Thin Space Fraction of Em Lookup

Measured thin space advance/em ratio; Unicode does not impose one font-independent width.

Description

Convert a measured thin-space advance to a fraction of the font em.

A thin-space glyph's width can be expressed relative to a font's em square. Measuring the actual advance avoids assuming one universal fractional width.

When to use this tool

Convert a measured thin-space advance to a fraction of the font em. Use it when the input measurements and conventions below match the operation you need.

  • Prepare measuredGlyphAdvanceUnits, unitsPerEm, respecting the measurement basis and boundaries below.
  • Compare the worked example with your intended operation before reusing its result.

How to use the tool and how it works

  1. Enter every field in the input table using the stated units and exact supported selector spelling where applicable.
  2. Run the tool. Correct input errors before interpreting an output.
  3. Read the result fields below; use accompanying flags and the stated sign, boundary or model convention when interpreting a number.

The tool requires a nonnegative measured advance and positive unitsPerEm, then divides advance by unitsPerEm to return the em fraction.1

Input fieldMeaning and unitsAccepted input
measuredGlyphAdvanceUnitsMeasured glyph advance units.Finite number; zero or greater
unitsPerEmUnits per em. Em units.Finite number; greater than zero
Output fieldInterpretation
resultObject containing the following named result fields.
result.measuredFractionEmMeasured fraction em; use the stated units and sign convention.
json
{
  "input": {
    "measuredGlyphAdvanceUnits": 250,
    "unitsPerEm": 1000
  },
  "output": {
    "result": {
      "measuredFractionEm": 0.25
    }
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

  • This is a conversion of supplied font metrics. It does not load a glyph, validate Unicode coverage or predict fallback and shaping behavior.
  • Every declared field is required and unexpected fields are rejected. Numeric inputs must be finite; input errors are distinct from a valid false result or an explicitly qualified output.
  • Extremely large inputs and nonfinite or excessively large outputs are rejected. List positions reported by the tool use zero-based indices unless stated otherwise.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Compare the metric calculation with the intended font and rendered text. Font shaping and layout inspection are more appropriate when the task depends on actual glyph positions or reading conditions. Compare the scope of the nearby tools below before substituting one.

References

  1. Tool behavior and example: Thin Space Fraction of Em Lookup — tool.io

Similar or alternative tools

Don't forget to set a bookmark for tool.io!
Privacy | Imprint | Cookies