What Is Leading In Typography

The globe of typography can exist a complex identify for new graphic designers, and many people are put off by all the new types of jargon and terminology that they take to larn.

Equally a upshot, some beginner graphic designers ignore typography and focus exclusively on color, graphics, and layouts, but whatever experienced designer can spot bad typography instantly – and your target audition tin too, even if they can't put their finger on what's incorrect.

If you're serious almost expanding your blueprint knowledge, it's a adept idea to start at the beginning and piece of work your way up from there, so let's take a closer wait at one of the basic building blocks of good typesetting: leading.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways
So What Exactly IS Leading?
- Quick Note: How to Pronounce Leading
- How Does Leading Affect Your Design?
FAQs about Leading in Typography
- Why is it Called Leading?
- How is Leading Measured?
- Are Leading and Line Spacing the Same in Typography?
- What is Negative Leading?
A Concluding Give-and-take

Key Takeaways

Leading is the name for the empty space between lines of text.
Leading has a huge impact on text readability.
Leading is measured in points, and is written as a pair with the font size.

And so What Exactly IS Leading?

Leading is the proper name for the empty space betwixt lines of text. This may seem extremely simple, just selecting the right leading size can brand a huge difference in how people read your text and how your layout looks.

After all, I did say information technology was a good idea to start with the basics!

Quick Note: How to Pronounce Leading

For those of you who are working at dwelling house without other designers around, you may not know that 'leading' has a slightly unusual pronunciation due to its origins in the early on days of printing presses. Instead of rhyming with the word 'reading', the typographic term 'leading' rhymes with 'sledding', with the emphasis on the first syllable.

To learn more near how this unusual pronunciation came nigh, check out the FAQ section toward the finish of the post.

How Does Leading Impact Your Blueprint?

The well-nigh important aspect of leading is how it affects the readability of your text. Readability and legibility are not the same; if your text is legible, your audience will be able to distinguish private letters, only if your text is readable, it's easier for your audition to really read, especially over longer passages.

When your eye reaches the stop of a line of text, the leading acts as a visual aqueduct to guide your focus back to the beginning of the next line of text. Insufficient leading can make your eye lose its position in the text and skip over lines, which is extremely frustrating for any reader. Too much leading is less of a trouble, but it can be confusing in its own right.

Of course, you can play around with your leading a trivial bit while still maintaining readability. If you're setting a large block of text and a couple of lines keep getting pushed onto an actress folio, adjusting your leading is a meliorate option than adding a whole new page for 2 extra lines of text.

If y'all design the virtually beautiful layout project in the earth, but nobody can really read the text it contains, then you've got a serious problem. Yous have to call up that the person who is actually going to be viewing your pattern is your target audition, and you need to make your design choices with them in mind.

FAQs about Leading in Typography

For those of you who are all the same curious about leading and its role in typographic blueprint, here are a few of the nigh frequently asked questions virtually leading in typography.

Why is information technology Called Leading?

As with many type terms, the origins of the term 'leading' come from the early days of typesetting, when press presses and movable blazon were still quite new (at least, new to Europe). Since nobody had whatever thought nigh lead's harmful furnishings on the human being body at the fourth dimension, it was still in mutual usage for crafting and manufacturing, and thin strips of pb were used to create and adjust the spacing between lines of type in a printing press.

How is Leading Measured?

Leading is more often than not measured in the same units every bit the actual letters: points. The 'point' unit of measurement of measure (abbreviated every bit 'pt' in most situations) is equivalent to one/72 of an inch or 0.3528 mm.

Typically, when designers talk about leading measurements, they'll refer to it as part of a pairing along with the font size. For example, "11 / 14 pt" would mean eleven pt font size and xiv pt leading, typically read out loud as '11 on xiv'. Once you lot're more familiar with typesetting, this provides a much amend understanding of how the text will wait without having to really see it in front end of yous.

In more than casual programs, leading is often measured using different methods: sometimes it is measured as a percent of the currently selected font size, and sometimes information technology'southward even more simple, offering only a choice between unmarried spacing and double spacing.

Are Leading and Line Spacing the Same in Typography?

Aye, leading and line spacing are two unlike ways of discussing the aforementioned typographic element. Yet, professional design programs volition virtually e'er use the term 'leading', while more casual programs such as word processors apply the more simplified term 'line spacing'.

As a result, programs that offering 'line spacing' options are unremarkably less flexible, frequently only giving yous a choice between single spacing, 1.5 spacing, or double spacing, while programs that offer 'leading' options will give you much more specific customization options.

What is Negative Leading?

In professional design software, information technology'south possible to enter almost any leading value that you want. If you enter a value that is the verbal same every bit your font size, your text is 'gear up solid,' just if you enter a value that is smaller than your font size, so your text will exist using 'negative leading.'

In some situations, this can exist a useful tool from a layout blueprint perspective, but yous'll run the hazard of having messages from dissimilar lines overlapping each other. For example, if the descender on a letter 'q' overlaps with an ascender from a letter 'b' on the line below, yous can quickly run into readability and legibility issues.

A Concluding Discussion

That'south merely nigh everything at that place is to know near the basics of leading in typography, merely there's e'er more than to acquire in the earth of blazon.

The most helpful affair you lot tin can practice to sharpen your typographic skills is to pay attending to how typography is used in the world around you lot. Y'all're exposed to the skillful, the bad, and the ugly sides of type design every day, and so every bit long as you know what to look for, the whole earth tin can help you lot practice.

Happy typesetting!