iPad Courier isn't really courier?

[mklnk]

With 1 inch margins, and single spacing, my PC gets 54 lines per page with courier and 47 lines per page with courier new.

My ipad gets 46 lines per page with 1 inch margins, single spacing, with either Courier or Courier new.

This is a pretty big deal for writers that are used to a certain word-per-page average, and to screen writers that are expecting a certain number of lines per page.

 

[Macjames]

Maybe, but the iPad would never be my main writing device. I would always sync it back to pages on my Macbook Air. However it is great for writing when you are away from your laptop!

 

[jb007clone]

I guess it's because the iPad doesn't scale down the font for the 9.7" screen??

OR

The spacing and/or margins are incorrect??

OR

There is some weird jazz going on with the pixel density vs a normal lcd screen??

 

[mklnk]

I guess it's because the iPad doesn't scale down the font for the 9.7" screen??

OR

The spacing and/or margins are incorrect??

OR

There is some weird jazz going on with the pixel density vs a normal lcd screen??

The 1 line-per-page difference between Courier New on my PC and Courier New on the iPad is definitely acceptable.

The problem is that on the ipad, Courier and Courier New are identical, except that Courier appears "bolder" than Courier New. Courier New was designed to be a slightly taller font and have a bit more space around the characters vertically. This was supposed to be for readability or something, but Courier is still the standard for Manuscripts and Screen Plays.

The difference is not insignificant. 3 full pages of text in Courier 12 on the iPad turns into 2.5 pages on any other computer in with the same font, same size and identical margins and line spacing. (Say you expanded that across a NaNoWriMo entry, and 250 pages becomes 208).

Unfortunately, my PC is out of commission at the moment, so the iPad is my primary device.

 

[goosnarrggh]

With a WYSIWYG word processor which uses fonts based on point sizes, there are supposed to be exactly 72 points to an inch.

For the purposes of word processing, that is not intended to be 72 points to each inch on the screen, but rather 72 points to each inch on a virtual piece of paper on which the document is being written.

If your virtual piece of paper is supposed to be 8.5x11", with 1" margins, then you have 9" of usable height on the page -- regardless of the size of the screen that you're actually using to "look at" the paper -- and therefore 648 points. With a line spacing of 12 points, that is exactly 54 lines of text.

But it is sometimes tricky to get line spacing of exactly 12 points. "Single spacing" does actually not mean that a 12 point font will have exactly 12 point line spacing, because if that were the case then the bottom extremities of letters on one row of text would be directly touching the upper extremities of the letters on the next row of text -- not very legible.

So, even with single spacing, word processors insert extra space between two consecutive rows of text. Usually, the amount of extra space that is added is determined automatically and is not under the user's direct control. But most word processors also offer an option to bypass automatic line spacing, and instead manually set it to an exact number of points independent from the font's point size.

My suspicion is that you'll want to look for that option somewhere in Pages.

 

[HiRez]

The problem is that on the ipad, Courier and Courier New are identical, except that Courier appears "bolder" than Courier New.

It's the same on desktop OS X. Which is why I never user Courier New, it's just too darned faint and feeble, and hard to read, whether on screen or printed.