Super Size It!

These thoughts came while I was learning and recording a hymn about sharing the Word of God. In previous articles and books, I shared that the definition of large print in Canada is 16 point font and in America it is 18-point font (one fourth inch letters), and up to only 36-point font (one half inch) is recommended. Whenever we set up church we need to have on hand a few large print bulletins, song sheets, outlines, scripture portions, etc., along with the standard 12 point font copies. But that is not the limit.

When we know someone who does not see 16-to-36-point font well we can try to find out if even larger fonts will help. SUPER SIZE it.

One inch (72-point font) song sheets allow more people to join in the congregational singing, follow a lesson outline, and read a portion of scripture with everyone else. Even larger font sizes than that might help others participate in church. Here’s how to do it. 

• Highlight and copy the standard print material from a computer. 
• (Not all epub, .pdf, scanned, or internet files can be copied or enlarged.)
• Paste that into another file with margins reduced to one quarter or one half inch.
• Highlight it again and change the font type to Arial, Verdana or Aphont.
• Increase the font to a larger size. Ask if bold print helps.
• Print it on pre-punched, three hole, 8½ by 11 inch paper.
• Put each week’s pages in a thin, three ring binder.
• Store them later in thicker binders.

This article has 1428 characters, 324 words and 26 sentences. In 12-point font with one inch margins it fills about one half page. With 36-point font and one-half inch margins it fills 3 pages. With 72-point font and one-quarter inch margins it fills 11 pages. Try it!

By John Jay Frank, Ph.D.