On Sun, Aug 20, 2023 at 10:14:20PM +0200, Christoph K. wrote:
And I loathe fonts in which the numerals 3, 5, 6, and 9
are not radically different.
Interesting point. Didn't pay much attention to these numerals, yet.
Back in the 1970's, I ran across a detailed study of character shape
with respect to the problem of readability after photographic
reduction (microfilm and microfische) in hand-lettered engineering
drawings (24in x 36in). Reading that study brought about a change in
my own handwriting. The study was by a oil company; perhaps it was
Shell Oil.
That would be really interesting to read. Do you have any (more) hints on
how to find that study? Do you remember what change you did in your
handwriting?
If we (Texas, near Austin) end up with an Autumn with moderate
temperatures, I should have a copy in the boxes of papers stored in
the garage. I need to sort and cull, anyway. But within a few years
(circa A.D. 1980), computerized drafting was introduced and quickly
became dominant. I think I was in the very last generation which
learned to letter by hand.
On the 3, 5, 6, and 9, open the end of the loops, and shorten the
horizontal stroke on top of the 5 so the 5 is not mistaken for an S.
Always put horizontal strokes on I. Make the 1 with a flag on the
upper end and put a horizontal stroke on the 7, German-style. My
handwriting is a odd mixture of cursive script and printing.
Years ago, in the days when you used pencil to write computer code on
a paper form, for conversion to punched cards by a keypunch operator,
I got used to writing zeros with a slash. But if most of your writing
is numerals (as in spreadsheets), then you may prefer to slash the
alphabetic O.
The keypunch operators used ``double-entry'' -- the code was typed a
second time by a different operator, to guard against error. I read
somewhere that the double-entry scheme is used for obtaining an
accurate digital version of material which originally was typeset by
hand. And, that better accuracy is obtained if the language of the
document is foreign to the typists.
RLH
