What is the smallest and largest font size in offset printing and screen printing and digital printing and digital application?
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1The smallest would be 0pts. The largest would be ∞pts.– DA01Commented Jul 14, 2015 at 15:32
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@DA01 wouldn't 0pts be invisible and ∞pts be a black hole??– user9447Commented Jul 14, 2015 at 16:08
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@Darth_Vader that's an interesting question...is an infinitely sized glyph that use an infinite amount of ink so dense that it, itself, folds into itself and forms a black hole?– DA01Commented Jul 14, 2015 at 16:17
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2So "printed matter" may account for the missing mass of the universe?– YorikCommented Jul 14, 2015 at 17:24
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@Yorik: no, its the "unread printed matter" multiplyed with "useless printed matter"– halfbitCommented Jul 28, 2015 at 21:34
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2 Answers
The smallest text you can use (commonly suggested size) is 5pts in offset and digital printing. Below this, it can be too small to be readable without a magnifier. You could always use smaller, no one will stop you. It goes with your target market; you wouldn't use 5pts text size if the majority of your target market wears glasses, for example.
There's not size too big though... as long it fits on the size of the printed sheets! Technically, it changes nothing if you use a 72pts or 150pts.
For digital application, I guess you need to use common sense, look a your target market, and also the device it will be used on... and test your font size based on these factors. I don't think there's any standards for this either but it's good to keep in mind the user experience when choosing your font size. There's maybe zoom and text increase scripts but (maybe it's a personal opinion) I think it's better when a design is simply "viewer ready" and doesn't require the use of zooming all the time. It's up to you if you prefer to put a priority on style or how practical is the design/layout.
In what software? e.g. Illustrators smallest is 0,1pt and its biggest is whatever you can fit on a canvas. But already tells you that you will be limited by the medium before you will be limited by the software. What good would it be to you to have infinitely large or small sizes that cannot be read or printed or published in any way?
Here is a 5K screenshot at 34000% zoom of 0,1pt next to a pixel to illustrate that problem:
