Hello Mediawiki people,
I noticed that the line length is very long on PDF ebooks generated out of Wikipedia articles. It slows down reading. The Wikipedia people suggested that I report the issue on this list.
Research has shown that the perfect line length for printed texts is about 66 characters, including spaces. Anything from 45 to 75 is good.
Here's the first search result on the subject I googled up, citing perhaps the most respected authority in typography, Robert Bringhurst: http://www.typophile.com/node/78173
For some mysterious reasons the ideal line length for computer screens seems to be longer -- I have no recommendations for that. But if you're aiming the Wikipedia PDFs for printing, the line length should surely be shorter!
Mikko Lehtinen
Hello,
On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 10:02 AM, Mikko Lehtinen miihkali.lehtinen@gmail.com wrote:
Hello Mediawiki people,
I noticed that the line length is very long on PDF ebooks generated out of Wikipedia articles. It slows down reading. The Wikipedia people suggested that I report the issue on this list.
PDF ebooks are generated by the PediaPress software mwlib.rl.
They use they own message list, mwlib@googlegroups.com.
You can also check the following URL: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/mwlib
Research has shown that the perfect line length for printed texts is about 66 characters, including spaces. Anything from 45 to 75 is good.
Here's the first search result on the subject I googled up, citing perhaps the most respected authority in typography, Robert Bringhurst: http://www.typophile.com/node/78173
I would like to note this is note a proper scientific research but the impressions of one typography book author, based on his experience.
Still, the point stays valid (and by the way, the author knows the topic very well): set a slight shorter line could indeed improve readability.
(...)
Mikko Lehtinen
mediawiki-l@lists.wikimedia.org