Have you ever stopped to consider the minuscule measurements that make up the world around us? One such measurement is the twip, a tiny unit used for typography. The term “twip” is short for “twentieth of a point”, or in some cases, “twentieth of an inch point”. It’s a fascinating concept that such a tiny unit can have such a significant impact on the words we read every day.
When it comes to size, a twip is incredibly small. A single twip is defined as 1/20 of a typographical point. To put this into perspective, there are 1440 twips in just one inch. In other words, one twip is 1/1440 inch. If we were to convert this into micrometers, a unit of length in the metric system, a twip measures in at approximately 17.64 μm.
To truly grasp how small a twip is, let’s compare it to some other common units of measurement:
Despite its small size, a twip plays a crucial role in typography and digital design. It’s used as a unit of measurement in several computer applications, including Microsoft Word and Excel. For example, when you’re adjusting the size of the text or the width of a column in Excel, you’re essentially working with twips.