Kevin Pfeiffer wrote: > > I _think_ that the most common special case is/was with books produced > using thinner papers. Paper used in books can be more or less translucent > and lines of text on the reverse side or on the next sheet are less > disruptive when hidden directly behind the lines of print you are > reading. >
It improves readibility of the right page of the book because your eye follow the line on the left page. It removes some strain. Grid based typography is also a long tradition in book composition. In the Middle Ages, a copist would first draw a grid called 'r�glure' on both side of a sheet of vellum and then fold the sheet and start copying. They were special tools for helping to draw the r�glure, a metal grid applied by the copist to punch little holes in the sheet and then the copist would use a ruler to draw the lines between the holes with a lead pencil. The printing press kept this idea of grid of aligned lines of text in a sheet. ConTeXt seems to be able to do baselines grid layout, see the interesting paper : http://www.pragma-ade.com/general/manuals/details.pdf According to ConTexT author, baseline grid layout is possible if you don't have a too complicated layout. For example a text without a lot of divisions, some tables. If you have a lot of divisions, titles, tables, math, quotation, a grid based layout will lead to the possibility of very uneven vertical spacing on your page. Cheers, Charles -- http://www.kde-france.org
