Font Size in Illustrator CS inaccurate

[p***@adobeforums.com]

I work in the signage industry and am constantly working with text within size constraints, and guidelines established by specific clients. My problem is: when specifying a particular font size, the ACTUAL size is really smaller than what is specified--sometimes up to 3/8 of an inch!!

Where, for print material it is not as imperative to be accurate (as long as it stays on the page), my use for font with signage needs to be EXACT.

Any info on this problem is greatly appreciated.

I have also noticed that many times there is a "distance" below the baseline that actually is included in the font size....is there a name/preference for this? I don't believe it is baseline shift, it is an actual distance below the baseline included when selecting the font.

Thanks for your replies.

[S***@adobeforums.com]

Illustrator is not being inacucrate. You are used to specifying type sizes by Cap Height, but Illustrator (and practically every other graphics program available) does not work that way. According to centuries-old tradition, tpye size is a measurement from the bottom of the lowest hanging character to the top of the tallest character.

[t***@adobeforums.com]

The basic unit of measurement in typography is the point. All other dimensions and terms used in printing derive from this one unique measurement. The point is used to describe the differences in size between type faces, line spacing, and other elements of composition, but also leads to great confusion. In North America and Britain the point is approximately .351mm and is called the Pica point. In Europe the point is a little bigger (.376mm) and is called the Didot point.

In both systems, points have always been used to describe the length of one metal chunk of type. A 72-pt H, in metal type, is a character cast onto the top of a metal block; the block carries the letter through all the printing operations and the block's top surface is itself exactly 72 points (or .918") in height.

The actual impression or image height of the H, when printed on paper, will be smaller than the overall size of the metal. Traditionally, the point size of type refers to a specific dimension of the metal and not to the image height. This discrepancy is necessary because of the ascenders and descenders.

see link

<http://www.typography-1st.com/typo/pointsys.shtml>

[J***@adobeforums.com]

I work in the signage industry and am constantly working with text within
size constraints, and guidelines established by specific clients.




When your client specifies "2 inch type", which character is he talking about? A capital O? A capital M? A capital Q? A capital T (and does that include or exclude the vertical serifs)?

Whatever the answer, the sofware is going to have to ask the same question if it is going to avoid the "inaccuracy" you think such a feature would prevent.

JET

[M***@adobeforums.com]

Why not set your text to be visually correct and at the approximate size then convert the type to outlines and use the transform palette to specify the exact size you require. You would have to do this for each line of your text instead of a paragraph at a time, but I'm assuming that this would be the case most of the time for signs anyway. You could also keep a copy of the editable type before converting to outlines as a backup in case you need to further edit.

[J***@adobeforums.com]

Here is your new feature:

<http://www.IllustrationETC.com/AIbuds/JET_SetCapHeight.zip>

To install it:

1. Download the linked .zip archive.
2. Decompress it.
3. Open the resulting folder. It contains an Illustrator Javascript.
4. Quit Illustrator.
5. Find Illustrator's Scripts folder. The default location on Windows is:
"C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator CS2\Presets\Scripts"
6. Drag the Javascript into Illustrator's Scripts folder.
7. Launch Illustrator.

To use it:

1. Text Tool: Create a text object. It can be PointType, AreaType, or PathType.
2. Text Tool: Select the characters you want to size by cap height.
3. Select the script from the File menu (File>Scripts>JET_SetCapHeight).
4. An alert tells you the current size of the first selected character. Click OK.
5. A prompt asks you to enter the desired cap height in inches. It defaults to the current cap height, expressed in inches.
6. Enter the desired cap height. Click OK.
7. The text is sized accordingly.

By default, when you create a textFrame in Illustrator, its leading value is set to auto-leading. So the leading value of the characters modified by the script will change accordingly. To prevent that, simply give the text object an absolute leading value before running the script. That way, you can size selected characters in a textFrame object without upsetting the line spacing.

Written for and tested in Illustrator CS2. Should work on both Windows and Mac. Should work with CS1. May work with AI10, but there were changes in AI's Javascript after AI10, so may not.

No warranties expressed or impied.

You're welcome. Praise, glory, fame, and (above all) huge amounts of money gratefully accepted. ;-)

JET