Keystroke needs fixed-pitch spacing because:
- It lines up text and numbers based strictly on the number of leading characters and spaces.
- It creates its screens, forms, and menus from text and OEM "graphic" characters.
- If a variable-pitch font is used, these features become jumbled and unusable.
With Fixed-pitch fonts (also known as monospaced, or non-proportional) each character occupies a space of equal width (in pixels).
Since some characters are wider than others (for example M will probably be wider than l) each character, including the blank-space character, is given the same amount of space. So the l, for example, has more blank pixels on either side.
With a fixed-pitch font:
- The space occupied by a word will always be determined by the number of letters.
- Numbers in columns line up exactly, as long as they have the same number of digits.
- Lines, boxes, etc. made from characters are consistent in size, shape and position.
Standard Windows fixed-pitch fonts include Courier New and Lucida Console.
With Variable-pitch fonts (also known as proportional) each character occupies only the width needed for that character. For example, M would be allocated more space than l.
With a variable-pitch font:
- Text is more pleasing to the eye and looks more even.
- The space occupied by a word is determined by the both the width and number of letters.
- Numbers in columns may not line up exactly, even if they have the same number of digits.
- Lines, boxes, etc. made from characters are not always consistent in size, shape and position.
Standard Windows variable-pitch fonts include Arial and Times New Roman.
See:
Custom Fonts with Keystroke
Font Names
Fonts: The OEM Character Set