Print Type Specification Sheet
Specification
Type spec — Racira Annual Report
| Role | Size | Leading | Ratio | Screen equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Body | 10.5pt | 14pt | 1.333× | 14px |
| Captions / footnotes | 8.5pt | 11.48pt | 1.35× | 11.33px |
| Headings | 24pt | 27.6pt | 1.15× | 32px |
| Sub-headings | 14.88pt | 28.8pt | 1.2× | 19.84px |
| Measure | 120mm | — | — | 28.35pc (340.2pt) |
Page A4 · measure 120mm split into 2 column(s) of 58mm ≈ 31 characters.
/* print stylesheet equivalents for the spec above */
:root {
--print-body: 10.5pt; /* 14px on screen */
--print-leading: 14pt;
--print-caption: 8.5pt;
--print-heading: 24pt;
}
@media print {
body { font-size: var(--print-body); line-height: var(--print-leading); }
.caption { font-size: var(--print-caption); }
h1 { font-size: var(--print-heading); }
.measure { max-width: 120mm; }
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The print type specification sheet turns a set of type decisions into the table a print job is quoted and checked against, with sizes in points and the measure in picas. Screen sizes are usually quoted in pixels, and a print specification has to state points explicitly, so the sheet reports both.
What is Print Type Specification Sheet?
The print type specification sheet collects the type roles of a print job and returns them as a specification table stated in points and picas, plus the print stylesheet that matches it.
- Inputs cover the job name, the page size as a label, body size in points, leading in points, caption size, heading size, the measure in millimetres and the number of columns.
- Body defaults to 10.5pt on 14pt leading, captions to 8.5pt, headings to 24pt, the measure to 120mm across two columns.
- Sub-headings are derived at 62 percent of the heading size on 1.2 times leading, and captions at 1.35 times their own size, so the sheet only needs the two anchor values typed in.
- Conversions run in both directions: points to pixels at 96 over 72, millimetres to picas at six picas to the inch, and millimetres to points at 72 to the inch.
- The column breakdown subtracts a 4mm gutter between columns and reports the resulting column width and an estimated characters per line.
The conversions are the reason the sheet exists. A point is one seventy-second of an inch and a pica is twelve points, so six picas make an inch, and those ratios are what a print house quotes against. The screen column states the pixel equivalent so the same specification can be checked against a web rendering, And because a supplier may ask for the measure in picas rather than millimetres, the measure row reports it as 28.35 picas alongside its point equivalent of 340.16 points, since which of the three a house works in is a matter of its own convention. Characters per line is estimated from the column width in points divided by the body size multiplied by 0.5, which is an average character width rather than a measurement of any particular face. The generated print stylesheet writes the four principal sizes as custom properties in points, keeps the pixel equivalents in comments, and sets the measure as a maximum width so a browser print preview matches the specification.
- The page size is a label rather than a real dimension, so nothing here checks that the measure and column count actually fit the page it names.
- Gutter width is fixed at 4mm across the column calculation and cannot be set separately.
- The characters per line figure assumes an average character width, so a condensed or extended face will drift from it.
- Caption and heading leading are fixed multipliers, which suits a conventional job and not an unusual one.
- No font family, weight, colour or baseline grid is recorded, so the sheet is a size specification rather than a full production document.
Use it at the point where a job moves from design to production, and print it: the sheet is laid out to be printed, which is how it reaches the person setting the type. Fill in the measured values rather than the intended ones, because the sheet is only worth having if it describes what will actually be set. Where a job also needs a running head and folio position, the running head previewer works out which text falls on which page, the book interior layout preview covers the text block and margin proportions around it, and the magazine column setter does the same column arithmetic on a baseline grid instead of a plain measure.
How to use Print Type Specification Sheet
- Name the job and enter the page size as you would quote it, then fill in body, leading, caption and heading sizes from the design.
- Set the measure in millimetres and the column count, and read the resulting column width and characters per line in the table note.
- Check the ratio column against the design intent: body leading should read as a multiple of the size, not a fixed gap.
- Print the sheet for the production file or copy the generated print stylesheet, which carries the same sizes as points.
When to use Print Type Specification Sheet vs related tools
Reach for it when a print job is being handed over and the supplier has asked for a specification, or when a screen design has to be translated into points for print and the conversion keeps being done by hand. The pica figures are also useful for checking a measure against a standard page width before a layout is committed. Where the same job needs the pages themselves described, the running head previewer settles what each page carries, the book interior layout preview reports the text block and margin proportions, and the magazine column setter works the column count against a baseline grid.
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