[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Karellen

Hi @Hitch

Which smallcaps font do you use that would match the default font in the Libra 2? Can you recommend one?

Generally, no. Not to be unhelpful, but 99% of the time, we're using the fonts that were requested/licensed by the publisher. (Given my druthers, I prefer, all things being equal, to stick with regular caps for portability, given what we all see, over and over. But the problem with that is, they fail badly, see below.)

Now...you realize most of our customers would have cows around that, just using caps, so ...assume stuff like Garamond SC in a G book and the like. There are regular caps fonts that you can use, too. (Latin modern, for example). I don't know a Libra 2 well enough to answer this; Jon probably does. I really hate to sound like I'm being cute or coy--I'm not.

If you avoid smallcaps, what do you use instead for the following examples?

It was 3 p.m. do you use p.m. / P.M. / P.M. (smallcaps)

We DO use small-caps, but I tend to assume that they fall back to caps. Using other methods has a poor failure option, like sizing and all that. One of the few advantages of using a small-cap font, however, is just that--you can code it to use the UC letters, and so then, when/if the font fails, you at least get uppercase in the default font. That to me is the best alternative.

And you can't really code a fallback for the fail, b/c at least in the Kindleverse, it doesn't "know" if it's displaying Garamond, Bookerly, Helvetica, etc. Right? So, your best bet is to code the small-caps font, upper-case, and then the fallback font and hope for the best. Although, as far as I know, nobody has died from seeing "12:00PM" typed out as "12:00pm." :-)

How about for inline situations like...

The headline read LAWYER SUED FOR MALPRACTICE, which was an understatement in itself... would you just italic the headline text or use another method?

I prefer to just go with bold or bold UC as in:

The headline read LAWYER SUED FOR MALPRACTICE, which was an understatement in itself... would you just italic the headline text or use another method?[/QUOTE]

It's hard to go wrong with that. While we typo nerds all love the elegant stuff--and let's fess up, we do--the point is to make it readable for the reader, right? To convey the text. I love me some drop caps. I love my boxed caps, when suitable. I love all sorts of gee-gaws and fleurons and stuff, in their right places and spots. But..no gee-gaw ever made me cry (okay, let me rephrase that. No geegaw or fleuron in a book I bought, ever made me laugh or cry. Books that my team will occasionally make as a draft, or fleurons that a customer has brought me, sure, they've brought me bawling to my knees!), nor made me laugh nor remember a book. The BOOK does that.

My job, as pitiful as it might be, is to do my best to enhance the reader's journey or understanding of that text. Not...not try to insert myself and interfere, if that makes sense, as to how I feel about it?

So, in summary--and I apologize for rambling here a bit and maybe even contradicting myself (taking some unusual meds here....), all things being equal, smallcaps u/c font, fallback to regular upper-case, is my suggestion. I don't think you can plan for all eventualities and I don't think that there's One SmallCap To Rule Them All, but I will ask the Minions when I next see them and revert. They know that end better than I do, these days.

Hitch