Non-Designer’s Type Book, The, Second Edition

4. Two Spaces After Punctuation

I know, I know—if you are still typing two spaces after periods it is probably because you firmly believe it looks better that way. If all the work you create is for yourself, go ahead and continue to type two spaces. But you would be doing your clients a disservice to set their type with two spaces after periods because by now most people have become visually astute enough to notice the unsightly gaps created by that double space. Publications typed with two spaces have an unprofessional appearance, whether you agree with it or not, and your work will be ridiculed. Open any novel on your shelf—see any double spaces? Did you read that novel and complain to yourself that you couldn’t tell where the sentences ended? ...