[PLUG-TALK] winWord Typeface

Jeme A Brelin jeme at brelin.net
Sat May 28 09:16:19 UTC 2005


On Fri, 27 May 2005, Rich Shepard wrote:
> there are always two spaces after each period.
>
> And, haven't folks discovered that they are no longer using a typewriter 
> with a monospace font so there is no need for two spaces to distinguish 
> sentences?

And later Rich wrote:
> look at any printed document that is set in a proportional font

That's just it, those things are typeset.  A word processor is NOT a 
typesetting system and a typesetting system, as Russell noted, produces 
the right kind of output for the context in which it will be read.

Those of us generating the input, however, must provide the MOST 
information and the most flexible datastream.  When we type, we don't know 
if some future person is going to want to send the document to a monospace 
font on a screen or an old-fashioned typewriter for output.  It's best to 
make it as clear as possible in those circumstnaces.  (This email is a 
fine example.  Two spaces are included because many people read mail on 
some monospace typeface.  For email, where t here is no standard mark-up, 
monospacing makes sense because it gives the writer a finer control over 
the layout and, therefore, more ability to convey meaning.)  Furthermore, 
a proportional representation of the same text will, if the proportional 
rendering engine does anything right at all, will see the two consecutive 
spaces bracketted by a period and a capital letter and know that each of 
those spaces can be displayed as a half-space.  No information is lost and 
the layout flow is uninterrupted.

In other words, as writers, we should be using two spaces after our 
periods even if, for publishers, the convention is rarely required.

>  I suppose it's just bureaucratic drone-ness at work. No imagination. 
> Never daring to be different. Not caring.

As Ross pointed out, caring is using the convention.  We must show respect 
for those with whom we communicate.  The more work we can do on our end, 
the less work must be done on the end of the reader and, ultimately, 
that's how you get them to pay attention to the message.

J.
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      Jeme A Brelin
     jeme at brelin.net
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