There is a wide range of confusing and often contradictory recommendations for the length of typeset lines. This study investigates the lengths of lines used in advertising body copy. It compared length in terms of character counts and pica widths on the basis of adjusted Starch "read most" scores. The study hypothesized a normal curve with lower scores for the shorter and longer lines and scores above the mean for the lines in the middle of the distribution. The study found support for lower scores for short lines. It also found some evidence of two optimum line lengths rather than one. There is still confusion about the reading ease of the longer lines
