[macjournals]

]If you're a designer working in InDesign, why not use OpenType fonts, which include genuine pre-built fractions that require no tweaking? Using your method, you get correct alignment, but the fraction still looks funky because the weight of the slash doesn't even come close to matching the weight of the numbers.

If you're using an OpenType font that supports the "fractions" font feature, all you have to do is select it from the OpenType fly-out menu and type your fraction, like one-slash-four or 34-virgule-67. The font designer included scaling and spacing instructions on how to create the fraction, and you'll get a perfect result every time. You may want to tweak it, but the result you'll get is what the font designer intended.

Ah, if only it worked this way all the time. First, not all OpenType fonts support the fractions font feature, but InDesign CS2 (at least) displays it as an option for every font. In most fonts, it does nothing.

Second, the OpenType version of this feature seems brain-damaged. Turn on "fractions" in one of Adobe's OpenType fonts, like Caslon Pro, and type "I am the 1 for U" - and you see the "1" raised as if it's a numerator. The feature expects that every digit is a numerator until you reach a slash or virgule, when they switch to denominator position until you stop typing digits. You have to turn the feature off to place digits that aren't in fractions.

Third, this feature has been around in Apple Advanced Typography fonts since they were GX fonts. Open TextEdit and pick Hoefler Text, and type a fraction using the virgule (option-shift-1 on US keyboards, the "true fraction" slanted glyph). You get automatic fractions the way you expect - the digits stay normal until you type the virgule, signaling the font that a fraction is here. Just the regular "slash" doesn't do it.

Fourth, because of the font wars, these things should be compatible but aren't. OpenType's fractions feature doesn't work in normal Cocoa and Carbon applications like it should, and InDesign (through CS2, at least) doesn't recognize AAT fonts. In other words, you can't get automatic fractions with Hoefler Text in InDesign, and you can't get them with Caslon Pro in TextEdit, though the OS does recognize some of the OpenType features. (Press Command-T for the Fonts palette, then use the gear pop-up menu to bring up the typography palette to see the features for selected glyphs.)

And so we have things like this Javascript that scales regular glyphs to look like fractions, when many (tho not all) of the fonts you're using have these numerator and denominator glyphs built in, just in a way you can't access them. Had you told me 15 years ago that people would still not be using these font features every day, I would have called you daft.

I wonder if we'll still be doing it 15 years from now.

[macjournals]

So you should use the <blockquote> tag instead of [quote]

...so then why is there a big "quote" button on every post that uses [quote] instead of <blockquote>?

[cpoff]

Because Creative Space has special rules. You can enter all the UBB Code tags you want, they just won't work.

[Daren_Mitchell]

I'm a bit amazed that this article opens with how to format fractions and never once mentions that the solidus character (forward slash to most) is the wrong glyph to use!If you open the Glyphs palette in InDesign you'll see the solidus character near the top. Keep looking... In most fonts it'll either be by the Euro symbol, or the umlauted capital Y character.Insert both of them into your document and notice how the solidus character breaks the baseline, and has less of a slant to it. The fraction separator however rests on the baseline and has more of a slant to it.For 12 point type enter "1" "fraction separator" "2". Make the 1 and 2, 7 point type. Raise the 1, 4 points off the base line (the top of the 1 should be a bit past the top of the separator). Kern the numbers towards or away from the separator as needed for a eye pleasing fraction. Enter a space character, change the point size back to 12 and insert a 1/2 fraction character for comparison...No need to change document preferences just to make a fraction, and the above method will work for ANY fraction using any numbers.Now that's being creative!

[MacGizmo]

Daren,
All that work is exactly what I try to avoid with the tips outlined.
Nowhere in the article does it say it was the only way to do things, nor does it say it was the proper way. It's just the easiest way and is more than acceptable for 99% of designers out there.

[Nobody]

Quote

]If you're a designer working in InDesign, why not use OpenType fonts, which include genuine pre-built fractions that require no tweaking? Using your method, you get correct alignment, but the fraction still looks funky because the weight of the slash doesn't even come close to matching the weight of the numbers.

If you're using an OpenType font that supports the "fractions" font feature, all you have to do is select it from the OpenType fly-out menu and type your fraction, like one-slash-four or 34-virgule-67. The font designer included scaling and spacing instructions on how to create the fraction, and you'll get a perfect result every time. You may want to tweak it, but the result you'll get is what the font designer intended.

Ah, if only it worked this way all the time. First, not all OpenType fonts support the fractions font feature, but InDesign CS2 (at least) displays it as an option for every font. In most fonts, it does nothing.

Second, the OpenType version of this feature seems brain-damaged. Turn on "fractions" in one of Adobe's OpenType fonts, like Caslon Pro, and type "I am the 1 for U" - and you see the "1" raised as if it's a numerator. The feature expects that every digit is a numerator until you reach a slash or virgule, when they switch to denominator position until you stop typing digits. You have to turn the feature off to place digits that aren't in fractions.

Third, this feature has been around in Apple Advanced Typography fonts since they were GX fonts. Open TextEdit and pick Hoefler Text, and type a fraction using the virgule (option-shift-1 on US keyboards, the "true fraction" slanted glyph). You get automatic fractions the way you expect - the digits stay normal until you type the virgule, signaling the font that a fraction is here. Just the regular "slash" doesn't do it.

Fourth, because of the font wars, these things should be compatible but aren't. OpenType's fractions feature doesn't work in normal Cocoa and Carbon applications like it should, and InDesign (through CS2, at least) doesn't recognize AAT fonts. In other words, you can't get automatic fractions with Hoefler Text in InDesign, and you can't get them with Caslon Pro in TextEdit, though the OS does recognize some of the OpenType features. (Press Command-T for the Fonts palette, then use the gear pop-up menu to bring up the typography palette to see the features for selected glyphs.)

And so we have things like this Javascript that scales regular glyphs to look like fractions, when many (tho not all) of the fonts you're using have these numerator and denominator glyphs built in, just in a way you can't access them. Had you told me 15 years ago that people would still not be using these font features every day, I would have called you daft.

I wonder if we'll still be doing it 15 years from now.

don`t forget that Creative Space has some special rules... :shocked: