Fellow Mellelers,
Mellel seems to permit at least two different ways of using superscripts for footnotes. Option 1: check the "superscript" boxes in the edit footnote stream dialogue box, and (typically) save this setting to the footnote stream. Option 2: define a character style for the note symbol and reference symbol that uses the opentype feature called "Superscript/Superior," and set the footnote stream to use this character style. I notice that option 2 seems to look much better on the screen. Does anyone know why this is the case? Does it depend on the font (I'm using Linux Libertine)? Is there any reason to choose one method over another? I'd love to know people's thoughts and experiences. Thanks.
Which superscript feature to use?
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Re: Which superscript feature to use?
The reason the OpenType version looks better is because the font designer specifically created the superscript numbers to look good with your chosen type size. When you use the first option, Mellel creates a superscript by reducing the font size and adjusting those characters' baseline. Think of it in a similar fashion to italic/oblique faces: One uses shapes created by the font designer to specifically look good, while the other lets the computer program try to create a version the approximates what you want, but more often than not does so in a less-than-stellar manner.
— Robert Cameron
Re: Which superscript feature to use?
Thanks. You confirm what I suspected. I'm just beginning to try to use the opentype features of certain fonts, and this turns out to be one of the most useful in my case.
SYR