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Text figures

January 19, 2024

Text figures (also known as non-lining, lowercase, old style,[1] ranging, hanging, medieval, billing,[2] or antique[3] figures or numerals) are numerals designed with varying heights in a fashion that resembles a typical line of running text, hence the name. They are contrasted with lining figures (also called titling or modern figures), which are the same height as upper-case letters.[4][5] Georgia is an example of a popular typeface that employs text figures by default.

Hoefler Text, a typeface designed in 1991, uses text figures.
The ascending six and descending nines are minted on this 1996 U.S. penny.

Design edit

 
Text figures in various fonts: Adobe Garamond, Adobe Caslon, Theano Didot and Essonnes Text. Note the ascending 3, 4 and 5 in the two latter fonts.

In text figures, the shape and positioning of the numerals vary as those of lowercase letters do. In the most common scheme, 0, 1, and 2 are of x-height, having neither ascenders nor descenders; 6 and 8 have ascenders; and 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9 have descenders. Other schemes exist; for example, the types cut by the Didot family of punchcutters and typographers in France between the late 18th and early 19th centuries typically had an ascending 3 and 5, a form preserved in some later French typefaces. A few other typefaces used different arrangements.[citation needed] Sometimes the stress of the 0 is made different from a letter o in some way, although many fonts do not do this.[6][7]

High-quality typesetting generally prefers text figures in body text: they integrate better with lowercase letters and small capitals, unlike runs of lining figures. Lining figures are called for in all-capitals settings (hence the alternative name titling figures), and may work better in tables and spreadsheets.

Although many conventional typefaces have both types of numerals in full, early digital fonts only had one or the other (with the exception of those used by professional printers). Modern OpenType fonts generally include both, and being able to switch via lnum and onum feature tags.[8] The few common digital fonts that default to using text figures include Candara, Constantia, Corbel, Hoefler Text, Georgia, Junicode, some variations of Garamond (such as the open-source EB Garamond), and FF Scala. Palatino and its clone FPL Neu support both text and lining figures.[9][10][11]

History edit

As the name medieval numerals implies, text figures have been in use since the Middle Ages, when Arabic numerals reached 12th century Europe, where they eventually supplanted Roman numerals.

Lining figures came out of the new middle-class phenomenon of shopkeepers’ hand-lettered signage. They were introduced to European typography in 1788, when Richard Austin cut a new font for typefounder and publisher John Bell, which included three-quarter height lining figures. They were further developed by 19th-century type designers, and largely displaced text figures in some contexts, such as newspaper and advertising typography.[12] During the period of transition from text figures to lining, a justification for the old system was that the height differences helped distinguish similar numbers, while a justification for lining figures was that they were clearer (being larger) and that they looked better by giving all page numbers the same height.[6][12] Amusingly, as several later writers have noted, the printer Thomas Curson Hansard in his landmark textbook on printing Typographia describes the new fashion as 'preposterous', but the book was printed using lining figures and the modern typefaces he also criticised throughout.[6][13]

While always popular with fine printers, text figures became rarer still with the advent of phototypesetting and early digital technologies with limited character sets and no support for alternate characters.[14] Walter Tracy noted that they were avoided by phototypesetting manufacturers since (not being of even height) they could not be miniaturised to form fraction numerals, requiring an additional set of fraction characters.[6] They made a comeback with more advanced digital typesetting systems.[15]

Modern professional digital fonts are almost universally in one or another variant of the OpenType format and encode both text and lining figures as OpenType alternate characters. Text figures are not encoded separately in Unicode, because they are not considered separate characters from lining figures, only a different way of writing the same characters.[16] Adobe's early OpenType fonts used Private Use Area for non-default sets of numerals, but the most recent ones only use OpenType features.[17]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ University of Chicago Press (2010). "Appendix B: Glossary". The Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 891, 899.
  2. ^ Birdsall 2004, p. xi
  3. ^ Birdsall 2004, p. 186
  4. ^ Bringhurst 1992, p. 36
  5. ^ Saller, Carol (March 14, 2012). "Old-Style Versus Lining Figures". Lingua Franca. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
  6. ^ a b c d Tracy, Walter. Letters of Credit. pp. 67–70.
  7. ^ Bergmann, Christoph; Hardwig, Florian (23 August 2016). "Zero vs. oh: Strategies of glyph differentiation". Isoglosse. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  8. ^ "Registered features - definitions and implementations". Microsoft. February 14, 2017. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  9. ^ Devroye, Luc (November 30, 2002). "More on the Palatino Story".
  10. ^ Index of /~was/x/FPL April 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ (URW)++ Design & Development; Puga, Diego; Stubner, Ralf (March 13, 2008). . Archived from the original on April 25, 2012.
  12. ^ a b Hansard, Thomas Curson (1825). Typographia, an Historical Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the Art of Printing. pp. 430–1. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  13. ^ Johnson, Alfred F. (1930). "The Evolution of the Modern-Face Roman". The Library. s4-XI (3): 353–377. doi:10.1093/library/s4-XI.3.353.
  14. ^ Bringhurst 1992, p. 47
  15. ^ Hoefler, Jonathan. "Hoefler Text: design notes". Hoefler & Co. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  16. ^ "22". The Unicode® Standard: Version 12.0 – Core Specification (PDF). Mountain View, CA: The Unicode Consortium. 2019. p. 820. ISBN 978-1-936213-22-1. Retrieved 24 May 2019. Some variations of decimal digits are considered glyph variants and are not separately encoded. These include the old style variants of digits, as shown in Figure 22-7.
  17. ^ Personal communication from Thomas Phinney, formerly of Adobe Type

Works cited edit

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Text figures.
  • Bergsland, David. . DT&G Design. Archived from the original on June 21, 2012.

January 19, 2024
text, figures, also, known, lining, lowercase, style, ranging, hanging, medieval, billing, antique, figures, numerals, numerals, designed, with, varying, heights, fashion, that, resembles, typical, line, running, text, hence, name, they, contrasted, with, lini. Text figures also known as non lining lowercase old style 1 ranging hanging medieval billing 2 or antique 3 figures or numerals are numerals designed with varying heights in a fashion that resembles a typical line of running text hence the name They are contrasted with lining figures also called titling or modern figures which are the same height as upper case letters 4 5 Georgia is an example of a popular typeface that employs text figures by default Hoefler Text a typeface designed in 1991 uses text figures The ascending six and descending nines are minted on this 1996 U S penny Contents 1 Design 2 History 3 See also 4 References 5 Works cited 6 External linksDesign edit nbsp Text figures in various fonts Adobe Garamond Adobe Caslon Theano Didot and Essonnes Text Note the ascending 3 4 and 5 in the two latter fonts In text figures the shape and positioning of the numerals vary as those of lowercase letters do In the most common scheme 0 1 and 2 are of x height having neither ascenders nor descenders 6 and 8 have ascenders and 3 4 5 7 and 9 have descenders Other schemes exist for example the types cut by the Didot family of punchcutters and typographers in France between the late 18th and early 19th centuries typically had an ascending 3 and 5 a form preserved in some later French typefaces A few other typefaces used different arrangements citation needed Sometimes the stress of the 0 is made different from a letter o in some way although many fonts do not do this 6 7 High quality typesetting generally prefers text figures in body text they integrate better with lowercase letters and small capitals unlike runs of lining figures Lining figures are called for in all capitals settings hence the alternative name titling figures and may work better in tables and spreadsheets Although many conventional typefaces have both types of numerals in full early digital fonts only had one or the other with the exception of those used by professional printers Modern OpenType fonts generally include both and being able to switch via lnum and onum feature tags 8 The few common digital fonts that default to using text figures include Candara Constantia Corbel Hoefler Text Georgia Junicode some variations of Garamond such as the open source EB Garamond and FF Scala Palatino and its clone FPL Neu support both text and lining figures 9 10 11 History editAs the name medieval numerals implies text figures have been in use since the Middle Ages when Arabic numerals reached 12th century Europe where they eventually supplanted Roman numerals Lining figures came out of the new middle class phenomenon of shopkeepers hand lettered signage They were introduced to European typography in 1788 when Richard Austin cut a new font for typefounder and publisher John Bell which included three quarter height lining figures They were further developed by 19th century type designers and largely displaced text figures in some contexts such as newspaper and advertising typography 12 During the period of transition from text figures to lining a justification for the old system was that the height differences helped distinguish similar numbers while a justification for lining figures was that they were clearer being larger and that they looked better by giving all page numbers the same height 6 12 Amusingly as several later writers have noted the printer Thomas Curson Hansard in his landmark textbook on printing Typographia describes the new fashion as preposterous but the book was printed using lining figures and the modern typefaces he also criticised throughout 6 13 While always popular with fine printers text figures became rarer still with the advent of phototypesetting and early digital technologies with limited character sets and no support for alternate characters 14 Walter Tracy noted that they were avoided by phototypesetting manufacturers since not being of even height they could not be miniaturised to form fraction numerals requiring an additional set of fraction characters 6 They made a comeback with more advanced digital typesetting systems 15 Modern professional digital fonts are almost universally in one or another variant of the OpenType format and encode both text and lining figures as OpenType alternate characters Text figures are not encoded separately in Unicode because they are not considered separate characters from lining figures only a different way of writing the same characters 16 Adobe s early OpenType fonts used Private Use Area for non default sets of numerals but the most recent ones only use OpenType features 17 See also editArabic numerals Arabic numeral variations Old style numeralsReferences edit University of Chicago Press 2010 Appendix B Glossary The Chicago Manual of Style 16th ed Chicago University of Chicago Press pp 891 899 Birdsall 2004 p xi Birdsall 2004 p 186 Bringhurst 1992 p 36 Saller Carol March 14 2012 Old Style Versus Lining Figures Lingua Franca The Chronicle of Higher Education a b c d Tracy Walter Letters of Credit pp 67 70 Bergmann Christoph Hardwig Florian 23 August 2016 Zero vs oh Strategies of glyph differentiation Isoglosse Retrieved 12 September 2016 Registered features definitions and implementations Microsoft February 14 2017 Retrieved April 24 2018 Devroye Luc November 30 2002 More on the Palatino Story Index of was x FPL Archived April 15 2011 at the Wayback Machine URW Design amp Development Puga Diego Stubner Ralf March 13 2008 FPL Neu Fonts OpenType Edition Archived from the original on April 25 2012 a b Hansard Thomas Curson 1825 Typographia an Historical Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the Art of Printing pp 430 1 Retrieved 12 August 2015 Johnson Alfred F 1930 The Evolution of the Modern Face Roman The Library s4 XI 3 353 377 doi 10 1093 library s4 XI 3 353 Bringhurst 1992 p 47 Hoefler Jonathan Hoefler Text design notes Hoefler amp Co Retrieved 24 May 2019 22 The Unicode Standard Version 12 0 Core Specification PDF Mountain View CA The Unicode Consortium 2019 p 820 ISBN 978 1 936213 22 1 Retrieved 24 May 2019 Some variations of decimal digits are considered glyph variants and are not separately encoded These include the old style variants of digits as shown in Figure 22 7 Personal communication from Thomas Phinney formerly of Adobe TypeWorks cited editBirdsall Derek 2004 Notes on Book Design New Haven CT Yale University Press ISBN 0 300 10347 6 Bringhurst Robert 1992 The Elements of Typographic Style Vancouver Hartley amp Marks pp 46 48 ISBN 0 88179 132 6 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Text figures Bergsland David Using Numbers in the Proper Case DT amp G Design Archived from the original on June 21 2012 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Text figures amp oldid 1146784054, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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