Google Docs Fundamentals

Google Docs Fundamentals
About Fonts
The topic of fonts is a very long topic and not one that
I can fully cover here. I want to explain why we have
changed the way we write sentences and paragraphs in
word processors as apposed to type writers.
Typewriters
Back when Gutenberg developed the printing press,
all the letters were etched onto metal. Each letter was
fashioned to print clearly and legibly onto paper. There
were bits of metal used to space sentences and even
lines between sentences. Most of the names used for
these spacers are still used in typography today.
With the advent of the typewriter anyone could quickly
create printed works. The typewriter was a machine
that needed standardization to work properly. This
standardization meant that the space between each
letter was exactly the same. There was only one font on
the typewriter until the advent of electric typewriters
and movable type options at the end of a ball, but these
were still limited to two or three typefaces. The fixed
space between letters had more to do with the rail that
slowly advanced the roller across the page. The notches
were evenly spaced and so was the space between
each letter.
Because the space between each letter was the same,
we needed a way to separate paragraphs. Five spaces
was used to indent paragraphs. If a paragraph was not
indented, then the roller was advanced two lines by a
handle to separate paragraphs. The electric typewriter
removed the lever and provided a motorized advance
of the roller with a return key. That’s why people still
press the enter key twice on a computer to space out
blocked paragraphs. The typewriter used the same
space for each letter and the same space between each
line. Rules had to be created to deal with paragraphs.
Similar rules had to be created for emphasizing text.
With typewriters we used the back space to go over the
word we wanted to bold and type over the same letters.
Wow! Did we really do that? We also used the underline
key to underline words. To do this we did the same
thing. We back spaced and used the underline key to go
over the same word.
Computers
Modern word processing didn’t come right away with
the advent of the computer. Text on the screen was
pretty much like the text on a type writer. The resolution
of monitors was very primitive back then and
letters were placed in blocks of pixels. Computers used
monospaced fonts. This means that each letter took up
the same amount of space as each other letter. This was
pretty much the same way as with typewriters.
Computers became more sophisticated and companies
developed software for desktop publishing. They developed
software to create documents that looked like
those in magazines and newspapers, which used type
setting metal letters much like the old Gutenberg’s original
printing press.
Word processors started appearing and so did the variety
of fonts. With better technology we could now get
better type setting. Instead of using monospaced fonts,
word processors and desktop publishing software could
use proportional fonts. Proportional fonts don’t use the
same space as every other letter. The space allotted
to each letter is proportional to the letter. The space
between letters is also proportional. With proportional
fonts the average person could create professional
quality looking documents just like news papers and
magazines.
Proportional fonts changed the way we write documents.
Proportional fonts made the five spaces in
front of a paragraph look awkwardly large. Pressing the
return key twice between paragraphs also produces a
large space between paragraphs.
We still use styles to add emphasis to words. These
styles include bold, italics and underline. With the advent
of the Internet and hyper-links we encountered another
issue. An underlined word means a link to a web
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