Line length

In typography, line length is the width of a block of typeset text, usually measured in units of length like inches or points or in characters per line. A block of text or paragraph has a maximum line length that fits a determined design.

Line length is determined by typographic parameters based on a formal grid and template with several goals in mind; balance and function for fit and readability with a sensitivity to aesthetic style in typography. Typographers adjust line length to aid legibility or copy fit. Text can be flush left and ragged right, flush right and ragged left, or justified where all lines are of equal length. In a ragged right setting line lengths vary to create a ragged right edge of lines varying in length. Sometimes this can be visually satisfying. For justified and ragged right settings typographers can adjust line length to avoid unwanted hyphens, rivers of white space, and orphaned words/characters at the end of lines (e.g.: "The", "I", "He", "We").

Traditional line length research, limited to print based text, resulted in a variety of results but generally for printed text it is widely accepted that line length fall between 45-75 characters per line (cpl), though the ideal is 66 cpl (including letters and spaces). For conventional books line lengths tend to be 30 times the size of the type, but between 20 and 40 times is considered acceptable (i.e. 30 x 10pt font = 300 pt line). Early studies considered line lengths between 59–97 mm (about 57 cpl) is optimum for 10 point font. For printed works with multiple columns 40-50 cpl is often better. For justified, English language text the minimum number of characters per line is 40 characters; anything less than 38-40 characters often results in splotches of white spaces (or rivers) or too many hyphenations in the block of text. Longer lines (between 85-90 cpl) may be acceptable for discontinuous text such as in bibliographies or footnotes, but for continuous text lines with more than 80 characters may be too long. Short text, such as ragged marginal notes, may be as little as 12-15 characters per line. Studies have shown that short lines are often preferred over long lines by study participants, likely because they feel more at ease with format, which contradicts research suggesting longer lines are best for quick reading.

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