In
typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), and ...
, leading ( ) is the space between adjacent lines of type; the exact definition varies.
In hand
typesetting
Typesetting is the composition of text by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing ''characters'' (letters and other symbols).Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random Ho ...
, leading is the thin strips of
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
(or
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
) that were inserted between lines of type in the
composing stick
In letterpress printing and typesetting, a composing stick is a tray-like tool used to assemble pieces of metal type into words and lines, which are then transferred to a ''galley'' before being locked into a ''forme'' and printed. Many composing ...
to increase the vertical distance between them. The thickness of the strip is called leading and is equal to the difference between the size of the type and the distance from one
baseline to the next. For instance, given a type size of 10
points
Point or points may refer to:
Places
* Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland
* Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States
* Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
* Point ...
and a distance between baselines of 12 points, the leading would be 2 points.
The term is still used in modern
page-layout software such as
QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress is a desktop publishing software for creating and editing complex page layouts in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) environment. It runs on macOS and Windows. It was first released by Quark, Inc. in 1987 and is still owned and ...
, the Affinity Suite, and
Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing and page layout designing software application produced by Adobe Inc. and first released in 1999. It can be used to create works such as posters, flyers, brochures, magazines, newspapers, presentations, ...
. Consumer-oriented word-processing software often talks of line spacing or, more accurately, interline spacing.
Origins
The word comes from
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
strips that were put between set lines of lead type, hence the pronunciation "ledding" and not "leeding". The practice became popular in the eighteenth century.
Practices
Leading can be used to enhance the legibility of a page or block of text. The standard leading used in printing is usually +2 points for mechanically set body text, or +20% in digital typesetting. In both cases, with a 10 pt font the usual leading is 12 pt, creating a 10/12 ratio, which is considered single spacing.
Some type designers recommend a leading between 20% and 45% of the font size.
![Line spacing comparison](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Line_spacing_comparison.svg)
Double spacing is an entrenched practice due to the era of
typewriters
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...
and, in academic settings, to allow the addition of handwritten comments and
proofreading
Proofreading is the reading of a galley proof or an electronic copy of a publication to find and correct reproduction errors of text or art. Proofreading is the final step in the editorial cycle before publication.
Professional
Traditional ...
. Typewriters had a limited number of options for leading, and double spacing was chosen as a default. Double spacing increases the amount of unused white space on a page and reduces the number of lines on a page. Too much leading can cause continuity problems, as the eyes of the reader are required to travel a greater distance between lines of text.
Text set "solid" (no leading) appears cramped, with
ascenders almost touching
descender
In typography and handwriting, a descender is the portion of a letter that extends below the baseline of a font.
For example, in the letter ''y'', the descender is the "tail", or that portion of the diagonal line which lies below the ''v'' c ...
s from the previous line. The lack of white space between lines makes it difficult for the eye to track from one line to the next, makes
rivers
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
more obvious, and hampers
readability
Readability is the ease with which a reader can understand a written text. In natural language, the readability of text depends on its content (the complexity of its vocabulary and syntax) and its presentation (such as typographic aspects that a ...
.
Issues
Leading can be affected by a series of issues, all of which can be rectified or used to the printer's advantage. Negative leading applies only to digital type. An example of negative leading is (12/10) where 2 points are removed from the default leading. A negative leading could be viewed as a hindrance to readability. It would cause the text to be harder to read, as lines would be forced together, lessening room between lines and hindering readability. However, for short bursts of text a negative leading can enhance the message of the text and can create a more effective text.
Negative leading can be affected by ascenders and descenders on certain letters. Letters with high ascenders and low descenders can interfere with one another between lines, if the leading is small enough to allow them to touch one another.
Written texts with several portions that demand separate leading can lead to issue of text continuity. Written texts should have a standard leading that does not deviate from page to page. There are instances that call for a change in leading, such as when a block quote is placed within a written text. The lines on the front of a page and the
verso
' is the "right" or "front" side and ''verso'' is the "left" or "back" side when text is written or printed on a leaf of paper () in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet.
Etymology
The terms are shortened from Latin ...
(back) should line up vertically, line for line. If there are several leadings contained on one page, this convention can be completely negated. Fonts can also affect the need for leading. No two fonts are exactly alike, and for that reason many have characteristics that demand a certain leading. Fonts that are darker require a wider leading than those that are lighter. As well, fonts that are
serif
In typography, a serif () is a small line or stroke regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter or symbol within a particular font or family of fonts. A typeface or "font family" making use of serifs is called a serif typeface ...
should be leaded wider than those that are
sans serif
In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif, gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than seri ...
. Languages can decide the leading that a printer uses as well. Leading is an important issue to consider when printing, as it can enhance readability, but it can also affect the number of pages, as larger leadings decrease the number of lines per page. In this way the leading of a page can have a profound effect on the written text.
Examples
This block of text has default leading:
''Typography'' (Greek: ''typos'' "form", ''graphein'' "to write") is the art and technique of setting written subject matter in type using a combination of typeface styles, point sizes, line lengths, line leading, character spacing, and word spacing to produce typeset artwork in physical or digital form.
The same block of text set with 50% leading:
''Typography'' (Greek: ''typos'' "form", ''graphein'' "to write") is the art and technique of setting written subject matter in type using a combination of typeface styles, point sizes, line lengths, line leading, character spacing, and word spacing to produce typeset artwork in physical or digital form.
The same block of text at 100% leading:
''Typography'' (Greek: ''typos'' "form", ''graphein'' "to write") is the art and technique of setting written subject matter in type using a combination of typeface styles, point sizes, line lengths, line leading, character spacing, and word spacing to produce typeset artwork in physical or digital form.
On the World Wide Web
In
CSS
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language such as HTML or XML (including XML dialects such as SVG, MathML or XHTML). CSS is a cornerstone techno ...
, leading refers to the difference between the content height and the value of the
line-height
/code> property. Half the leading is called the half-leading. User agents center glyphs vertically in an inline box, which adds half-leading on the top and bottom. For example, if a piece of text is "12pt" high and the line-height value is "14pt", 2pt of extra space should be added: 1pt above and 1pt below the text (this applies to empty boxes as well, as if the empty box contained zero-height text).
Feathering
The leading may be increased to align the bottom line of text on a page in a process known as feathering, carding, or vertical justification.
Bastard fonts
In metal typesetting some fonts have default increased or decreased leading. To achieve this, a smaller font face is cast on the body of a larger font or vice versa. Such fonts are usually called "bastard" fonts or types. In the notation they are usually written with the face and the body size separated by a slash, like 10/12 that is a 10-point font face on a 12-point body, or 12/10, a 12-point font face on a 10-point body.
See also
*Sentence spacing
Sentence spacing concerns how spaces are inserted between sentences in typeset text and is a matter of typographical convention. Since the introduction of movable-type printing in Europe, various sentence spacing conventions have been used in ...
References
{{Typography terms
Typography
Whitespace
pl:Leading (typografia)