For years I've been under the impression the WordPerfect added 2
pt leading to all font sizes of proportional type, but none to fixed
pitch or non-proportional type. I also believed that MS Word did not,
by default, add any leading to either type of font.

	Following a challenge to this statement, simple tests I've
conducted show that, by default, both Wordperfect 10 and MS Word 2002
add leading to proportional fonts.

	For example, Century Schoolbook and Century Schoolbook Mono both
have leading added in both word processors.

	MSWord does not mention adding leading in is various dialogs,
while WordPerfect does say in one dialog

> "... Auto line height: measured as point size of the current font plus
> two points.

	However, with Courier, MS Word adds leading but WordPerfect does
not.

	Does anyone know if there is a any pattern to the addition of
leading in these two programs according to their proportionality
characteristics ? Does the pattern relate to font proprietors ?  Is
there any difference in pattern between TTF and T1 fonts ?


Lindsay Rollo, Wellington, New Zealand
Outgoing mail is checked for viruses
by Avast! 4.1 

Also sprach/Thus spake lrollo@paradise.net.nz:
> For years I've been under the impression the WordPerfect added 2
> pt leading to all font sizes of proportional type, but none to fixed
> pitch or non-proportional type. I also believed that MS Word did not,
> by default, add any leading to either type of font.
> 
> Following a challenge to this statement, simple tests I've
> conducted show that, by default, both Wordperfect 10 and MS Word 2002
> add leading to proportional fonts.
> 
> For example, Century Schoolbook and Century Schoolbook Mono both
> have leading added in both word processors.
> 
> MSWord does not mention adding leading in is various dialogs,
> while WordPerfect does say in one dialog
> 
>> "... Auto line height: measured as point size of the current font
>> plus two points.
> 
> However, with Courier, MS Word adds leading but WordPerfect does
> not.

What did you test that against?
How do you know what the respective fonts look like
without leading?

Andreas

lrollo@paradise.net.nz wrote in message news:<dqplb050om46ddfac7gi7si1nkhrjgs65b@4ax.com>...
> For years I've been under the impression the WordPerfect added 2
> pt leading to all font sizes of proportional type, but none to fixed
> pitch or non-proportional type. I also believed that MS Word did not,
> by default, add any leading to either type of font.

Looking at Word 97, body text defaults Times 10 pt. If I open the
"Format|Paragraph" menu item I get a dialog box, with "line spacing".
The settings here are single, double, ... and "Exactly". Selecting
that, you see the leading in points, which defaults to 12.

However if I select another style, say a heading in 14 pt, and look at
this setting, the default "exact" leading is again 12, which is
clearly less than the "single" setting. I'd guess that leading for
"single" is point size + 20%, which is fairly reasonable; a few
printouts would confirm this.

Anyway, I use Word only when forced to and never for layout so haven't
investigated the subtleties of its typography. The whole way it
handles styles is so confusing that I gave up long ago.

You'd probably get more informed responses in Word venues, such as
<http://www.wopr.com/>.

Micro$cum Wurd defaults to adding 20% of the point size to the leading ...

12 point on 14.4 point spacing
10 point on 12 point spacing
8 point on 9.6 point spacing
etcetera


But options are available for "exact" line spacing. Read your manual or see the Help file
to find out how on your version.



<lrollo@paradise.net.nz> wrote in message
news:dqplb050om46ddfac7gi7si1nkhrjgs65b@4ax.com...
> For years I've been under the impression the WordPerfect added 2
> pt leading to all font sizes of proportional type, but none to fixed
> pitch or non-proportional type. I also believed that MS Word did not,
> by default, add any leading to either type of font.
>
> Following a challenge to this statement, simple tests I've
> conducted show that, by default, both Wordperfect 10 and MS Word 2002
> add leading to proportional fonts.
>
> For example, Century Schoolbook and Century Schoolbook Mono both
> have leading added in both word processors.
>
> MSWord does not mention adding leading in is various dialogs,
> while WordPerfect does say in one dialog
>
> > "... Auto line height: measured as point size of the current font plus
> > two points.
>
> However, with Courier, MS Word adds leading but WordPerfect does
> not.
>
> Does anyone know if there is a any pattern to the addition of
> leading in these two programs according to their proportionality
> characteristics ? Does the pattern relate to font proprietors ?  Is
> there any difference in pattern between TTF and T1 fonts ?
>
>
> Lindsay Rollo, Wellington, New Zealand
> Outgoing mail is checked for viruses
> by Avast! 4.1