#lang pollen ◊(define-meta title "line length") ◊hanging-topic[(topic-from-metas metas)]{45–90 characters or 2–3 alphabets} ◊em{Line length} is the distance between the left and right edges of a text block. Overly long lines are a common problem, but they’re easy to correct. Shorter lines will make a big difference in the legibility and professionalism of your layout. The most useful way to measure line length is by average characters per line. Measuring in inches or centimeters is less useful because the ◊xref{point size} of the font affects the number of characters per inch. Whereas characters per line works at any point size. Shorter lines are more comfortable to read than longer lines. As line length increases, your eye has to travel farther from the end of one line to the beginning of the next. Aim for an average line length of 45–90 characters, including spaces. You can check line length using word count.