Why I Use Even Numbers?

By Magaly Rivera

  1. Standard of Display Resolution

    2. Display device modes are usually quoted as width x height, with the units in pixels (an even integer number). For example, 1024x768 pixels and 1280x1024 pixels are common standards of display resolution.

  2. Computer DPI Standards - Pixel Density, Pixels per inch (PPI) or Pixels per inch (PPI)

    3. Since the 1980s, the Microsoft Windows operating system has set the default display "DPI" to 96 PPI, while Apple/Macintosh computers have used a default of 72 PPI (Wikipedia) (changed to 96 in 2001). For normal printouts: a resolution ranging from 150 - 300 DPI (Dots Per Inch).

  3. Easier to Scale

    4. Make retina assets, sprites, font sizes, etc., divisible by two, it will make scaling down a lot easier.

    Retina Displays
    By keeping the dimensions and distances in even numbers you prevent displacement of pixels when the image is being down-sampled by the browser (and the downscaled version remains pixel perfect).

    Icons
    Again, even numbers make icons easily scalable (be sure the dimensions are not only an even number but with divisible by 4.)

    Vectors
    Even numbers stay crisp and sharp.

  4. Optimize Browser Rendering

    5. In most instances, user agents must find a consistent rule for rounding off an odd number. Use even numbers and you will save rendering milliseconds.

  5. Vertical Rhythm

    6. Using even numbers to define font-sizes and line-heights will maintain a vertical rhythm and improve readability.

  6. Computer Engineering

    7. When dimensioning computer components, the powers of two are frequently used as preferred numbers:

    1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512 1024

    In binary notation, 1024 is represented as 10000000000, making it a simple round number occurring frequently in computer applications. (Wikipedia)



    Get in Touch

    Send me a note and say hello.