ETYM Type + -graphy: cf. French typographie.
1. Art and technique of printing with movable type; SYN. composition.
2. The craft of composing type and printing from it.
Art of printing; style and layout of printed matter.
Design and layout of the printed word. Typography began with the invention of writing and developed as printing spread throughout Europe after the invention of metal moveable type by Johann Gutenberg about 1440. Hundreds of variations have followed since, but the basic design of the Frenchman Nicholas Jensen (about 1420–1480), with a few modifications, is still the ordinary (“roman”) type used in printing.
Type sizes are measured in points (there are approximately 2.8 points to the millimeter); the length of a typeset line, called the measure, is measured in pica ems (1 pica em has a width of a little over 4 mm/0.15 in). The space between lines (known as leading) is also measured in points, although new photosetting and computer-assisted setting systems also work in metric sizes.
Ease of reading is sought in text typefaces; ornament is sought in display typefaces.
1. The art of font design and typesetting. See also computer typesetting, font.
2. The conversion of unformatted text into camera-ready type, suitable for printing. See also camera-ready.