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Point (typography)
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{{short description|Measurement unit used in typography}} {{about|the unit of measure||Point (disambiguation)#In typography}} {{redirect-distinguish|Small text|Microprinting}} {{Infobox unit | image = File:The Evening Star ruler - 3.jpg | caption = A ruler showing '''point''' scale (on the bottom) and [[inch]] scale (on the top) | name = Point | standard = [[typographic unit]] | quantity = [[length]] | units1 = typographic units | inunits1 = {{sfrac|12}} [[Pica (typography)|picas]] | units2 = [[imperial units|imperial]]/[[US customary units|U.S.]] units | inunits2 = {{sfrac|72}} [[inch|in]] | units3 = [[metric system|metric]] ([[SI]]) units | inunits3 = {{convert|1/72|in|mm|4|disp=out|lk=on}} }} In [[typography]], the '''point''' is the smallest [[typographic unit|unit of measure]]. It is used for measuring [[typeface|font]] size, [[leading]], and other items on a printed page. The size of the point has varied throughout printing's history. Since the 18th century, the size of a point has been between 0.18 and 0.4 [[millimeter]]s. Following the advent of [[desktop publishing]] in the 1980s and 1990s, [[digital printing]] has largely supplanted the [[printing press|letterpress printing]] and has established the '''desktop publishing''' ('''DTP''') '''point''' as the [[de facto standard|''de facto'' standard]]. The DTP point is defined as {{frac|1|72}} of an [[inch]] (or exactly 0.352{{overline|7}} [[Millimetre|mm]]) and, as with earlier American point sizes, is considered to be {{frac|12}} of a [[pica (typography)|pica]]. In metal type, the point size of a font describes the [[body height (typography)|height]] of the metal [[body (typography)|body]] on which that font's characters were cast. In digital type, letters of a [[computer font]] are designed around an imaginary space called an ''[[em (typography)|em]] square''. When a point size of a font is specified, the font is scaled so that its em square has a side length of that particular length in points. Although the letters of a font usually fit within the font's em square, there is not necessarily any size relationship between the two, so the point size does not necessarily correspond to any measurement of the size of the letters on the printed page.<ref name=Phinney>{{cite web |last=Phinney|first=Thomas|title=Point Size and the Em Square: Not What People Think |url=http://www.thomasphinney.com/2011/03/point-size/|work=Phinney on Fonts |date=16 August 2012|access-date=26 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{citation|chapter=15.7. Font size: the 'font-size' property|chapter-url=https://www.w3.org/TR/CSS22/fonts.html#font-size-props|title=Cascading Style Sheets Level 2 Revision 2 (CSS 2.2) Specification|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=12 April 2016|access-date=26 February 2018}}</ref>
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