No, thank you, we don’t need a tissue. x-height is a typography term referring to the height of the body of lowercase letters, not counting ascenders or descenders. Typically, this is the height of the letter x in the font (hence the name–now do you get it?), as well as the u, v, w, and z. Why is it important? When two typefaces are set in the same point size, one often looks bigger than the other. Why? Because bigger x-heights make a typeface appear larger. Differences in line weight and character width also affect the letters’ apparent scale. When choosing fonts for captions, by-lines and other smaller bodies of text, checking x-height can help with readablilty.

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “X” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

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