From the course: The 33 Laws of Typography

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29 Designate feet and inches, with prime symbols

29 Designate feet and inches, with prime symbols

From the course: The 33 Laws of Typography

29 Designate feet and inches, with prime symbols

Law 29, Designate Feet and Inches with Prime Symbols. So what are prime symbols? This is what a single prime symbol looks like and this is what a double prime symbol looks like. These character are different than curly quotes, which look like this. And they're also different from straight quotes which look like this. So, let's briefly discuss each of these characters and their uses. Straight quotes are a hold-over from the days of the typewriter, and should not be used for anything. In fact, modern word processors and page layout programs will automatically use curly quotes as you type. There's usually a setting somewhere in the software preferences, and the setting is almost always automatically turned on and that tells the software to use curly quotes instead of straight. And this is a really good thing because curly quotes are prettier than straight quotes, and curly quotes have been designed by the typeface's designer to flow with the letters on the page and in your documents…

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