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Dots and dashes

Re-introducing the dashes and dots that make the difference between page layout and word processing.

Em dash

Em dashes are used to indicate a sudden break of an abrupt change in thought. They are stronger than commas and parentheses in setting off supportive text. Classical book style calls for a thin space on either side of an em dash, but they can also be set tight (without spaces).

En dash

En dashes are used in several specific situations:

an en dash indicates an inclusive range of numbers such as 1994 - 5;
it can be used in place of a hyphen in a compound adjective if one element consists of two words or a hyphenated word, for example, Port Botany - Sydney bus service;
it can also be used as a substitute for a hyphen in type set in small caps if the original hyphen looks too small.

Some typographers recommend an en dash surrounded by thin spaces, in place of an em dash in sentences.

Hyphens

Hyphens really only have two functions:

they indicate a break in words that are too long to fit at the end of a line; and
they link compound words.

They do not make satisfactory substitutes for en and em dashes.

Having "ladders" - more than two or three hyphens in a row, especially in justified text - makes the right edge looks weak, as if the margin was wandering.

The effect is exaggerated when the words before the hyphen are all the same length - particularly if the words are all small - so the illusion of weakness at the right margin or left aligned text is emphasised by the "river", a meandering ribbon of white space, just a few points away.

Ellipsis

The three dots that indicate omitted text in a quoted passage, or a pause or hesitation in speech, can be a real nuisance. The character on the Mac keyboard (Option-Semicolon) is poorly spaced and awkward looking. If you simply type three space-period pairs, you risk having a line break within the ellipsis. Instead, use thin spaces between the dots; or use en spaces, kerning the spaces until the periods are visually accurate.

Ligatures

There are four basic ligatures available on most desktop publishing systems and of these only two, the fi and fl, are of much use. A ligature can be the elegant solution to certain awkward letter pairs, but only if the internal space matches the tracking (letter spacing) of the rest of the text.

Some typefaces are provided with additional ligatures - ff, ffl, ffi, ct and st. And some of the newer versions of software, like QuarkXpress, will automatically adjust the ligatures in text.

Acronyms and abbreviations

It helps the text if the size of words set in all capitals within the main body of text are reduced in size by one or two points. All caps tend to dominate a line; reducing them slightly brings them into better balance with the rest of the text.

Written by Geoffrey Fletcher