Typography Basics

The overall height of capital letters in the formation of words

• Type Size
• Ascender
• Descender
• Counter

The space between the lines of text

• X Height
• Baselines
• Kerning
• Leading

The downward tail for letters like g, q, and y

• Type Size
• Ascender
• Descender
• Counter

The boundary that the lowest part of the letter rests on

• X Height
• Baselines
• Kerning
• Leading

The white space located inside letters like o and p

• Type Size
• Ascender
• Descender
• Counter

The space located between individual letters of a word

• X Height
• Baselines
• Kerning
• Leading

The upward tail on letters like h, l, t, b, d, and k

• Type Size
• Ascender
• Descender
• Counter

This type does not have extensions or strokes on the ends of the letters and are used heavily for labeling, headlines and titles.

• Type Alignment
• Serif
• San-Serif
• Script, symbols and decorative type

Casual letters, unpublished manuscripts, and basic paragraph styles tend to fall into this category

• Left Alignment
• Center Alignment
• Right Alignment
• Justified Alignment

The height of the letter, and does not include ascenders or descenders

• X Height
• Baselines
• Kerning
• Leading