fylltegn

Fylltegn is a term used in Norwegian and Swedish typography and printing to describe characters that occupy space without carrying semantic content. They function as fillers in text, forms, and layouts to preserve alignment, readability, or the overall visual balance of a page or document.

In typography and page design, fylltegn help maintain consistent line lengths, column widths, and spacing when content is missing or when a layout requires a fixed visual structure. Common examples include space characters, dashes, underscores, or leader dots that fill a line or a field. The choice of filler can affect readability and should be chosen to avoid confusion with actual content.

In computing and data processing, fylltegn refer to padding characters used to expand a string to a fixed width or to fill a record for storage, display, or transmission. This helps ensure uniform lengths across data sets and interfaces. Typical fill characters are spaces or zeros, though other symbols may be used depending on system conventions or historical practice.

In forms, templates, and legacy documents, fylltegn mark unused fields or guide users where to input information. They also appear in publishing history as deliberate fillers to preserve layout when content is not yet available or when a design requires a specific visual rhythm.

See also: padding, placeholder, leader, fill character, whitespace.