Font sizes in products, Please comment.

[mroberon1972]

I have had many opinions given on the aspect of font sizes in PDF/Print products. Some seem to think that 12 is a good size, while others belive that it should be less that 10.

Value per page is not an issue here, since value should be gauged by the total product quality/usefulness.

What do you like to look at? 10 point, 12 point, something else?


Your opinions will not only help me understand the issue, but also help yourselves and others as more people answer.

 

[annadobritt]

A 10 or 11 point font is comfortable for me to read either on screen or in print.

I'm not so young either but a 12 point font I find irritating to read.

 

[jmucchiello]

As I've said before, I use 9 point for most text. with 15, 13 and 11 point headings.

And, please make sure the font is serifed.

 

[Dana_Jorgensen]

well, as much as some would like you to think you need serif fonts, serif fonts happen to produce as much eye strain during long term reading as the contrast of black ink on bright white paper. It has been a long "discussion", lasting almost 20 years, as to whether serif or san serif fonts are better for reading on screen and in print. Usually, more important is if the font is spaced properly. The Verdana font came about from those discussions, as the 'optimal' font for both in print and on screen reading.

As for size, be more concerned about being too big. If you go over 10 point size for the body text and there isn't a "for the vision impaired" disclaimer prominent on the book, people will complain about the way "you padded the page count with white space". Another thing to consider is page size; smaller font size for smaller pages. Many of the paperback novels I own use 6 and 7 point fonts, which would just look too small on an 8.5 x 11 page.

For my products, I use spacing adjusted 8 point arial. Nobody has complained about the text being too fine to read as of yet.

 

[Cergorach]

First thing to keep in mind with a fonts is that the 'ideal' size depends on the font used and it's function. For body text i've kept it within 8-10pt, most often i'll use 9pt. Oneof the reasons is because that size is close to what's used in most D&D books, people tend to keep their eyes longer on material if it's presented in the same way as material the read on a regular basis.

 

[Fast Learner]

Font size, as Cergorach hints, is not a useful measurement of readability or visual pleasure. The x-height of a font (the height of an x in a font) is much more important than the font's overall size, for example. If you can, compare Times (/Times New Roman) to something like Bookman. Both are serifed fonts, but the x-height of Times is much smaller, which means that at identical point sizes Times is going to look smaller and, generally, be harder to read. 8-point Bookman, while too small for text, is extremely readable, while 8-point Times is far too small to work as a text face -- Times should be set at no less than 9 point, and 10 is probably better. Heck, 12 point Times doesn't look too big, while 12-point Bookman will definitely look like you're trying to pad out the book.

I highly, highly, highly, highly recommend Robin Williams' (not, not him, a woman) most excellent book The Non-Designer's Design Book. It's only $10 to $15 and will teach non-designers a lot about type and layout. "Font size" is just a handy measurement of overall height and nothing more, and tells you almost nothing about what's appropriate to use.

EDITED TO ADD: Her other stuff is excellent, too, like The Non-Designer's Type Book and The PC/Mac Is Not a Typewriter.

 

[TheLe]

I think 12 pt font is fine for onscreen pdfs, while 10 pt is probably more preferred for printing.

 

[Crothian]

It depends on the size of the pdf. I've read some small ones on screen and the small font didn't bothyer me as much. But if I have to read size 9 font for a 100 plus pages, I'm sure it'll get to me. 11 seems like a good size to me, but good formating, page breaks, and art can really effect how well something reads as much as font size.

 

[cybermonkey]

Most newspapers use a font size between 9.5 and 10. Supposedly, these consulting firms have "focus groups" that help determine the best font and font size to use. However, the size throughout a paper could be as small as 6 (used in agate on stock pages and the back of sports sections).