Comment Points and Picas (Score 1) 1461
You can take this idea further with two standard measurements used by graphic designers: the point and the pica.
There are 6 picas in an inch, and there 12 points in a pica (making 72 points in an inch). Points are used regularly to describe the size of a font, and make the inch evenly divisible by 2, 3, and 4. 10 point is a standard book type size -- with a standard two points of leading (extra space for linespacing) it takes up 12 points, 1 pica, per line of text. With 6 picas in an inch it is easy to count how many lines of text fit into a vertical space. That's why type sizes are usually 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 72 as relatively clean subdivisions of an inch.
There are 6 picas in an inch, and there 12 points in a pica (making 72 points in an inch). Points are used regularly to describe the size of a font, and make the inch evenly divisible by 2, 3, and 4. 10 point is a standard book type size -- with a standard two points of leading (extra space for linespacing) it takes up 12 points, 1 pica, per line of text. With 6 picas in an inch it is easy to count how many lines of text fit into a vertical space. That's why type sizes are usually 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 72 as relatively clean subdivisions of an inch.
