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I thought the book Practical Typography made the best case by just showing an example. Two spaces creates rivers in the text that make it look bad. The author's

I thought the book Practical Typography made the best case by just showing an example. Two spaces creates rivers in the text that make it look bad. The author's proposed solution to custom-typeset to avoid this is not sustainable (because it's sensitive to reformatting) or practical. Judge for yourself: http://practicaltypography.com/one-space-between-sentences.html http://practicaltypography.com/one-space-between-sentences.h...

tlarkworthy 13y ago
I judge that it makes little difference.
colanderman 13y ago
The author's proposed solution to custom-typeset to avoid this is not sustainable (because it's sensitive to reformatting) or practical. Isn't this what computers are for?
- doorhammer 13y ago
  For anyone who hasn't seen it. An interesting read: river detection in text http://dsp.stackexchange.com/questions/374/river-detection-in-text http://dsp.stackexchange.com/questions/374/river-detection-i... former HN comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5268364 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5268364
dalke 13y ago
"not sustainable ... or practical" The thesis is that the publishers pushed for the rule because it was cheaper. Your view is aligned with that thesis. The author doesn't propose a two-space solution. The author explicitly says that you should feel free to use either one space or two spaces. Instead, the author points out that the older solution was based on having knowledgeable typesetters.
DanBC 13y ago
I can't see rivers in the example. Here's a screenshot. (http://imgur.com/7zGhP9X http://imgur.com/7zGhP9X)
- alayne 13y ago
  There's a river starting on line two "sentences." through the period in "habit." and down through the space to the right of "set" 'anymore." and "practice."
  - ShirtlessRod 13y ago
    Considering that the placement of the words in the two examples is exactly the same, the "river" is present in both.
    - sbuk 13y ago
      Nope. Visually it's not there in the first instance.
      - ShirtlessRod 13y ago
        It absolutely is. If you want to argue it's not as large, that's fine, but it is definitely present. http://imgur.com/DzrFAZU http://imgur.com/DzrFAZU
- peterkelly 13y ago
  Your browser most likely took this into account when doing the text layout. HTML & CSS don't specify algorithms for line-breaking, which the person who wrote that may not have realised. In order to demonstrate the problem reliably, they would have had to use an image or PDF file. But the fact that your browser fixed it (as did mine) indicates that it's not actually a problem, since it can be solved automatically in software.
  - alayne 13y ago
    Some issues can be solved automatically in software, but that's like saying a sufficiently smart compiler can produce optimal machine code. It's true, but such software doesn't actually exist. There is still a lot of manual adjustment that goes on, especially in magazine layout, around headline kerning and text spacing issues to tweak the output from the algorithms.

tlarkworthy 13y ago

I judge that it makes little difference.

colanderman 13y ago

The author's proposed solution to custom-typeset to avoid this is not sustainable (because it's sensitive to reformatting) or practical. Isn't this what computers are for?

doorhammer 13y ago
For anyone who hasn't seen it. An interesting read: river detection in text http://dsp.stackexchange.com/questions/374/river-detection-in-text http://dsp.stackexchange.com/questions/374/river-detection-i... former HN comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5268364 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5268364

dalke 13y ago

"not sustainable ... or practical" The thesis is that the publishers pushed for the rule because it was cheaper. Your view is aligned with that thesis. The author doesn't propose a two-space solution. The author explicitly says that you should feel free to use either one space or two spaces. Instead, the author points out that the older solution was based on having knowledgeable typesetters.

DanBC 13y ago

I can't see rivers in the example. Here's a screenshot. (http://imgur.com/7zGhP9X http://imgur.com/7zGhP9X)

alayne 13y ago
There's a river starting on line two "sentences." through the period in "habit." and down through the space to the right of "set" 'anymore." and "practice."
- ShirtlessRod 13y ago
  Considering that the placement of the words in the two examples is exactly the same, the "river" is present in both.
  - sbuk 13y ago
    Nope. Visually it's not there in the first instance.
    - ShirtlessRod 13y ago
      It absolutely is. If you want to argue it's not as large, that's fine, but it is definitely present. http://imgur.com/DzrFAZU http://imgur.com/DzrFAZU
peterkelly 13y ago
Your browser most likely took this into account when doing the text layout. HTML & CSS don't specify algorithms for line-breaking, which the person who wrote that may not have realised. In order to demonstrate the problem reliably, they would have had to use an image or PDF file. But the fact that your browser fixed it (as did mine) indicates that it's not actually a problem, since it can be solved automatically in software.
- alayne 13y ago
  Some issues can be solved automatically in software, but that's like saying a sufficiently smart compiler can produce optimal machine code. It's true, but such software doesn't actually exist. There is still a lot of manual adjustment that goes on, especially in magazine layout, around headline kerning and text spacing issues to tweak the output from the algorithms.