Editing X-height (section)

{{Short description|Measurement of letters in a typeface}}
{{lowercase}}
[[file:Typography Line Terms.svg|thumb|upright 2.0|alt=A diagram showing the line terms used in typography]]
In [[typography]], the '''x-height,''' or '''corpus size,''' is the distance between the [[baseline (typography)|baseline]] and the [[mean line]] of lowercase letters in a [[typeface]]. Typically, this is the height of the letter ''x'' in the font (the source of the term), as well as the letters ''v'', ''w'', and ''z''. (Curved letters such as ''a'', ''c'', ''e'', ''m'', ''n'', ''o'', ''r'', ''s'', and ''u'' tend to exceed the x-height slightly, due to [[overshoot (typography)|overshoot]]; ''i'' has a dot that tends to go above x-height.) One of the most important [[Typographic unit|dimensions of a font]], x-height defines how high lowercase letters without [[ascender (typography)|ascender]]s are compared to the [[cap height]] of uppercase letters.
[[File:Regular and caption fonts.png|thumb|Regular and caption styles of two typefaces, [[PT Sans]] and [[EB Garamond]]. The caption styles both have increased x-heights to make the text clear even printed small. EB Garamond's is also very visibly bolder.]]
[[File:Original-CG.gif|thumb|French renaissance typefaces, 1592. The smaller typeface at the bottom has a proportionally higher x-height.{{efn|The name "Petit Canon de [[Claude Garamond|Garamond]] is a mistake; it is actually by [[Robert Granjon]].<ref>Vervliet 2008, p. 220; Type Specimen Facsimiles, p. 3</ref>}}]]
[[Display typeface]]s intended to be used at large sizes, such as on signs and posters, vary in x-height. Many have high x-heights to be read clearly from a distance. This, though, is not universal: some display typefaces such as [[Cochin (typeface)|Cochin]] and [[Koch-Antiqua]] intended for publicity uses have low x-heights, to give them a more elegant, delicate appearance, a mannerism that was particularly common in the early twentieth century.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chaparral® Pro release notes|url=http://www.adobe.com/type/browser/pdfs/readmes/ChaparralProReadme.pdf|website=Adobe|access-date=5 November 2014}}</ref><ref name="Letters of Credit">{{cite book|last1=Tracy|first1=Walter|title=Letters of Credit|date=1986|pages=48–55|chapter=Proportion}}</ref> Many sans-serif designs that are intended for display text have high x-heights, such as [[Helvetica]] or, more extremely, [[Impact (typeface)|Impact]].
[[File:Thank You (13824254433).jpg|thumb|Extra-small x-height in handwritten (but non-cursive) sign]]