Question about the layout of a type case

Hey all I’ve been reading this site for a while and I just got around to joining.

My question is that in viewing the layout for a california job case I see the following slots and I have no idea what they mean.

ffi fl 5m 4m

3 em
spaces

en qd

AE OE ae oe

ffl

I think I read that the em and quads are different spacers- but the other stuff? I’m lost!

Thanks for the help all

Log in to reply   4 replies so far

An em quad is the type size squared. An en quad is 1/2 an em quad. 3, 4, 5 em spaces are the number of spaces to make an em quad. 3 em spaces are used to space most text.
ffl ffi etc. are ligatures made of f f l, f f i. Some designers/typographers prefer the appearance, but there is a much more practical reason. Because of the overhang of the upper loop of the “f”, especially with serif italic faces, the upper loop in lead type is prone to damage. When used alone the loop rests on the shoulder of the next letter. When the next letter is a tall l or an i with a dot above there is a chance for damage. By the 40s and 50s they were rarely used. I never used the ligatures, and never saw them in use. However, you got used to looking through the lc “f”s for a “good” one.
The AE, OE, are also ligatures. They are/were used in England and the former empire where words like esthetics is printed aesthetics; and maneuver as manoeuvre. They are equal to A or O with an umlaut.

Thanks so much for the info. Great explanation!

Updated. You can purchase this book which will help answer a lot of your question.

General Printing by Cleeton, Pitkin, and Cornwell.

http://www.amazon.com/General-Printing-Illustrated-Guide-Letterpress/dp/...

Casey
iLP

Updated. Taking the space and quad discussion one step further, a lot of the spaces and quads can be substituted for each other if you learn what their dimensions are in points. For instance, an 18 point 3-to-em space is 6 X 18 pts. A 6 point 3em quad is also 6 X 18 pts, so they can be used in place of each other. A 24 pt en quad is 12 X 24 pts, and a 12 pt 2em quad is also 12 X 24 pts. Referring to what Dick said above, an em quad is always a square with each side being the point size of the type. Everything is based on that.