Contents
- 1 What do the numbers mean in Oldstyle font?
- 2 When to use oldstyle figures in a column?
- 3 How are Oldstyle characters similar to lowercase characters?
- 4 How to make mhchem have lining numbers in text mode?
- 5 How to get lining figures in tables and math?
- 6 What kind of font do you use for oldstyle figures?
- 7 Why do they put serifs on oldstyle figures?
What do the numbers mean in Oldstyle font?
Numbers are a common element in text. They are used to indicate dates, times, addresses, measurements quantities, prices and other data. In typography, the symbols used to represent numbers are commonly referred to as figures or numerals. Oldstyle figures are one of two styles of numerals, the other being lining figures.
When to use oldstyle figures in a column?
Tabular oldstyle figures are best reserved for columns of numbers where vertical alignment is desired, such as tables, financial data, and similar listings.
When do you use numbers in a text?
Numbers are a common element in text. They are used to indicate dates, times, addresses, measurements quantities, prices and other data. In typography, the symbols used to represent numbers are commonly referred to as figures or numerals.
How are Oldstyle characters similar to lowercase characters?
Oldstyle figures are similar to lowercase characters in that they share the same x-height and have ascenders (the 6 and 8) and descenders (the 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9). In some typefaces, the design of some of the oldstyle figures varies from the lining figures.
How to make mhchem have lining numbers in text mode?
This could be done by defining \\libertine@figurealign to an empty definition (with pdfLaTeX) or to Proportional (with XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX) and call \\libertineOsF afterwards: If you now want that mhchem has lining numbers in text mode, too, you have to set its font option:
What should the font be for chemistry equations?
As noted by @cgnieder the default appearance of numbers for the main text should be set to proportional and osf (old style figures). The chemistry equations should get proportional lining figures.
How to get lining figures in tables and math?
The libertine package per default has the options lining and tabular activated. In normal text you usually want proportional and oldstyle, though. You don’t want to set them as package options, though, but only after newtxmath has been loaded to get lining figures in math.
What kind of font do you use for oldstyle figures?
Set in the ITC Legacy® Serif family. Oldstyle figures can be designed with two different spacing formats: proportional and tabular. [link to Proportional vs. Tabular Figures article] Proportional oldstyle figures are recommended for running text, including dates, times, measurements, and pagination.
When do you use tabular NUMS in CSS?
proportional-nums activating the set of figures where numbers are not all of the same size. It corresponds to the OpenType values pnum. tabular-nums activating the set of figures where numbers are all of the same size, allowing them to be easily aligned like in tables. It corresponds to the OpenType values tnum.
Why do they put serifs on oldstyle figures?
Some variations are purely aesthetic (such as a ball terminal added to a figure); others are functional as well (such as serifs added to a tabular sans serif ‘1’ to increase its width and create a look of more even spacing). Oldstyle figures blend in with lowercase, as they have the same x-height, and also have ascenders and descenders.