New typescript mechanism for weights/opticals?

New typescript mechanism for weights/opticals?

[Marco]

Hi,

I like Mojcas idea for new typescripts:

%%%%%%%%%%%
\startsomenewfonttypescriptcommand [kepler]
  [width={condensed,semicondensed,*regular,extended}]
  [size={caption,*regular,subhead,display},switch={10pt,12pt,17pt}]
  [weight={light,*regular,medium,semibold,*bold,black}]
  ...
%%%%%%%%%%%
\switchtofontdimension[width=semicondensed,weight={light,medium}]
%%%%%%%%%%%

That would make different weight/opticals font handling much less cumbersome.
At the moment its no fun dealing with weights/opticals.

I really would appreciate that (or any other easy usable) solution that
provides a standardized way to handle weights/opticals with not too much
overhead.

Regards
Marco


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Re: New typescript mechanism for weights/opticals?

[Hans Hagen]

On 22-9-2010 1:35, Marco wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I like Mojcas idea for new typescripts:
>
> %%%%%%%%%%%
> \startsomenewfonttypescriptcommand [kepler]
>    [width={condensed,semicondensed,*regular,extended}]
>    [size={caption,*regular,subhead,display},switch={10pt,12pt,17pt}]
>    [weight={light,*regular,medium,semibold,*bold,black}]
>    ...
> %%%%%%%%%%%
> \switchtofontdimension[width=semicondensed,weight={light,medium}]
> %%%%%%%%%%%

sure. looks nice, but the outcome is quite unpredictable unless you know 
the font and that in turn demands some investiation on the users end

> That would make different weight/opticals font handling much less cumbersome.
> At the moment its no fun dealing with weights/opticals.

it will never be fun ... (in most cases one will use suggested 
combinations and then for odd cases like a section title something special)

> I really would appreciate that (or any other easy usable) solution that
> provides a standardized way to handle weights/opticals with not too much
> overhead.

given the huge differences in font collections there will never be an 
easy way with fonts that come in many weights/widths/sizes .. at least I 
cannot remember a project that I did where any system was present

Hans

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___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
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___________________________________________________________________________________

Re: New typescript mechanism for weights/opticals?

[Marco]

On 2010-09-22 Hans Hagen <pragma@wxs.nl> wrote:

> On 22-9-2010 1:35, Marco wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I like Mojcas idea for new typescripts:
> >
> > %%%%%%%%%%%
> > \startsomenewfonttypescriptcommand [kepler]
> >    [width={condensed,semicondensed,*regular,extended}]
> >    [size={caption,*regular,subhead,display},switch={10pt,12pt,17pt}]
> >    [weight={light,*regular,medium,semibold,*bold,black}]
> >    ...
> > %%%%%%%%%%%
> > \switchtofontdimension[width=semicondensed,weight={light,medium}]
> > %%%%%%%%%%%
> 
> sure. looks nice, but the outcome is quite unpredictable unless you know 
> the font and that in turn demands some investiation on the users end
I think some user investiation will always be necessary since the vendors
dont't follow the same schema and every font collection is different.
> 
> > That would make different weight/opticals font handling much less
> > cumbersome. At the moment its no fun dealing with weights/opticals.
> 
> it will never be fun ... (in most cases one will use suggested 
> combinations and then for odd cases like a section title something special)
Don't be that pessimistic ;-) Selecting the proper font *is* fun.

> > I really would appreciate that (or any other easy usable) solution that
> > provides a standardized way to handle weights/opticals with not too much
> > overhead.
> 
> given the huge differences in font collections there will never be an 
> easy way with fonts that come in many weights/widths/sizes .. at least I 
> cannot remember a project that I did where any system was present
That's a true point. But I think there is room for improvements. ConTeXt
supports a standardized interface for Bold/Sans/Italic/Slanted... font
variants and it lacks an interface for (more) weights/widths.
 
Of course the person setting up the (whatever variant of) typescript(s) has to
do some investiation about the font. But after that the user should be
provided with standardized commands for the weights/widths.


Regards
Marco


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maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
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archive  : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
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