In the United States surveying system, a "link" is a unit of length that is equal to 1/100th of a chain. Each link is approximately 7.92 inches long or about 0.201168 meters. This unit is primarily used in surveying and land measurement in the United States.
Surveyors often use a chain, which is comprised of 100 links, to measure distances in land surveys. The use of links and chains allows for precise measurements of land parcels, boundaries, and property lines.
A "twip" is a unit of measurement used in desktop publishing and computer graphics, especially in the context of Microsoft Windows. The term "twip" is an abbreviation for "twentieth of a point," and it is used to define very small distances and sizes.
In the twip system:
1 twip is equal to 1/20th of a point. 1 point (abbreviated as "pt") is equal to approximately 20 twips.
Because a point is roughly 1/72nd of an inch, 1 twip is approximately 1/1440th of an inch (or about 1/567 millimeters).
Twips are used in various applications, including word processing, graphics design, and layout software. They are particularly valuable for precise positioning and sizing of elements on a computer screen or when preparing documents for printing. The twip system is commonly used in Microsoft Windows-based applications and the Windows Graphics Device Interface (GDI).
For example, in Microsoft Word, you can set paragraph spacing or element positioning in twips to achieve fine control over the layout of your documents.