Pitch And Point Size - Lexmark Optra S1625 User Manual

Pitch and Point Size

The size of a font is specified as either a pitch or point size,
depending on whether the font is fixed space or proportional.
In fixed space fonts, each character has the same width. Pitch is used
to specify the size of fixed space fonts. It is a measure of the num-
ber of characters that will print in one horizontal inch of type. For
example, all 10-pitch fonts print 10 characters per inch (cpi) and all
12-pitch fonts print 12 cpi:
Courier
Courier-Bold
Courier
Courier-Bold
In proportional (or typographic) fonts, every character can have a dif-
ferent width. Since proportional fonts have characters with differ-
ent widths, the font size is specified in point size, not pitch. Point
size refers to the height of the characters in the font. A point is
defined as 1/72 inch. The characters in a font printed at 24 point
will be twice as large as the characters in the same font printed at
12 point. The following illustration shows samples of a font
printed in different point sizes:
48 point
24 point
10 Pitch 1234567890
10 Pitch 1234567890
12 Pitch 123456789012
12 Pitch 123456789012
36 point
18 point
12 point
Appendixes
1 inch
10 point
Understanding Fonts
331