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Old 03-06-2020, 10:12 PM   #4
dwig
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Notjohn View Post
What's a "figure"? Indeed, what's an old-style number? Is this a numerical equivalent of the double-S in German or the thorn in Icelandic or the S with a tail in Polish? I can't picture a number of that sort. Well, there's roman numerals, but that's too easy.
"Old-style numbers" = "non-lining numbers" = "lower case numbers". There are several names and they sometimes use "figures" or "numerals" instead of "numbers".

When doing serious type setting for print, I prefer to use them for any numbers that appear in the run of the text, while still using the more common style of number when they appears as leading numbers for a list or in a string of text otherwise in all capitals.

The only good way to use old-style numerals is to use a font containing them. The glyphs are shaped differently from the usual shapes. Their height is more similar to that of the lower case letters and some of the numbers have descenders extending below the baseline. Only a few fonts look halfway decent with faked old-style numerals created by reducing the size of conventional numerals and none really look good. Just as with fake small caps, such fake characters will be lighter in appearance when compared to normal text.
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