Question 1

What is a pica in typography?

Accepted Answer

A pica is 1/6 inch or 4.233 mm. 12 points = 1 pica. Used in graphic design and typesetting for measuring layout elements.

Question 2

How do picas relate to points?

Accepted Answer

1 pica = 12 points. 6 picas = 1 inch. Standard body text is 10-12 points; headlines are often 24-72 points.

Question 3

Is this conversion factor exact?

Accepted Answer

Metric-to-metric conversions are exact (1 km = 1000 m). Imperial-to-metric factors like 1 inch = 2.54 cm are exact by international agreement.

Question 4

Why do some countries use different units?

Accepted Answer

Historical reasons - the metric system spread from France after 1795. The US, UK, and a few others retained older systems. Science uses metric worldwide.

Picas to Millimeters Converter

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