Didot to Millimeter Converter

Enter Didot points to convert to millimetres and inches.

Result

4.51 mm
0.1777 in

How it is calculated

The tool multiplies the size in Didot points by fixed factors: mm = D × 0.376065 and in = D × 0.01480571, where D is the size in Didot points. Millimetres are shown with two decimals and inches with four. Zero is accepted and gives 0.00 mm. A negative value, text, or a number with thousands separators such as 1,000.5 gives no result. A single comma with no dot is read as a decimal comma, so 10,5 and 10.5 are the same input. This is the Didot point of continental European typography, not the 1/72-inch DTP point (0.3528 mm) used in most software, so the two must not be mixed. Twelve Didot points make one cicero.

Worked example

Take a size of 12 Didot points, which is one cicero. Millimetres: 12 × 0.376065 = 4.51278, shown as 4.51 mm. Inches: 12 × 0.01480571 = 0.17767, shown as 0.1777 in. A line set at one cicero is therefore about 4.5 mm tall, noticeably more than a 12 pt DTP line, which measures 12 × 0.3528 = about 4.23 mm.

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Common mistakes

  • Treating a Didot point as the same as a DTP/PostScript point. A Didot is about 6.6% larger, so a 12 Didot size is not 12 pt.
  • Confusing the cicero with the Didot point: one cicero is 12 Didot points, so enter 12, not 1, for a cicero.
  • Typing a thousands separator (1,000.5) or a unit after the number; that input returns no result. Type a plain number.
  • Rounding the millimetre figure and then converting again; use the four-decimal inch value or the unrounded factor when you chain calculations.

About this calculator

The Didot point is the traditional continental European typographic unit, created by French printer and typefounder François-Ambroise Didot around 1783 as a refinement of Pierre Fournier's earlier point system. One Didot point equals 0.376 mm (about 0.0148 in), and twelve Didot points make one cicero — the European counterpart to the Anglo-American pica.

European typographers and print professionals, especially in France, Germany, and other continental countries, historically specified metal type and page layouts in Didot points rather than the 1/72-inch Anglo-American point used in English-speaking publishing, and the unit still turns up in older print specifications, historical typography research, and some European typesetting software that offers it as a measurement option.

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