Quad (typography)

The em (English quad ) is a typographic unit of measurement from the time of the lead set with movable type, which is still used in modern sentence on the computer.

The square corresponds to a square (hence the name " square ", an obsolete form of square) non-printing area whose width ( set width ) equal to the height of the font cone ( the cone thickness) is. Consequently, the square in the vertical defines the minimum line spacing of a font ( Compress - set); in the horizontal it is -. various subdivisions to a 24stel - the Maßgrundlage for the spacing between words and punctuation, at the same time the length of the em dashes

En space is half that width, used as the en dash. The usual word spacing ( the space) is about a quarter em space. The half square corresponds to the set width of table numbers.

With the eighth square is blocked.

The names Em for " em " and En for " en space " used in English should only be understood as an approximation, because the width of the letter M and N for the definition of square (ie CT) and half- square (ie, En ) is not relevant. In addition, the square in classic lettering set is due to the meat slightly larger than the largest letter ( in Figure 3).