Are Ligatures Commonly Used in Non-Fiction Book Layouts?

Yes, ligatures are often used in book layouts, including nonfiction, because they make the text look smoother and easier to read. They fix awkward overlaps or gaps between certain letter pairs like fi, fl, and ff, giving the text a more polished and professional feel.

In most cases:

• Common Ligatures (like fi, fl, ff) are added automatically by design software and work well in body text.
• Fancy Ligatures (like ct or st) might be used sparingly for style but are usually avoided for clarity.

When you might skip ligatures:

• In books with technical content, like math or programming, where clarity is key for formulas or code.
• In sans-serif fonts, which don’t always need ligatures or might not include them.

Most programs like Adobe InDesign handle ligatures for you, but you can choose what works best depending on the design and content of your book.

Depending on Font, Language, yes. More with serifs.