8G

THE NON-DESIGNER'S TYPE BOOK

Creating small caps
on your computer

Most programs have a command in the Format or Font menu to change
selected lowercase letters to small caps. If not, type the text in all caps and
then reduce the selected letters to about 70 percent of the point size of the
rest of the type (this is what the computer shortcut does).

These two methods are okay if you are going to use small caps just once in
a while on fairly low-level jobs. But if you are producing fine typography,
you really need to invest in a typeface that has specially designed small
caps. When you simply reduce the point size of the type (the same thing
the computer does when you use a menu command), all the proportions
are reduced and the thickness of the strokes of the smaller letters no longer
matches the thickness of the regular caps in the same sentence.

There Is No Rest For The Wicked.

The weight of the computer-drawn small caps

is thinner than the weight of the regular initial (first letter) caps.

Typeface is Eurostile Condensed.

If you need to use a face that does not have a matching set for small caps,
try using the semibold face (if there is one) for the small caps, since when
you reduce their size their Une thickness will shrink. Or you can try chang¬
ing the default size of the small caps—if your application sets small caps at
70 percent, try changing that to 82 percent to match the stroke thickness
better. Unfortunately, in QuarkXPress the small cap size applies to your
entire document—to every font, every size, every style, every weight. This
is very poor typographic handling. In PageMaker you can change the small
cap size per character, and you can add it to your style sheets.

9 : SMALL CAPS

True-drawn small caps

There are quite a few font families that include "true-drawn" small caps.
True-drawn small caps are letterforms that have been totally redesigned as
small caps specifically to match the proportions and thicknesses of the
matching uppercase. These families are often called "expert" sets or perhaps
"small cap" sets (see Chapter 8). The result creates an undisturbing, smooth,
uniform, tone throughout the text.

There Is No Rest
For The Wicked.

The Wicked Are Very Weary.

True-drawn small caps are specially drawn
to match the weight of the capital letters in the same face.

Typefaces are Caslon Semihold, Caslon Expert Semibold,
Caslon Regular, Caslon Expert Regular.