Spaces in indesign and how i put them

If in the precomputer era typing and preparation of the layout was a separate profession, now any person who installs the layout program (or even Word) is able to prepare documents for printing.

In the computer age, spaces, as the most inconsistent part of the text, are often overlooked when preparing publications. Often, there are only two types of spaces in the document: ordinary and non-breaking (in Word of fixed width, in InDesign of not). Meanwhile, there are about two dozens of spaces, and some of them are very useful in Russian typography.

The usual stretchable space , which is placed almost everywhere, works in the same way as the linotype mechanism: when the band is turned off (in computer terms, justified), spaces made in the form of wedges were dropped between words until the line occupied the entire allotted width.
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A non-breaking space is no different in width and stretching from a regular space, but it cannot be replaced with a newline. Non-breaking spaces must be placed after almost all one-letter words (a, c, a, k, o, c, y, i) and before “b” and “f”, sometimes after two-letter words at the beginning of a sentence, between number and units of measurement ( 100 grams, 5 m), between parts of the name (InDesign 5.5).

This list may initially seem incomplete, because in other cases, where we are accustomed to put an inseparable space, white space characters of another value are put.


So what other gaps does InDesign offer us? (in parentheses are Russian names that I know)

• Em Space (round) - gap width in a size. Almost never needed.
• En Space (semicircular) - a half-width gap.
• Nonbreaking Space (Fixed Width) - non-breaking space of a fixed value. The value is set in the settings.
• Third Space (third) - a third wide circular gap
• Quarter Space (fourth) - quarter-quarter wide gap
• Sixth Space (sixth) - one sixth wide gap round
• Flush Space - space of variable width, added at the end of a fully (with the last line) aligned paragraph
• Hair Space - one twenty fourth round
• Thin Space (thin) - one eighth round. In English typography is added around the dash
• Figure Space - a space with a digit width
• Punctuation Space - a space with a punctuation mark (.:!)

Some of them are of exceptional historical value, while others greatly improve the appearance of the publication.

The sixth is placed around the dash and significantly improves the appearance of the text: spaces around the dash do not stretch under any circumstances.

Thin can be put in mathematical formulas around the signs +, - and others, as well as after the sign of a number or paragraph. It also separates groups of numbers (if there are more than four).

Fourthly, I beat off the initials from each other and from the last name, as well as the numbers of illustrations / diagrams (ill. 3). Also, the fourth one can be used in abbreviations like "etc.", "etc.".

The third , almost indistinguishable from the ordinary space, finds application in the literature lists around single and double slashes, separating compilers and the titles of collections.

I put a semicircular in some special cases, for example in this: Il. 3. V.I. Pupkin - between "3." and "V.".

***

Finally, I want to hand over several (not always ideally working) indizajnovskih regular expressions that help me with the automatic placement of spaces.

Arranges non-breaking spaces after single-letter words except b and w:
Find what: \b([])\b
Change to: $1~S

Arranges inseparable spaces to b and f:
Find what: \b([])\b
Change to: $1~S

Replaces spaces around the dash:
Find what: [~m~>~f~|~S~s~<~/~.~3~4~%]~_[~m~>~f~|~S~s~<~/~.~3~4~%]
Change to: ~%~_~%

Replaces spaces in initials (before last name):
Find what: ([-A-Z]\.)\s([-A-Z]\.)\s
Change to: $1~4$2~4

Replaces spaces after the number / paragraph (after which there is a number)
Find what: (№|~6)\s?(?=\d)
Change to: $1~<

PS: There is more about history here, but less about application in paper.