Cast-off Calculator

Formula for estimating the length of a book manuscript based on a castoff. The numbers in this example come from the manuscript excerpted in figure A.5 and are reflected in the typeset page in figure A.6.

Necessary calculation to determine the final, typeset length of a printed book. The estimator begins with the raw manuscript and calculates how many printed pages the manuscript copy will run based on the following:

1. Type size: Size of letters, measured in points
2. Typeface: Style of type (e.g., Stempel Garamond, Adobe Caslon, etc.). Also now referred to as “font” in desktop publishing industry
3. Line measure: Length of typeset line, measured in picas
4. Page fill: Number of lines per page

(These four items are derived from the book design.)

Original Manuscript

Average characters per line (over ten lines)
Average lines per page (over ten pages)
Number of manuscript pages

Typeset page

Body text face	ITC American Typewriter Medium 8 ITC American Typewriter Medium 9 ITC American Typewriter Medium 10 ITC American Typewriter Medium 11 ITC American Typewriter Medium 12 ITC Avant Garde Gothic Medium 8 ITC Avant Garde Gothic Medium 9 ITC Avant Garde Gothic Medium 10 Baskerville 8 ITC Avant Garde Gothic Medium 12 Baskerville 8 Baskerville 9 Baskerville 10 Baskerville 11 Baskerville 12 Baskerville 14 Bookman 8 Bookman 9 Bookman 10 Bookman 11 Bookman 12 Century Schoolbook 8 Century Schoolbook 9 Century Schoolbook 10 Century Schoolbook 11 Century Schoolbook 12 ITC Friz Quadrata 8 ITC Friz Quadrata 9 ITC Friz Quadrata 10 ITC Friz Quadrata 11 ITC Friz Quadrata 12 Garamond 8 Garamond 9 Garamond 10 Garamond 11 Garamond 12 Garamond 14 Goudy Old Style 8 Goudy Old Style 9 Goudy Old Style 10 Goudy Old Style 11 Goudy Old Style 12 Helvetica Light 8 Helvetica Light 9 Helvetica Light 10 Helvetica Light 11 Helvetica Light 12 Helvetica 8 Helvetica 9 Helvetica 10 Helvetica 11 Helvetica 12 Melior 8 Melior 9 Melior 10 Melior 11 Melior 12 Optima 8 Optima 9 Optima 10 Optima 11 Optima 12 Palatino 8 Palatino 9 Palatino 10 Palatino 11 Palatino 12 Times Roman 8 Times Roman 9 Times Roman 10 Times Roman 11 Times Roman 12
Picas per line
Number of lines per page

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India Amos | Introduction to Computational Media | 11.7.2008