Optical margin alignment: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Typographical setting}}

{{unreferenced|date=October 2011}}

{{refimprove|date=January 2017}}

[[File:Optical Margin Alignment.png|thumb|TextExample isof text outdented into margins]]

'''Optical margin alignment''' [[Indentation (typesetting)|outdents]] letters like A, V, W, Y, and punctuation into the margins to align the text border optically. Some users remark that it makes the text margin look crooked, but this is because text frames or margin guides are visible. If text frames are not visible, e.g. in print preview, or when printed, the edge of a block of text looks more even if optical margin alignment is enabled.

From the earliest days of machine printing, punctuation and Drop[[Initial|drop Capitalscapitals]] were indented slightly into the margin, as can be seen in the pages of the [[Gutenberg Bible]]<ref>[http://www.bl.uk/treasures/gutenberg/gutenbergstexts.html Gutenberg Bible]</ref> in the [[British Library]]. Word-processing software lacks this attention to detail that could be achieved when manually setting type page by page, but professional page layout software like [[Adobe InDesign|InDesign]], Ventura and Serif PagePlus can now achieve this with a fine level of adjustment over which letters to indent into the margin and by how much.

== Use ==

Optical margin alignment is designed to be used for body text, and not for display type, text in tables, or [[headline]]s.

[[File:Optical Margin Alignment.png|thumb|Text is outdented into margins]]

It is designed to be used for body text, not for artistic text, table text, or [[headline]]s. It also works well for [[Block quotations|block quotes]], which benefit from “hung punctuation.” The “Smart Quotes” are outdented 100% into the margin or paragraph indent, so that subsequent lines of text align with the first character in the quotation.

It is often used for [[Block quotation|block quotes]], which benefit from “[[Hanging punctuation|hung punctuation]].” In such cases, the leading quotation mark is outdented 100% into the margin or paragraph indent, so that subsequent lines of text align with the first character in the quotation. If the first character of the quotation is meant to be styled as a drop cap, then both the opening, hung quotation mark and the following letter are styled as such.

The optimal values used for the outdents is font dependent. A [[typeface]] that has capital A, V, W, and Y with vertical sides, needs no outdents for these letters, but the capital T and punctuation will still benefit from using Optical Margin Alignment.

The optimal values used for the outdents is font -dependent. A [[typeface]] that haswhose capital A, V, W, and Y withhave vertical sides, needs no outdents for these letters, but the capital T and punctuation will still benefit from usingthe use of Opticaloptical Marginmargin Alignmentalignment.

If text has narrow gutters between columns, table borders, or any straight edge such as an image near to the edge of the text, Optical Margin Alignment should not be used because the proximity of the straight line will break the optical illusion.

If text has narrow gutters between columns, table borders, or any straight edge such as an image near to the edge of the text, Opticaloptical Marginmargin Alignmentalignment should not be used because the proximity of the straight line will break the optical illusion.

This technique is sometimes called hanging punctuation, as it is useful mostly for punctuation marks such as comma, period and the like. However, margin [[kerning]], the slight shifting of certain characters at the margins so the margins look smooth, is a more general concept, as it can be usefully applied to certain letters as well.

This technique is related to and sometimes equated with [[hanging punctuation]], though optical margin alignment is not limited to adjusting only punctuation.

=== Suggested Values for Optical Justification ===

=== Suggested values ===

These values may be suitable for common [[serif]]fed fonts like [[Times New Roman]], [[Palatino]], or [[Garamond]]. Other fonts may need different values.

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== External links ==

* [http://www.tug.org/TUGboat/Articles/tb25-1/thanh.pdf Micro-typographic Extensions of pdfTEX in Practice] - Hàn Thé Thành, University of Education, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

* [http://www.russellviers.com/yabb/cinema3/optical_margin_alignment.html Optical Margin Alignment in InDesign] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082055/http://www.russellviers.com/yabb/cinema3/optical_margin_alignment.html |date=2016-03-04 }} - (RussellViers.com)

* [http://www.russellviers.com/yabb/cinema3/optical_margin_alignment.html Optical Margin Alignment in InDesign] - (RussellViers.com)

[[Category:Typography]]