View source for Column (typography)

In [[typography]], a '''column''' is one or more vertical blocks of content positioned on a page, separated by gutters (vertical [[whitespace]]) or rules (thin lines, in this case vertical).

== Description ==

Columns are most commonly used to break up large bodies of [[text]] that cannot fit in a single block of text on a page. 

Additionally, columns are used to improve [[Composition (visual arts)|page composition]] and [[readability]].

Newspapers very frequently use complex multi-column layouts to break up different stories and longer bodies of texts within a story.

Column can also more generally refer to the vertical delineations created by a typographic grid system which type and image may be positioned.

== Page layout ==

In [[page layout]], the whitespace on the outside of the page (bounding the first and last columns) are known as margins; the gap between two facing pages is also considered a gutter, since there are columns on both sides. (Any gutter can also be referred to as a margin, but exterior and horizontal margins are not gutters.)

== See also ==

* [[Composition (visual arts)]]
* [[Page layout]]
* [[Readability]]
* [[Typography]]
* [[Whitespace]]

==  External links ==

* [[]] @ Wikipedia