A perch is a unit of length that was historically used in some English-speaking countries, primarily in the United Kingdom. It is equivalent to 5.5 yards or 16.5 feet (about 5.0292 meters). The term "perch" is relatively old and is not commonly used in modern measurements.
Perches were often used in land measurement, particularly in agriculture and real estate. They were also sometimes used in surveying. However, the use of the perch as a standard unit of measurement has largely been replaced by more modern and standardized systems such as the metric system or the imperial system based on feet and yards. As a result, the perch is considered an archaic or historical unit of measurement today.
A "pica" is a unit of measurement commonly used in typography and desktop publishing to represent the size of text, fonts, and other elements on a printed page. The pica is part of a system of measurement used in the field of typesetting, which involves arranging and designing text for printed materials.
In the pica system:
1 pica (abbreviated as "p") is equal to 12 points. 1 point (abbreviated as "pt") is approximately equal to 1/72nd of an inch.
So, 1 pica is roughly equal to 1/6th of an inch.
This system is based on the traditional point system used in printing, where a point is a very small unit of measurement. Picas and points are still widely used in the design and printing industry, especially when specifying font sizes, line spacing, and other layout details for printed materials like books, magazines, and newspapers.
In digital design and modern desktop publishing software, you can often switch between using picas and points or other units like inches, millimeters, or pixels to set and adjust the layout of text and graphic elements.