Typographic points in the metric system

[Cody]

This topic was imported from the Typophile platform

As a student I am still learning about typography and the units of measurements involved. However it has occurred to me that the point is based on the inch, which as far as i know is now used exclusively in the United States. I was wondering if there was another standardized measurement system for typography based in the metric system. So far all of the resources that i have been using have only referred to American typography. If someone could give me some insight in this matter or any starting points for my research that would be appreciated.

[clauses]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typographic_unit
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/metric-typo/

[Cody]

Thank you very much. Those links were very helpful :)

[Chris Dean]

http://www.casepaper.com/calc_typography.htm

[Don McCahill]

> it has occurred to me that the point is based on the inch

Not really. It is now, at 72 points to the inch, but 20 years ago it was 72.27 (approximately) points per inch. Computer programmers didn't like the wild value, and rounded it down.

[Cody]

Christopher: Thank you, that is a useful calculator :)

Don: I was just reading about that. It`s amazing how much I don't even know that i don't know lol. Ill have to keep reading on the subject.