How can I set the font size from pt to millimeters?

[SiviUser]

I did it in the previous versions of InDesign, and I need to do it since I'm designing for print.

Thank you!

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[macpawel]

You can manualy enter font size using mm

Just type eg. 23 mm and confirm it with Enter

InDesign translate this to points but it works

Pawel

[SiviUser]

I already do it, but then I have to re-convert points to mm if I want to know what size I have set for the font.
I'm afraid there's nothing to do, since Adobe is not interested to understand that inches, picas and points (based on fraction of inches) are not the global standard.

Lucky me Illustrator and Photoshop are designed differently.
Thank you for your time.

Silvia

[Jongware]

I'd like to remind everyone that even if you enter a "font size" in mm, it will not come out at that actual size. It is not the height of the capitals, nor that of lowercase ascender + descender. It's at the discretion of the designer how large the font characters are drawn inside the em-block. (Technically, all font sizes ought to be in fractions of ems, since that is the design base!)

But I guess ultimately it comes down to "whatever you are used to".

It's indeed strange that InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop have these small differences which might be expected to be consistent across a "Suite" of software, and which, rather trivially, could be made so.

[mhusein]

There still isn't any way to change this in InDesign but this issue had been vexing me as well.

Maybe this article might be helpful in the debate?

Metric typographic units

[rob day]

There still isn't any way to change this in InDesign but this issue had been vexing me as well.

Maybe this article might be helpful in the debate?

Metric typographic units

The article is 20 years old, InDesign didn’t even exist when it was written.

[laurentc39824241]

Hi, still no news on this issue ?

Setting up a baseline grid in points when all your page measurements are in mm is extremely annoying. If you want other dimensions to be consistent with your baseline, you end up either with a grid set in points and weird decimals everywhere else, or with a grid set in millimeters (automatically converted in points) which leads to approximations at the bottom of the page and difficulties with the font sizes.

And yes, ok, you can't measure accurately a font size, but what does it have to do with the unit you use ? A type set in 24pt will be printed with exactly the same size than the same type set in 8,467mm. A type set in 8mm will be printed with exactly the same size than the same type set in 22,677pt. So why can't we choose which units are more convenient for us ?

[rob day]

Hi @laurentc39824241 , it seems pretty easy to setup a baseline grid in millimeters. Here I’m setting up the document’s Ruler Units to Millimeters and the Baseline Grid to increment every 5mm starting at the margins:

If I set my text’s Leading to 5mm it aligns to the 5mm baseline grid as expected:

And a 10mm x 5mm frame aligning to the baseline with rulers set to Millimeters:

[laurentcalvignac]

Ok but how does your type size or line height looks ? Weird decimals everywhere.

And this is still a workaround...

(My bad for the approximations in the bottom of the page, it seems ok since the recent versions of InDesign)

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Set everything using mm override and ignore the display.

I know; not perfect. But (IMVHO) neither is working with type in any generic measuring system. I don't think Adobe's avoidance of alternate type measurements is... entirely bad.

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[laurentc39824241]

Yes, that's already what I've be doing for years.

[rob day]

Weird decimals everywhere

Right the typographic units in the Character panel always read as Points, but can be set as Millimeters or any other unit, which was pretty well covered in the posts above. You can file a feature request, but I’m guessing it wont get many votes.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

I don't see where anyone's mentioned that ID accepts mm as a unit entry, even if it converts it to the current default. E.g., I can type "6mm" into the baseline "Increment every" field and it converts it to 17.008pt. Not perfect, but doc setup should be a one-time step for most work and the weird fractions can be ignored in the type and leading panes.

(Does all this mean that French designers don't use diderot and cicerot any more? 🙂

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[jmlevy]

(Does all this mean that French designers don't use diderot and cicerot any more?

@James Gifford—NitroPress Didot, not Diderot… Diderot was an 18th century philosopher. About ciceros, I don't know any people using desktop publishing working with ciceros.

@rob day About grid and units: I have given XPress and InDesign classes for more than 15 years and I never met any designer in France setting up grids using millimeters.

@laurentc39824241 Since type is measured and setup using points as unit, leading is also setup in points. So, the grid is also setup in points. Of course, that leads to difficulties to match the last line of the grid with the bottom margin. For my part, I measure the difference between the last line of the grid and the bottom margin, then I add this measure to the bottom margin. Of course, the bottom margin has no more integer values but it does not bother me…

In my screen shots, you can see the margin values of one magazine I design and the grid increment

   

[rob day]

@rob day About grid and units: I have given XPress and InDesign classes for more than 15 years and I never met any designer in France setting up grids using millimeters.

That‘s not surprising, I was just showing how the baseline increment can be set in any unit.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

>> (Does all this mean that French designers don't use diderot and cicerot any more?

> Didot, not Diderot… Diderot was an 18th century philosopher.

And rhymes with "idiot" as my French instructor of long ago would be quick to point out. Just dredging up something that's pretty obscure even in this crowd. But then, I keep agitating to bring back agate and ruby, but no one listens. 🙂

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[rob day]

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Aw, hell, I can't even pull off a joke today. I forgot those were on the menu... 😛

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[jmlevy]

And rhymes with "idiot" as my French instructor of long ago would be quick to point out.

I would'nt even dare to think this… I am not sure to be able to name correctly American philosophers.

But then, I keep agitating to bring back agate and ruby, but no one listens. 

As far as I know, agates are only used in anglo-saxon countries. I learned to use them because I used to live 8 years in Quebec, but I never heard about agates in France. And I must confess that I do not know what “ruby” refers to…

[laurentc39824241]

I was doing that when I started, but I finally switched for setting the grid in mm because it allows making a nice overall square grid.

@rob day About grid and units: I have given XPress and InDesign classes for more than 15 years and I never met any designer in France setting up grids using millimeters.

By @jmlevy

Maybe a mix of "it has always be done like this", "I've been told to do like this" and the softwares preventing us to use mm.

[rob day]

There’s a feature request from 4 years ago here (1 vote):

https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601021-adobe-indesign-feature-requests/suggestions/35341540-fu...

[rob day]

Maybe a mix of "it has always be done like this"

Points are a universal measurement for typesetting—when trying to communicate with an experienced designer, points will be understood.

If you asked @jmlevy or me to set some text as 3.53/5.29 mm, I doubt either of us could visualize the setting despite our long experience with typography—but ask us to set it as 10/15 we will both know what that means, even when one of us measures in millimeters and the other measures in inches.

[jmlevy]

Maybe a mix of "it has always be done like this", "I've been told to do like this"

I spent my professional life to struggle against this kind of behaviour… So, no.