Many compositors have a habit of wide-spacing a line which happens to have a few words in it, with the evident aim to make these few words fill the line as much as possible. This often results in lines needlessly wide-spaced.
Rules for Spacing
The standard space between words in ordinary roman lower-case type is the 3-space. This thickness is commonly accepted as the average spacing required for legibility in a printed page to be held in the hand. It gives comfortable legibility in sizes of type from 8-point to 14-point. Smaller sizes may be spaced with an average slightly wider, like the en quad, while for large types to be read at close range the spacing may be less than the 3-space average.
Wide measures, as a rule, require relatively wide spacing. Narrow measures are preferably thin-spaced, whether the lines are leaded or solid.
An apparently equal spacing between all words in a line means that in some cases there must be a slight variation in the width of the actual spaces used. The size and shape of the letters at the ends of words will often affect the amount of white space, especially in the larger faces of type.
There are several combinations of word endings which call for spaces thinner or thicker than the average in the line in order to make all the spaces appear equal. These little variations can be made while changing the spaces to justify the line. They need not, for the most part, take any extra time, while the resulting evenness in the spacing of the page will be noticeable. Good spacing without spending unnecessary time is usually a matter of following a few simple rules.
When necessary to use thinner spaces to get a complete word or syllable in the line, put these thin spaces after a comma, or between word endings like ——e w——, ——y a——. Word endings like ——y A——, ——w v——, ——y u—— can be very thinly spaced if necessary.
On the other hand, if a little extra space is needed to fill the line, increase the spaces between words ending with tall letters,——d l——, ——f b——, etc.
Abbreviated words and initials with the period (Mrs. Rev. M.D. Ph.D. etc.) are places where thin spaces are properly used.
A thin space is required before colons, semicolons, question marks, and exclamation marks, when these are cast on thin bodies. These points should be followed by an extra-wide space. That is, if the line is spaced with a 3-space as the average, a semicolon should have a 5-space before it and an en quad after. If the line is thin-spaced, the spaces before and after the semicolon are reduced also. In some fonts of type these punctuation marks are cast on thick bodies which furnish a slight shoulder on each side of the face of the mark. In such cases the extra spaces may not be required in ordinary composition.
When a question mark or an exclamation mark finishes a sentence, it should be followed by a space equal to that used after periods in other parts of the same matter.
The em dash usually should have a little space on each side of it, especially if the line is spaced with 3-spaces or wider. If the line is thin-spaced, the dash also may be set close to the adjoining words. Whenever possible avoid putting the dash at the end of the line in paragraphs; try to keep it within the line.
A short line, consisting of a word or syllable of two or three letters only, should be avoided at the end of a paragraph, especially in a measure of ordinary width. In a very narrow measure it may not be avoided. Where the other lines of the page are fairly well filled this short line will make an objectionable break in the matter. If it cannot be taken back to the preceding line, a little wider spacing of these lines will allow an additional word or syllable to be brought over to lengthen the objectionable short line.
It is desirable to end a paragraph with an em quad, if this is practicable, rather than fill the last line flush. Do not leave an ordinary space after the period.
When justifying the last line of a paragraph or a headline in which quads are used, keep the justifying spaces next to the types. Do not put small pieces at the end of a quad line or scatter them between the large quads. They will be easier to distribute if placed after the period.
Hyphenated words in a widely spaced line should have a hair space on each side of a thin hyphen; but this may not be necessary if the hyphen is cast on a thick body, as it is in some fonts.
The dollar sign $ is set close to the whole numbers in printing amounts of money: $25. When specifying fractions of a dollar (in tabular columns only) put a space between the sign and the decimal: $ .25. The symbols for English money are also placed close to the figures, thus £10 5s 2d.
When justifying lines some compositors commence respacing at one end of the line and increase the spaces in order till the line is full, regardless of the length of the words or the word endings, repeating this line after line. The result is that one side of the matter is spaced wider than the other—a most inexcusable fault. If a few spaces wider than the average must be used in the line, put these between long words or words with tall letters; and vice versa, if thin spaces are necessary, put them between short words or words with small letters. Do not wide-space short words and leave long words in the same line with thin spaces. Do not, however, if it can be avoided, allow wide spaces to be repeated nearly under each other, to produce noticeable straggling white spaces or “rivers” up and down the page. Spacing of this sort is particularly objectionable for good printing.
An old-time rule required an em quad after a period before beginning another sentence in the line. This is the practice in many places now, but there is an objection to the unnecessary large white spot which it makes in the ordinary page of reading matter. As a distinction between sentences it seems too conspicuous except in matter that is wide-leaded and wide-spaced. The modern practice in good work is to reduce this space to the double 3-space or the en quad, or even to the 3-space in small pages.
Another unnecessarily large space in narrow measure of solid or single-leaded lines is an em quad after the period or Roman numeral in numbered paragraphs. Where the period is used an en quad following it is sufficient.
In good composition quotation marks should not be crowded close against the words which they enclose, unless the lines are close-spaced. Commas and apostrophes cast on very thin types usually need a little space between the quote-marks they form and the words they enclose, especially if they are next to tall letters. A large capital A or a sloping italic capital at the beginning may not need the separating space after the inverted commas, and a period or a comma between the last word and the final quote-mark will furnish the needed separation.
“Q uote-marks properly spaced.”
“T hese are not well spaced. ”
“‘ Quotes’ within ‘quotes’ are like this.”
In open-spaced matter there should be a thin space between an exclamation or question mark and the final quote-mark, thus:
“ Do you wish to become a good compositor ?”
Letter-spacing, or inter-spacing, is frequently employed in headings and in job and display composition. It is rarely a good practice in ordinary lower-case composition in paragraph form. In very narrow measures, where word length or word divisions do not come right to make the lines the desired length, the letter-spacing of a few words is sometimes resorted to in order to extend the words. This should be done with care to avoid making such words conspicuous in the general appearance of the page. It is better to letter-space the whole line a little rather than to put excess spacing in one unimportant word.
Black-letter, Old English, Priory Text, Cloister Black, and similar varieties should not be wide-spaced, nor should they ever be letter-spaced. The beauty of such letters, which are now used for their decorative rather than utilitarian qualities, depends upon the consistent, well-balanced relation between the white and black spaces of the composition. The compactness of the letter shapes makes words that are compact and unified. As there are relatively close spaces between the strokes of the letters, so there should be thin spaces between the words of the lines and between the lines. Wide spaces between words do not necessarily make them more legible. A comparison of the two groups of lines following will show one as easy to read as the other, while the close-spaced example is less confusing in its detail.