# Typesetting

> Source: https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/typesetting

Last updated: 2026-09-06
Category: Typesetting & layout
Also called: Composition · Book layout

Typesetting is turning a manuscript into finished pages: choosing typeface, size, leading, measure and margins, then breaking lines and pages well.

## Definition

**Typesetting** (or *composition*) is the craft of turning a manuscript into pages. The typesetter chooses a **typeface** and size, the **leading** between lines, a **measure** (line length — usually 60–75 characters for comfortable reading), the margins and the running heads, then lets the text flow and fixes what the flow gets wrong: bad hyphenation, widows and orphans, loose lines, awkward page breaks.

The term comes from metal type, when compositors set each line by hand from cases of individual letters. Photo-typesetting replaced lead in the 1960s; desktop software replaced that in the 1980s. Today books are typeset in page-layout programs such as Adobe InDesign, in **LaTeX**, or in dedicated author tools.

Typesetting is not formatting a Word document. The decisions are the same in name only — a typeset book has consistent spacing, real small caps, proper ligatures and kerning, and pages that were looked at one by one.

## In Bindery

Bindery typesets every book in LaTeX under the hood, and the typeset, watermarked proof is always free to read before you decide anything.

## Related

- [LaTeX](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/latex)
- [Leading](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/leading)
- [Justification](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/justification)
- [Hyphenation](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/hyphenation)
- [Widows and orphans](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/widows-and-orphans)
- [Turn a Word Document Into a Printed Book](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/tools/word-document-to-printed-book)
- [Turn a Google Doc Into a Printed Book](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/tools/google-docs-to-book)
- [Turn a PDF Into a Printed Book](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/tools/pdf-to-printed-book)
- [Book Publishing Glossary — 59 Terms Defined](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary)
- [Bindery — the Claude-powered book studio](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/bindery)

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