🚀 go-pugleaf

dhosek@hmcvax.claremont.edu writes:

>In article <4811@dove.nist.gov>, gilligan@bldrdoc.gov (Jonathan Gilligan 303-497-3861) writes:
>> In article <oneil.713599413@cwis> oneil@cwis.unomaha.edu (Sharon O'Neil) writes:
>>>For most purposes, one would want to use a 12 point type anyway.  In my
>>>opinion, even 10 is a bit small for most purposes because it is somewhat
>>>difficult to read.
> 
>> But if your principle text is set in 12 point, then super and
>> subscripts will be set at a smaller size (typically 9 pt or so), as
>> will footnotes. Super and subscripts in footnotes will be set at a
>> smaller size (about 6 pt). Since I do a lot of technical typesetting
>> (lots of equations), a document set with 12 pt type for the principal
>> face will contain lots of 9 pt and 6 pt type, so it's necessary to
>> have good-looking type at far smaller sizes than I use for the main
>> text.

First of all, I rarely, if ever, have the need to use superscripts or 
subscripts.  (I generally use the MLA format for writing papers, which
eliminates the need for footnotes.  I cite author and page parenthetically.

>To further muddy the waters, I would claim that other than
>single-column printing on US Letter paper or A4, 12 pt is
>distinctly too large for most text applications.

For most of my purposes, 12 point is just about right.  I almost never
have the need for a font smaller than that.  I have just about perfect
vision and I think that an 8 or 10 point letter looks like you're trying
to cram something on the page.  (For word-processed or desktop published
documents.)

>On the other
>hand, with most of the piece-of-crud editing facilities provided
>by WYSIWYG systems, anything smaller than 12pt is distinctly
>illegible on-screen (gosh, what a surprise, the typography for
>on-screen viewing at 70-100dpi is different than that for
>printing at 300+dpi!) so perhaps that's the driving force. Sigh.
>Anyway, you'll be hard pressed to find many books aimed at adult
>readers typeset entirely in 12pt and larger.

A book is /not/ the same as a word-processed or desktop-published
document.  

Sharon O'Neil
oneil@cwis.unomaha.edu