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Article #5329Re: Definition of Point
From: Arto Viitanen
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 1988 06:54
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 1988 06:54
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1250 bytes
In article <2610015@hpsal2.HP.COM> morrell@hpsal2.HP.COM (Michael Morrell) writes: >Does anyone know the exact definition of "point" (as in a 12-point font)? >Some references (most nroff manuals) say there are 72 points to the inch, >but others simply say (including my Webster's!!!) that a point is "nearly" >equal to 1/72 of an inch. Who is right? > > Michael In his The TeXbook, Donald E, Knuth says "... was defined exaclty .013837 in by the American Typefounders Association in 1886. ... The new definition 72.27 pt = 1in is not only better for calculation, it is also easier to remember". So one inch is 72.27 points. Arto Viitanen University Of Tampere, Department of Computer Science P.O.Box 607 SF-33101 TAMPERE FINLAND av@utacs.uta.fi, av@comic.uta.fi
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arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!pyrnj!pyrdc!uunet!mcvax!enea!kth!draken!tut!utacs!avReferences:
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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!pyrnj!pyrdc!uunet!mcvax!enea!kth!draken!tut!utacs!av From: av@utacs.UTA.FI (Arto Viitanen) Newsgroups: comp.text Subject: Re: Definition of Point Message-ID: <567@utacs.UTA.FI> Date: 17 Oct 88 06:54:01 GMT References: <2610015@hpsal2.HP.COM> Reply-To: av@utacs.UUCP (Arto Viitanen) Organization: University of Tampere, Dept. of Computer Science, Finland Lines: 24