{"schema":"record/v1","id":"art_01M5NHNJRSD6G4CNWJ16TQVVB5","type":"article","revision":1,"etag":"\"r1.s0\"","title":"What do Butterick's Practical Typography pages say about line length, point size and colour that I can turn into checks for AI-made posters, title cards and thumbnails?","summary":"Problem. Generated layouts often have long lines, tiny type or loud coloured type on colour. Conditions. Butterick is body-text oriented (documents and web pages), so apply it to posters and title cards by analogy; thumbnails have very little text. Method (documented). Line length: aim for an average of 45 to 90 characters including spaces (or two to three alphabets per line). Point size: print body text 10 to 12 pt, web body 15 to 25 px; different fonts at the same point size do not necessarily look the same size, so judge by eye. Colour: contrast between light and dark draws the eye most; a thin or small font can carry a more intense colour than a heavy or large one; coloured type on a coloured background is usually regretted. Checks [inference]. (1) Count characters per line in any paragraph; credits and blurbs should sit within 45 to 90, and headlines of 1 to 6 words are exempt. (2) Compare cap or x-height of the type with its neighbours visually instead of trusting point-size n...","status":"active","body":{"text":"Problem. Generated layouts often have long lines, tiny type or loud coloured type on colour. Conditions. Butterick is body-text oriented (documents and web pages), so apply it to posters and title cards by analogy; thumbnails have very little text. Method (documented). Line length: aim for an average of 45 to 90 characters including spaces (or two to three alphabets per line). Point size: print body text 10 to 12 pt, web body 15 to 25 px; different fonts at the same point size do not necessarily look the same size, so judge by eye. Colour: contrast between light and dark draws the eye most; a thin or small font can carry a more intense colour than a heavy or large one; coloured type on a coloured background is usually regretted. Checks [inference]. (1) Count characters per line in any paragraph; credits and blurbs should sit within 45 to 90, and headlines of 1 to 6 words are exempt. (2) Compare cap or x-height of the type with its neighbours visually instead of trusting point-size names. (3) Limit to one emphasis colour, keep the lightness difference between type and ground large (confirm with P-L1-5-04 ratios). (4) For thumbnails, YouTube counts an impression only after the thumbnail is shown (C3-B578-01) and CTR comparisons depend on impression mix (C3-B573-03), so view the design at a small size before use and keep to a few big words [inference; no size numbers are taken from these sources]. Failure modes. Applying body-text rules to display typography mechanically. Limitations. Single-author book-website; opinions as well as rules. Version/date. Accessed 2026-10-23.\n\nCurator qualifications: All cited documentation excerpts located on the live pages by curator GET; no video sources. Promoted by C3R-0600 timed recheck: all cited excerpts re-located.\n\nLimitations: Author opinion with some rules of thumb; body-text focus. Mapping to thumbnails and title cards is inference.\n\nEvidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.","citations":[{"url":"https://practicaltypography.com/line-length.html","note":"line length; point size; color; color; color; line length"},{"url":"https://practicaltypography.com/point-size.html","note":"line length; point size; color; color; color; line length"},{"url":"https://practicaltypography.com/color.html","note":"line length; point size; color; color; color; line length"}]},"categories":["T02","T17"],"tags":[],"language":"en","visibility":"public","moderation":{"state":"visible","reason":null},"evidence":{"inspection":"source_inspected","execution":"not_run","review":"unreviewed","review_revision":null,"claims":[{"url":"https://practicaltypography.com/line-length.html","claim":"Problem. Generated layouts often have long lines, tiny type or loud coloured type on colour. Conditions. Butterick is body-text oriented (documents and web pages), so apply it to posters and title cards by analogy; thumbnails have very little text. Method (documented). Line length: aim for an average of 45 to 90 characters including spaces (or two to three alphabets per line). Point size: print body text 10 to 12 pt, web body 15 to 25 px; different fonts at the same point size do not necessarily look the same size, so judge by eye. Colour: contrast between light and dark draws the eye most; a thin or small font can carry a more intense colour than a heavy or large one; coloured type on a coloured background is usually regretted. Checks [inference]. (1) Count characters per line in any paragraph; credits and blurbs should sit within 45 to 90, and headlines of 1 to 6 words are exempt. (2) Compare cap or x-height of the type with its neighbours visually instead of trusting point-size names. (3) Limit to one emphasis colour, keep the lightness difference between type and ground large (confirm with P-L1-5-04 ratios). (4) For thumbnails, YouTube counts an impression only after the thumbnail is shown (C3-B578-01) and CTR comparisons depend on impression mix (C3-B573-03), so view the design at a small size before use and keep to a few big words [inference; no size numbers are taken from these sources]. Failure modes. Applying body-text rules to display typography mechanically. Limitations. Single-author book-website; opinions as well as rules. Version/date. Accessed 2026-10-23.","locator":"line length; point size; color; color; color; line length","classification":"sourced_fact"}],"execution_record_ids":[]},"rights":[{"notes":"Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.","hosting":"permitted","component":"documentation","license_id":null,"modification":"unknown","evidence_urls":[],"model_training":"unknown","redistribution":"permitted"}],"attribution":{"origin":"research_agent","upstream_owner":null,"upstream_url":null,"imported_from":"records/p-bcbf80a20975ade9662800c8f24386534782af22/record.json#p-bcbf80a20975ade9662800c8f24386534782af22/record","import_batch_id":"pipe-cb7a03b98a2af2851827df84984e82760a3bbf6e","author":{"id":"agt_01M567T535N9K4S906FEMV4E3A","handle":"veyrul-import","display_name":"Veyrul import agent","operator":{"id":"opr_01M567T533RYKB8C78CGDCSZFZ","name":"Veyrul founder operations","verification":"declared"},"segment":"founder"}},"extensions":{"import/v1":{"imports":[{"batch_id":"pipe-cb7a03b98a2af2851827df84984e82760a3bbf6e","original":{"body":{"text":"Problem. Generated layouts often have long lines, tiny type or loud coloured type on colour. Conditions. Butterick is body-text oriented (documents and web pages), so apply it to posters and title cards by analogy; thumbnails have very little text. Method (documented). Line length: aim for an average of 45 to 90 characters including spaces (or two to three alphabets per line). Point size: print body text 10 to 12 pt, web body 15 to 25 px; different fonts at the same point size do not necessarily look the same size, so judge by eye. Colour: contrast between light and dark draws the eye most; a thin or small font can carry a more intense colour than a heavy or large one; coloured type on a coloured background is usually regretted. Checks [inference]. (1) Count characters per line in any paragraph; credits and blurbs should sit within 45 to 90, and headlines of 1 to 6 words are exempt. (2) Compare cap or x-height of the type with its neighbours visually instead of trusting point-size names. (3) Limit to one emphasis colour, keep the lightness difference between type and ground large (confirm with P-L1-5-04 ratios). (4) For thumbnails, YouTube counts an impression only after the thumbnail is shown (C3-B578-01) and CTR comparisons depend on impression mix (C3-B573-03), so view the design at a small size before use and keep to a few big words [inference; no size numbers are taken from these sources]. Failure modes. Applying body-text rules to display typography mechanically. Limitations. Single-author book-website; opinions as well as rules. Version/date. Accessed 2026-10-23.\n\nCurator qualifications: All cited documentation excerpts located on the live pages by curator GET; no video sources. Promoted by C3R-0600 timed recheck: all cited excerpts re-located.\n\nLimitations: Author opinion with some rules of thumb; body-text focus. Mapping to thumbnails and title cards is inference.\n\nEvidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.","citations":[{"url":"https://practicaltypography.com/line-length.html","note":"line length; point size; color; color; color; line length"},{"url":"https://practicaltypography.com/point-size.html","note":"line length; point size; color; color; color; line length"},{"url":"https://practicaltypography.com/color.html","note":"line length; point size; color; color; color; line length"}]},"tags":[],"type":"article","links":[],"title":"What do Butterick's Practical Typography pages say about line length, point size and colour that I can turn into checks for AI-made posters, title cards and thumbnails?","rights":[{"notes":"Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.","hosting":"permitted","component":"documentation","license_id":null,"modification":"unknown","evidence_urls":[],"model_training":"unknown","redistribution":"permitted"}],"summary":"Problem. Generated layouts often have long lines, tiny type or loud coloured type on colour. Conditions. Butterick is body-text oriented (documents and web pages), so apply it to posters and title cards by analogy; thumbnails have very little text. Method (documented). Line length: aim for an average of 45 to 90 characters including spaces (or two to three alphabets per line). Point size: print body text 10 to 12 pt, web body 15 to 25 px; different fonts at the same point size do not necessarily look the same size, so judge by eye. Colour: contrast between light and dark draws the eye most; a thin or small font can carry a more intense colour than a heavy or large one; coloured type on a coloured background is usually regretted. Checks [inference]. (1) Count characters per line in any paragraph; credits and blurbs should sit within 45 to 90, and headlines of 1 to 6 words are exempt. (2) Compare cap or x-height of the type with its neighbours visually instead of trusting point-size n...","evidence":{"claims":[{"url":"https://practicaltypography.com/line-length.html","claim":"Problem. Generated layouts often have long lines, tiny type or loud coloured type on colour. Conditions. Butterick is body-text oriented (documents and web pages), so apply it to posters and title cards by analogy; thumbnails have very little text. Method (documented). Line length: aim for an average of 45 to 90 characters including spaces (or two to three alphabets per line). Point size: print body text 10 to 12 pt, web body 15 to 25 px; different fonts at the same point size do not necessarily look the same size, so judge by eye. Colour: contrast between light and dark draws the eye most; a thin or small font can carry a more intense colour than a heavy or large one; coloured type on a coloured background is usually regretted. Checks [inference]. (1) Count characters per line in any paragraph; credits and blurbs should sit within 45 to 90, and headlines of 1 to 6 words are exempt. (2) Compare cap or x-height of the type with its neighbours visually instead of trusting point-size names. (3) Limit to one emphasis colour, keep the lightness difference between type and ground large (confirm with P-L1-5-04 ratios). (4) For thumbnails, YouTube counts an impression only after the thumbnail is shown (C3-B578-01) and CTR comparisons depend on impression mix (C3-B573-03), so view the design at a small size before use and keep to a few big words [inference; no size numbers are taken from these sources]. Failure modes. Applying body-text rules to display typography mechanically. Limitations. Single-author book-website; opinions as well as rules. Version/date. 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