Editing Typewriter (section)

=== Typewriter conventions ===
[[File:Typerwriter conventions text example.gif|thumb|This typed page uses a number of typographic conventions stemming from the mechanical limitations of the typewriter: two hyphens in place of an [[em dash]], double [[sentence spacing]], straight [[quotation mark]]s, [[Tab key|tab]] indents for paragraphs, and double [[carriage return]]s between paragraphs.]]
A number of typographical conventions stem from the typewriter's characteristics and limitations. For example, the QWERTY keyboard typewriter did not include keys for the [[en dash]] and the [[em dash]]. To overcome this limitation, users typically typed more than one adjacent hyphen to approximate these symbols.<ref>{{cite book |title = The elements of typographic style |edition = third |first = Robert |last = Bringhurst |publisher = Hartley & Marks, Publishers |year = 2004 |isbn = 978-0-88179-206-5 |page = 80  |access-date = 10 November 2020  |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780881791327/page/80/mode/2up |quote=In typescript, a double hyphen (--) is often used for a long dash. Double hyphens in a typeset document are a sure sign that the type was set by a typist, not a typographer. A typographer will use an em dash, three-quarter em, or en dash, depending on context or personal style. The em dash is the nineteenth-century standard, still prescribed in many editorial style books, but the em dash is too long for use with the best text faces. Like the oversized space between sentences, it belongs to the padded and corseted aesthetic of Victorian typography.}}</ref> This typewriter convention is still sometimes used today, although modern computer word processing applications can input the correct en and em dashes for each font type.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Upper and Lower Case Magazine |title=U&lc Online Issue 41.1.1: Top Ten Type Crimes |url=http://www.itcfonts.com/Ulc/4111/TopTenTypeCrimes.htm |access-date=23 March 2010}}</ref>

Other examples of typewriter practices that are sometimes still used in desktop publishing systems include inserting a [[sentence spacing|double space]] between sentences,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Robin |title=The Mac is not a typewriter: A style manual for creating professional-level type on your Macintosh |publisher=Peachpit Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-201-78263-9 |edition=2nd |location=Berkeley, California |ref=Wil03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Felici |first=James |title=The Complete Manual of Typography: A Guide to Setting Perfect Type |publisher=Peachpit Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-321-12730-3 |location=Berkeley, California |pages=80}}</ref> and the use of the [[typewriter apostrophe]], {{char|'}}, and [[Quotation mark#Typewriters and early computers|straight quotes]], {{char|"}}, as quotation marks and [[prime mark]]s.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Typographic Desk Reference|url= https://archive.org/details/typographicdeskr0000rose|url-access= registration|edition= 1st|last= Rosendorf|first= Theodore|year= 2009|location= New Castle, Delaware|isbn= 978-1-58456-231-3|ref=Ros09}};
{{Cite web |last=Upper and Lower Case Magazine |title=U&lc Online Issue 41.1.1: Top Ten Type Crimes |url=http://www.itcfonts.com/Ulc/4111/TopTenTypeCrimes.htm |access-date=23 March 2010}}; {{cite book |title= Type Rules: The Designer's Guide to Professional Typography|edition= 3rd|last= Strizver|first= Ilene|year= 2010|publisher= John Wiley & Sons|location= New Jersey|isbn= 978-0-470-54251-4|page=199|ref=Str11 }}. Strizver states that "When available, true primes should be used for measurements, but typewriter quotes (not smart quotes) have become the accepted practice in digital typography."</ref> The [[List of proofreader's marks|practice of underlining text in place of italics]] and the use of all capitals to provide emphasis are additional examples of typographical conventions that derived from the limitations of the typewriter keyboard that still carry on today.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Regents of the University of Minnesota |date=18 July 2007 |title=University of Minnesota Style Manual |url=http://www1.umn.edu/urelate/style/copyprep.html#Anchor-Copy-47857 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090117122230/http://www1.umn.edu/urelate/style/copyprep.html |archive-date=January 17, 2009 |access-date=12 May 2010 |website=University of Minnesota |publisher=Regents of the University of Minnesota}} This topic is discussed under "Creating Professional-looking Text."; Williams 2003. pps. 31, 33. Another example of the limitation of the typewriter in regard to underlining, was the necessity to underline the titles of books and stand-alone works in Bibliographies—works that would otherwise have been italicized, if that capability existed on the typewriter.</ref>

Many older typewriters did not include a separate key for the numeral {{char|1}} or the exclamation point {{char|!}}, and some even older ones also lacked the numeral zero, {{char|0}}.  Typists who trained on these machines learned the habit of using the lowercase letter {{char|l}} ("ell") for the digit {{char|1}}, and the uppercase {{char|O}} ("oh") for the zero. A cents symbol, {{char|¢}} was created by combining ([[Overstrike|over-striking]]) a lower case {{char|c}} with a slash character (typing {{char|c}}, then backspace, then {{char|/}}). Similarly, the exclamation point was created by combining an apostrophe and a period ({{keypress|'|.}} ≈{{char|!}}).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Truss |first=Lynn |title=Eats, Shoot & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation |publisher=Gotham Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-59240-087-4 |location=New York |page=135}}</ref>