- From: Clive Bruton <clive@typonaut.demon.co.uk>
- Date: Mon, 11 Aug 97 11:12:49 +0100
- To: "Peter Flynn" <www-style@w3.org>, <www-html@w3.org>
Peter Flynn wrote at 11/8/97 10:59 am >> While that's a good definition, typesetting practice /never/ uses "em" >> as vertical measurement; an em is a horizontal measurement only, and an >> "ex" is the vertical measurement. This makes measurements based on >> fonts size work with compressed an/or fat fonts. > >This is incorrect: pica ems are used for page depth and line spacing >almost universally in the Anglo-American world. When did you last see >a comp's spec specify print-area height in "ex"s? Correct, the definition of an "em" is a *square* of any given body size, ie 9pt*9pt, 24pt*24pt, 72pt*72pt are all ems. The correct term for a 12pt em is a *pica* em as pointed out, an em is a relative unit. -- Clive
Received on Monday, 11 August 1997 06:15:39 UTC