Column
rules
and borders
197
the prescribed space without the crowding of rules close to words or figures, thereby making the table
hard to read, two alternatives are presented a smaller type must be used, or the table must be enlarged, so that it can be read the long way of the page or across two facing pages. Space should be preserved on each side of the column rule wherever More than any other characters in it is possible. the font, figures need space for legibility, and this space is also needed at the head and foot of every distinct column. A table is unsightly when its crossrules crowd on letters it suggests neglected calcu:
;
lation.
Every column rule should extend from the broadmeasure cross-rule at the top of the table to the broad cross-rule at its foot, if one is used. It should go between column headings in small type. It is a common practice but it is not good workmanship to use a broad-measure cross-rule below the column headings, for it divides the table in two sections. The thick double-rule border around a table has
been supplanted in most printing-houses by a firm border line of 1 -point face on a 4-point body. This 1-point face should be flush with one side of the rule, so that a perfect joint can be made at the corThe upright colners of a table without mitring.
umn
and the cross-rules of column headings meet the border rule and prevent the unpleasing gap of white that was unavoidable when the face of the border rule was centred on its body. rules
will fairly