Points are a weird and inconsistent unit of measure
a day ago
- #digital-standards
- #typography
- #units-of-measurement
- Points are an inconsistent unit of measure, with variations in definition between technologies like LaTeX and Inkscape.
- LaTeX defines a point as 1/72.27 inches, while Inkscape uses 1/72 inches, a difference of 0.4%, stemming from historical and regional standards.
- The confusion arises from the American standardization of points in the late 19th century, leading to definitions like 72.27 points/inch in NIST and TeX, versus 72 points/inch in PostScript and CSS.
- Donald Knuth adjusted the point definition in TeX for computational ease, contrasting with digital standards adopted by PostScript, SVG, and web technologies.
- Frink language highlights discrepancies in unit definitions, with a humorous note on the lack of a standardized unit for "fucks" or concern levels.