Re: [Groff] Proper Small Caps.

[Ted Harding]

On 18-Jan-2015 11:15:05 Ralph Corderoy wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> http://2d.laboratorium.net/post/108351875900/small-caps-big-problem
> complains about small caps from Word, etc., compared with small caps
> designed by the designer.  Thought it might be of interest given troff's
> long-time S\s-2MALL\s0 C\s-2APS\s0, especially used in the formatting of
> Unix.  IIRC, Dennis Ritchie said they did it because the CAT gave them
> the possibility, but it was regretted for the UNIX/Unix confusion it
> caused.
> 
> Heirloom troff, http://heirloom.sourceforge.net/doctools.html, says
> 
>     Mechanisms for typesetting small capitals, old-style numerals, and
>     arbitrary ligatures e.g. using Type 1 “expert” or OpenType fonts are
>     provided.
> 
> Don't know what the other various troff's support for proper small caps
> is, e.g. plucking them from the OpenType font?
> 
> Cheers, Ralph.

For what it's worth, here's what I do (with example usage at end):

.\"######################
.de smallcaps
.nr .sc.ps (\\n[.s]*80/100)
.nr .cap.PS \\n[.s]
.nr .scsh (\\n[.ps]/100)
.char a    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'A'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'A\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char b    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'B'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'B\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char c    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'C'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'C\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char d    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'D'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'D\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char e    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'E'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'E\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char f    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'F'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'F\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char g    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'G'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'G\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char h    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'H'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'H\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char i    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'I'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'I\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char j    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'J'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'J\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char k    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'K'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'K\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char l    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'L'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'L\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char m    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'M'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'M\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char n    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'N'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'N\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char o    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'O'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'O\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char p    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'P'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'P\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char q    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'Q'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'Q\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char r    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'R'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'R\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char s    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'S'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'S\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char t    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'T'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'T\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char u    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'U'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'U\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char v    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'V'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'V\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char w    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'W'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'W\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char x    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'X'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'X\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char y    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'Y'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'Y\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char z    \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'Z'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'Z\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
.char \(i. \s[\\n[.sc.ps]]\Z'I'\h'\\n[.scsh]s'I\s[\\n[.cap.PS]]
..
.de /smallcaps
.\"\c
.rchar a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z \(i.
.rr .sc.ps
.rr .cap.PS
.rr .scsh
..

.smallcaps
Here Is An Example Of Smallcaps
./smallcaps

.\"######################

Note the over-printing to slightly "fatten" the reduced-size capitals.

NB That this is oriented towards PS output!

Best wishes to all,
Ted.

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E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <address@hidden>
Date: 18-Jan-2015  Time: 12:22:07
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