Don't forget the reader
- Why would I bow to a fontographer? Printing is not a work of art unless you accept that utility is art. Notice that the readers ask for two spaces. Proportional spacing is not doing the trick. The choice of one or two spaces can properly only be made by readers, never by fontographers or graphic designers. The latter only serve.
- —Guest Two spacer
ONE and only ONE!
- I was trained on a typewriter (as a secretary) 30 years ago and was taught two spaces. Once the PC replaced the typewriter and proportional fonts were available, I read that only one should be used. It took some time to retrain myself, but soon two spaces looked to me like an awkward gap. I'm now a desktop publisher using professional design software, professional fonts, and producing professional documents, and two spaces looks soooo *un*professional. BTW, I'm 51 years old, wear trifocals, and have an astigmatism, and I have no problem at all reading one space. I *do* get annoyed picking the extra spaces out of other people's writing, and I find it incomprehensible that my elementary aged kids are still being taught two spaces in keyboarding class! Ugh!
- —PrincessSacl
Two
- Two makes more sense to me. It reads better, gives people an extra pause while reading and it is a favor to the reader.
- —Guest a;lskdjf;lksajdfd
One space all the way.
- Now I know when to use one space or two (still a bit confusing) but I'm learning especially now that I'm back in school.
- —Guest vdugger
Two
- Readability is my primary reason for preferring two spaces to one. Over all these years I have trained my brain to look for that extra space that demarks a writer's thought, and my thumb to create it. I suppose I could re-train it, but I feel no urgency to do so. I do sympathize with font developers who labor over form and proportion, and strive to create the perfect spacing for everyone. But one man's proportion is another's confusion, or something like that. I admit, I am more interested in the debate than the outcome, if there is one.
- —Guest mg
Two of course, what else?
- Two looks better. If justifying causes adjustment, so be it.
- —Guest John
One space
- For theses, dissertations, and journal articles use only one space after all punctuation (except internal periods in abbreviations). See APA Manual page 290. (Note from Guide -- if the APA Manual is the style guide you are instructed to follow. If not, use the style guide or instructions specified by the institution or instructor which may or may not vary.)
- —mf10
two spaces
- i feel the practice of two spaces between sentences should continue...it is easier to tell where one sentence ends and the other begins. I work in a retirement community, and easy-to-read text is extremely important.
- —Guest SusieQ
too cool fer rulez
- I bet U r all OLD! ovr 20 yrs old dinosore using 2 space how wordz look more better than comprehenshun and communicashun bSidez u loose time w/ moar space grampa whoz makin wallz ov txt!!!less is moar tl;dr how it looks is most important!!!who carez if makes it easier to read, is most easy 2B lazy^h^h^h^h efficient 2 type.
- —Guest SrslySlipperySlope
Torn
- One space looks better to me visually, but two spaces is easier to read.
- —Guest Tom
Two for Techies
- Technical writing has a requirement beyond looking nice. It can have long sentences loaded with jargon and abbreviations. In the interset of clarity nd distinguiishing the end of a sentence from an abbreviation (or units of measure), with left-justified text in a portportional font, a double space between sentences aids considerably. Also, technical styles usually avoid indenting the first line of a paragraph (indenting is reserved for establishing levels of outline), necessitating a double carriage return at the end of a paragraph. Non-technical writing (books, magazines, or most web pages) probably does "flow better" and "look better" with single periods, but it is also usually full justified.
- —Guest Alex the Engineer
2 Spaces not 2 faces
- When reading, usually either way is fine. However there are times when 2 spaces does improve readability. When writing I prefer 2 spaces; gives me a break in thought.
- —Guest novelist
One Space
- When I learned to type I was taught to use one space. That was 20 years ago on a typewriter. Especially these days, with the types of fonts used now, two spaces break up the flow of a paragraph for me. When I get articles for the little newsletter I edit, I take them out every time.
- —Guest Anna
Trained by the best
- Long ago I worked as a secretary at IBM World Trade HQ. They had very specific rules that were worked out by experts in design, human nature, etc. One of those rules was TWO SPACES between sentences. Ease of reading, no guessing where one sentence ends and one begins. I now work where it is vital that the written words and meanings be specific (medical device/pharmacological Instructions for Use) and there are ALWAYS two spaces between sentences. Wouldn't want new age, short cut, texting, tweeting, mindless crap to creep into an important presentation that is probably being reviewed by someone that actually cares about the written word. LOL Gotta go POS
- —losdragos
With Astigmatism, Two Spaces Flow Better
- My daughters and I have periodically argued about this subject because I find the "flow" in their school papers difficult to follow. So I did a test with both proportional and non-proportional fonts in a paragraph that is either left-justified or justified on both sides. I am over 50, and my eyes have quite a bit of astigmatism now. With this challenging and worsening eyesight condition, I find it MUCH easier to quickly comprehend a paragraph written with left justified, proportional fonts when a double space is used after each period. I am relieved by this conclusion because maybe my growing difficulty with comprehension is related to an unfortunate "shift in fashion" rather than mental deterioration. The problem extends beyond spacing and punctuation. In the corporation where I have worked for over 25 years, it is common to see Powerpoint documents with extremely tiny fonts after laserwriter reduction, maybe size 5-6 or so. Please kids, be considerate. You will get old too.
- —Guest Bryan
