X-height

[Steven Craig Miller]

Does anyone know how to determine a font's x-height? Or how to compare the
x-height between two fonts?

--
-Steven Craig Miller
Alton, IL (USA)
stevencr...@home.com

[Thomas Ferguson]

Traditionally, x-height is the height of the lowercase letter x. It is also
the height of the body of lowercase letters in a font, excluding the
ascenders and descenders. Some lower-case letters that do not have ascenders
or descenders still extend a little bit above or below the x-height as part
of their design. The x-height can vary greatly from typeface to typeface at
the same point size.

http://www.adobe.com/type/topics/glossary.html

Tom
MSMVP PS-D

"Steven Craig Miller" <stevencr...@home.com> wrote in message
news:uEqu9R4DBHA.236@tkmsftngp04...

[Steven Craig Miller]

<< The x-height can vary greatly from typeface to typeface at the same point
size. >>

Precisely! And so, my question is, how does one measure a typeface's
x-height? How does one compare the x-height of two different typefaces? I
wrote a macro to calculate the CPP (characters per pica) of any given font
at any given point size. But I'm at a loss to know how to calculate a
typeface's x-height. Does anyone have any ideas?

[Thomas Ferguson]

Hmm ... I certainly misunderstood your original post.

It might be worth posting the question to comp.fonts, a UseNet group.

Tom

"Steven Craig Miller" <stevencr...@home.com> wrote in message

news:umxnqO5DBHA.1616@tkmsftngp02...

[Alex Heggie]

The relative size of two different fonts can be compared
by measuring the length of the lower case alphabet (lca)
and comparing these measurments as a ratio or percentage.
This will give you a rough idea of the amount of space a
given document will occupy compared to the original font.
It is at best a rough estimate but used with some degree
of reason, it can be a helpful guide.

Alex Heggie

>.
>

[pstan...@cogeco.ca]

>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >Does anyone know how to determine a font's x-height? Or
> how to compare the
> >x-height between two fonts?
> >
> >--
> >-Steven Craig Miller

I'm not sure what you're attempting to do. Anyway, if you want to
compare the x-heights of two fonts (in MS Word I presume), then set a
few lc characters side by side in about 72 point. Then draw a fine rule
(from drawing tools) across the top of the taller x-height. Generally
speaking, the larger the x-height, the more readable the typeface at
smaller sizes.
There's a lot more to the size of fonts than the x-height. The height
of the ascenders and descenders plays a significant role in the setting
of type - as well as the amount of leading and various other
parameters.

Peter