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A ligature (Latin ligare “bind”) is a combination of letters. Ligatures are used to avoid empty spaces or overlaps with adjacent letters.

The classic ligatures are:

Depending on the font and style, the respective character set contains different numbers.

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When are ligatures not set?

syllable limits

Since ligatures also visually merge letters, there is an important rule in German: No ligature may be used across a syllable border. It would impair readability too much.

Compound words

Compound words do not have a ligature set across the compound. In turn, a ligature may be used within a part of a word itself. In this way, the reading flow is maintained.

endsyllables and suffixes

Ligatures are also not placed between diffraction endings (-te, -er) and final syllables (-lein, -lich, -los) and the remaining part of the word. However, with
i-beginning suffixes (-ig, -in, -I, -isch) set a ligature.

Extended running distance

When extended running distance, the ligatures of the letter pairs “break apart”, which looks unpleasant and deprives the ligature of its actual purpose. Therefore, do not use ligatures at this stage.

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More typography tips and basics can be found in the book”The ABC of typography”.

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