THE LETTER23 Using numbers

NUMBERS NEED SPECIAL ATTENTION. Numbers (more correctly called numerals or figures) often require extra spacing; this need increases as the point size and the length of the string of numbers grows. As to how much extra spacing, let visual harmony and consistent typographic color with the surrounding letterforms be your guide. You should also understand the difference between lining figures (or titling figures) and old-style figures (or lowercase figures). The former align with the capital letters and are therefore best used when the surrounding text is all uppercase. The latter are of mixed sizes (some with the equivalents of ascenders and descenders), the better to coexist harmoniously with surrounding text type in ...

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