# When did 11 pt font become the standard over 12 pt? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 26, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-11-pt-font-become-the-standard-over-12-pt/579798 "2011-04-26T18:37:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-11-pt-font-become-the-standard-over-12-pt/579798/21 "2011-04-29T21:49:43Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > Typewriters and their fonts were generally classed as either _Pica_ (10 characters per inch) or _Elite_ (12 CPI). Line spacing was usually 6 lines per inch. > > That’s all for _monospaced_ fonts of course, which is what the vast majority of typewriters used. Also, I’m speaking of how things were in the US. European typewriters might have been different. And by extension, the standard typewritten document was expected to be at 10CPI/12-point, especially for such as court filings or bills ; this was translated into word processing as a requirement for 12-point text - 12 point Courier looks like 10CPI typed text - and it became “the” standard adopted by the first generations of office software. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-11-pt-font-become-the-standard-over-12-pt/579798/22 "2011-04-29T22:06:21Z")
Nearly everyone at work has switched to Georgia 12pt. Great font and looks great printing from a laser printer. Sometimes I’ll switch to 11pt if a memo is running past one page. We try to keep memos short and on 1 page. People are more likely to read them. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-11-pt-font-become-the-standard-over-12-pt/579798/23 "2011-04-30T06:31:00Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > You must be fairly young then. To go from 12 to 11 is moving in the wrong direction, for me. I’m 51. I don’t mind getting older—honest, it’s fine with me—except for the one thing I really hate about it: declining eyesight. I have to strain my eyes to read, more and more. When I open some web page with font this tiny, I curse the juvenile delinquents who made it that way. 11 is not my friend. I believe I speak for many of the 50+ cohort. Lately, I write in Word with 13, except for work because they want everything in TNR 12. And I magnify the view some. You don’t even have to be older; I often zoom websites and I’m not even 30. (Part of that is zooming OUT because they make the images too darn large) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-11-pt-font-become-the-standard-over-12-pt/579798/24 "2011-04-30T13:34:07Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s because computer screens got bigger. That doesn’t really make sense, since Word uses a magnification feature. The font on the screen is not actually 11 point. On my screen, it matches up with Firefox’s 16 point. ---
**Author:** ![MilTan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@MilTan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MilTan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-11-pt-font-become-the-standard-over-12-pt/579798/25 "2011-04-30T13:50:34Z")
It could be worse. The standard ACM conference proceeding, these days, is printed in _9_ point type! Try reviewing a stack of 15 of those. It only takes an hour or two to go crosseyed. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-11-pt-font-become-the-standard-over-12-pt/579798/26 "2011-04-30T13:59:28Z")
At 74 years I deplore the switch to smaller fonts. I just measured the baseline skip of Scientific American and it is 11pt, which implies the font size is at most 9.5, maybe only 9. By contrast, the New Yorker has exactly 6 lines per inch, meaning likely a 10pt font. It is amazing how much more readable it is. I may drop SciAm because it is so hard to read. After subscribing for 45 years. The online journal I do the technical editing for is strictly 12pt (with 14.4 baseline skips) but we have no space restrictions. Electrons are cheap. Of course, this matters only when you print them out, but then the results are nirvana. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-11-pt-font-become-the-standard-over-12-pt/579798/27 "2011-04-30T19:06:46Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > At 74 years I deplore the switch to smaller fonts. I just measured the baseline skip of Scientific American and it is 11pt, which implies the font size is at most 9.5, maybe only 9. By contrast, the New Yorker has exactly 6 lines per inch, meaning likely a 10pt font. It is amazing how much more readable it is. I may drop SciAm because it is so hard to read. After subscribing for 45 years. You might contact them and see if the magazines and see if they have a large print version. Alternatively, electronic versions are zoomable, but require some sort of electronic device. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-11-pt-font-become-the-standard-over-12-pt/579798/28 "2011-04-30T20:38:59Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That doesn’t really make sense, since Word uses a magnification feature. The font on the screen is not actually 11 point. On my screen, it matches up with Firefox’s 16 point. Thta’s my point. Because screens are bigger - and because more and more people do their reading onscreen - the font doesn’t have to be as big to be readable. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-11-pt-font-become-the-standard-over-12-pt/579798/29 "2011-04-30T22:59:46Z")
Pica, ten characters per horizontal inch, is still the industry standard for screenplays. For screenwriting format programs and other word processing uses, this means Courier, size 12. [http://artfulwriter.com/archives/2005/11/a-format-to-end.html](http://artfulwriter.com/archives/2005/11/a-format-to-end.html) ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-11-pt-font-become-the-standard-over-12-pt/579798/30 "2011-04-30T23:04:35Z")
I don’t really see what the problem is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-11-pt-font-become-the-standard-over-12-pt/579798.md?page=1)