WD97: How to Set Up Page with Set Number of Characters Per Line

MORE INFORMATION

The following formula can be used to calculate the necessary space between margins to produce a certain number of characters (also referred to as columns) per line.

   Desired Characters Per Line (columns)
   -------------------------------------         =  Required Print Area
   Font Size (expressed in characters per inch)           in Inches
				

Monospace fonts such as the TrueType Courier New are comprised of characters with equal widths. This attribute allows the creation of documents with specific numbers of characters per line. Proportional fonts contain characters of varying widths that do not facilitate the creation of certain numbers of characters per line.

NOTE: Characters per line in documents is sometimes referred to as "Columns per line."

The following table lists some commonly used font sizes.

   Characters        Font
   Per Inch          Size
   ----------------------

   5                 24
   7.5               16
   10                12
   12                10
				

An Example of How to Apply the Formula

If you need to create a document with 120 characters per line using a 12- character-per-inch font, use the following formula:

          120 characters
   --------------------------          = 10 inches
    12 characters per inch (10 points)
				

The printable area required for this example is 10 inches. To obtain a 10-inch printable area on a standard 8.5-by-11-inch page, use the following parameters.

   Font:         Use a monospace font (such as Courier)
   Orientation:  Landscape
   Left margin:  .5 inch
   Right margin: .5 inch