Tips & Tricks

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Type Basics
by Chris & Trish Meyer, CyberMotion

Some basic concepts for improving your use of type.

Editors and graphic artists have to be jacks-of-all- (To access these alternate glyphs under Windows, you
trades: In addition to working with video and other need to hold down the Alt key while typing the
imagery, we are also expected to know how to handle numbers on the numeric keypad with the Num Lock
sound and text as well. But of course, not everyone is key on.)
born knowing how to handle all these different media
types. That’s why we focused on audio in our last two It’s usually acceptable to use the regular tick marks
articles for Artbeats.com, and why we want to share (the ‘ and “ characters) to indicate feet and inches or
some basic typography tips, hints, and resources with minutes and seconds – provided that the font you’re
you here. We’ll start with some basic rules of good
typography, and then move onto the more subjective using produces nice-looking results. If you’re unhappy
world of font choice. with the look of the straight feet and inch marks in
the font you’re using, consider employing the angled
Not a Typewriter versions available in the Symbol font for just these
characters:
Mechanical typewriters had limited character sets,
restricted by their design. As a result,
typists had to make compromises, using the same Character Mac (Symbol.dfont) Windows
key for multiple tasks – such as using the same feet (or minutes) ′ Option-4 Alt-0162
character for an open quote, close quote, and inch inches (or seconds) ″ Option-Comma Alt-0178
mark. However, those three applications actually
demand three different glyphs: “, ”, and “ respec-
tively. By contrast, computers give you access to all
Another common typesetting mistake is to use
three. Unfortunately, many users stick to the restric- hyphens for everything, including two hyphens (such
tions imposed by old-fashioned typewriters, still using as --) to signify a dash. We’re sorry, but this is a real
“ for these varied purposes. The result looks less than sign of an amateur typesetting job. Instead, use an
sophisticated. “em” dash or an “en” dash. An en dash gets its name
because it is the same width as the letter “n” in a font;
Fortunately, more software (such as Adobe After the em dash is the width of the letter “m”. The most
Effects from version 6 onward) offer “smart quotes”
common type style in North America is to use an em
as either an option or their default behavior. If your
dash with no spaces (like this—for example), while in
software of choice doesn’t, here are the key combina-
figure 1a Europe it is more common to use an en dash
tions required to access these alternate glyphs on your
surrounded by spaces (like this – for example).
computer:
We personally prefer the en dash approach, as
it’s a little less disruptive to read, and allows
Character Macintosh Windows lines to “break” more smoothly in paragraphs of
opening single quote ‘ Option+] Alt-0145 text. The en dash (with no spaces) is also the
correct one to use when signifying ranges of
closing single quote ’ Option+Shift+] Alt-0146 numbers, such as 1935–77.
opening double quote “ Option+[ Alt-0147
closing double quote ” Option+Shift+[ Alt-0148 Some programs such as Microsoft Word have
figure 1b options to automatically replace -- with a nicer
dash while you type; here are the characters

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 Tips & Tricks
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you can enter manually in other applications: In the first example here, the ‘t’ and ‘y’ are too
close together, while the ‘y’ and ‘p’ are too far
apart. In the second example – where we used a
Character Mac (Symbol.dfont) Windows capital ‘T’ in place of the lower-case ‘t’ – now the
en dash – Opt+hyphen Alt-0150 ‘T’ and ‘y’ are too far apart as well.
em dash — Opt+Shift+hyphen Alt-0151 Figure 1 (below): In the first example, the default spacing between ‘t’
and ‘y’ in the word on the left is too close, while the spacing between
‘y’ and ‘p’ is too large. We used kerning controls to adjust this
spacing in the word on the right so that the volume of empty area between
If you are interested in the multiple variations dashes individual character pairs is more even. In the second example, the capital
and their correct usages – including the symbols to ‘T’ presented a different kerning challenge than the lower-case ‘t’, needing
use when coding a web site – there is a great article to be moved closer to the ‘y’ rather than further away.
on the subject on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Dash.

Personal Space
Another important concept in typesetting is the space
between characters. There are two terms involved
here: tracking, which is the average space between all figure 4
characters in a word or line, and kerning, which is the
space between a specific pair of characters.

You can reduce tracking to fit more characters on a

line (sometimes necessary for long titles or names
in lower thirds), or increase it to create a more styl- In our second example where the ‘T’ is capitalized, its
ized look. If the type will be displayed very small on upper bar floats well above the ‘y’ instead of threaten-
screen, you may also need to increase the tracking to ing to collide with it. In this case, the ‘y’ can be moved
ensure the characters don’t bleed together when com- much closer to the ‘T’ to fill in the empty space under-
pressed for broadcast or a web video. neath its bar. Again, you will have even more issues
when mixing and matching fonts, styles, and sizes in
Kerning is more of a corrective measure, curing gaps the same word or line.
that are too large between characters, or spacing out
characters that are too close to each other. Most pro- Adobe applications share the same user interface for
fessional fonts have good “kerning tables” that auto- kerning: Go into editing mode (choose the Text tool
matically determine the spacing between character rather than the normal Selection tool), place your cur-
pairs, but many still benefit from some manual tweak- sor between the problematic characters, hold down
ing. Problems become more obvious with freeware the Option key on Mac or the Alt key on Windows, and
fonts, or when mixing together different font families, then use the left and right cursor keys to adjust the
styles or sizes in the same line or word. kerning. Adobe’s default kerning increments can be a
bit large for small type; you may need to adjust the
There is no hard and fast rule about kerning, as dif- kerning values manually. Other programs may give
ferent character shapes require different space to you only a manual numeric adjustment. Regardless,
“look” correct. It’s not just about measuring the the few minutes you spend kerning your type is liter-
nearest point of contact between characters; instead, ally the difference between pay grades when it comes
you are roughly aiming to have the same volume of to evaluating the quality of your work.
empty space between characters, taking their curves
and bends into account. Indeed, one of the automatic A Font of Wisdom
kerning modes in Adobe applications is called “optical” Your choice of font for a project is just as important
where it tries to analyze this space. As a lower-tech as your choice of lighting, color scheme, and music.
solution, some suggest squinting when you look at There is life beyond Helvetica and Times, and ventur-
type, so that you don’t see the individual characters ing outside those bounds is the difference making your
any more – just blobs and the spaces between. work look ready for a national broadcast spot, or more
like a local cable ad.
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 Tips & Tricks
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buys off on your selection: Typesetting is a boring job

That said, it is all too tempting to amass a huge collec- you only want to have to do once; you don’t want to
tion of fonts – and then pick the most outrageous one have to kern all of your titles all over again just be-
you just acquired to use on your latest job. Before you cause you didn’t bother to check with the client first.
do, think: Does this font reflect the message you’re
trying to convey? A gothic Margo Chase font like Vitriol As touched on above, readability is a big issue, es-
is very cool to look at – but completely inappropriate pecially in lower-resolution formats such as web or
for a banking spot (plus it’s likely that the more in- standard-definition video. That’s why “serif” fonts –
teresting a font, the harder it is to read quickly when ones that have extra details such as feet on the bot-
you’re trying to convey a lot of information in a hurry). tom of characters such as “rif” (see the example here)
– may not work as well as sans-serif fonts, which
Figure 2 (below): This font – Vitriol by Margo Chase (available from the are smoother and simpler. Very thin lines also cause
type foundry T.26 and font distributors such as MyFonts.com) – is certainly problems, either disappearing when compressed, or
interesting to look at, but perhaps inappropriate for a more conservative causing field flicker on thin horizontal lines. And even
client or subject matter. if your font is technically a safe choice, make
sure it’s not so cool as to be unreadable. One
rule of thumb is that you should be able to
read the text twice before it disappears from
the screen. If you can’t, you either need to
slow down the pace of your edits, or choose a
more readable font.

Figure 3 (below): The font on top is a serif style; note the extra details espe-
cially at the feet of some characters. These extra details can cause problem
in lower resolution or interlaced formats. The font underneath is in the
simpler sans serif file, which is often easier to read.

Equally bad is to use too many fonts in the same

design. This is often referred to as the “ransom note”
effect. Print designers often say you only need three
good fonts: A bold one for the headline, a lighter one
for the body copy, and a contrasting one – perhaps in
italics – for emphasis or variation. Video editors may
only need one font “family“ provided it has a wide
variety of weights. Search your font library for fami-
lies with both bold and black weights, as these tend
to hold up better on video compared to normal or Zooming Out
light weights. Better yet, see if the family also offers There are numerous resources available that will help
condensed versions which are invaluable for creat- you improve your typesetting and type design. A clas-
ing tall titles; proper condensed fonts will look better sic in the field is The Mac is Not a Typewriter (and it’s
compared with squeezing the normal font. If you use companion book, The PC is Not a Typewriter) by Robin
a very compressed font, make sure it’s readable – you Williams, which explains basic typographic practices
may need to increase the tracking a little to let the such as the quote and dash issues mentioned ear-
characters breathe. lier. If you prefer video training over a book, check
out Typographic Principles by Don Barnett and Lynda
When you’re starting a job, it’s a good practice to Weinman, which is available as part of the Lynda.com
think of a theme, and then try to pick a family of fonts Online Training Library. (If you don’t already have a
that reflect that theme. Take a few common words subscription, go to www.lynda.com/go/chrisandtrish
you expect to be using often (such as the company’s for a free seven-day pass.) We’ve also just posted on
name, as well as buzzwords common to the industry) one of our blogs a long list of books and font foundries
and repeat them over and over on the same page or that we personally find useful on one of our blogs – go
subsequent screens using your font candidates so you to http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/cmg_key-
can see them in context. Also make sure the client frames/story/fonts ; the second page contains the

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 Tips & Tricks
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font links. To see type in action, one good web site to

check out is ArtOfTheTitle.com: It will provide plenty
of inspiration, culled from across the decades and
around the world.

###
Chris and Trish Meyer are the founders and owners of
CyberMotion (www.cybmotion.com), an award-winning
motion graphics studio in Los Angeles that has cre-
ated a wide variety of work for film, broadcast, cor-
porate events, and special venues. They were one of
the original development sites for After Effects, wrote
the highly-acclaimed books Creating Motion Graphics
and After Effects Apprentice (2007), and are long-time
Artbeats users.

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