InDesign Small caps

[Paola_Potts@adobeforums.com]

When Using the small caps feature in InDesign 2 and Indesign CS, the initial letter appears much darker then the rest of the letters within the same word. How can I fix this problem so that all the letters appear to have of the same weight? Thank you.

[Gabriel_Ayala@adobeforums.com]

This happens with all your fonts? How does it look when you print your document?

[Dave_Saunders@adobeforums.com]

Are initial letters actually small caps or are they capital letters?

Are you using simulated small caps or designed ones?

Dave

[Gabriel_Ayala@adobeforums.com]

Hi Dave, I have a feeling these are simulated. That's why I asked if it happens with all the fonts.

[Dimitar_Zhekov@adobeforums.com]

Only Open Type fonts (OTF) like Minion Pro and Myriad Pro (who came with InDesign) have designed small caps. All of your older fonts will work with simulated small caps. You can check designed small caps in Glyphs pallette in InDesign...

[Dominic_Hurley@adobeforums.com]

Weird. Simulated small caps usually appear too thin and light. Are you sure you're not just used to simulated small caps and are getting the real ones here?

[Paola_Potts@adobeforums.com]

I had been using simulated small caps. For instance, the word "Anthony" when changed to small caps will have the letter “A” significantly darker then the rest of the letters and will print darker as well. Is this a common issue with fonts that do not have designed small caps? I definitely want the initial letter in the name to appear larger then the rest of the letters but not darker.

[Dominic_Hurley@adobeforums.com]

Hi Paola

So the "A" in "Anthony" is a full cap and the rest is in simulated small caps? And the "A" is darker than the rest? If so, the problem is not the "A" but the small caps. When you use simulated (aka "fake") small caps, you are not using letters designed to match the colour of the surrounding text (as is the case with "true" small caps) - you are using a straight scaled capital, so the strokes come out thinner and the letters look too thin and light. The only way around this is to choose a font that has real small caps or to darken up the fake small caps (though this is often less than satisfactory). What font are you using?

[Scott_Falkner@adobeforums.com]

It might be possible to add a thin stroke to the lowercase letters (capitalized small caps, but typed as lowecase) to match the weight of the tru cap. Another solution is to use the next higher weight for the lowecase letters. This is probably not going to work if there ane only two weights for the typeface (normal and bold). But you can get satisfactory results if there are several weights. You might also horizontally scale the LC letters to about 105%. That sometimes looks better.

Try this: Type a lowecase O and a capital O. Now resize and style to capital ) until it looks exactly like the lowercase O. That's what you want your small caps to look like.

[Gabriel_Ayala@adobeforums.com]

All of your older fonts will work with simulated small caps.




Really, what about fonts like Fairfield 2, Minion Expert, Adobe Caslon Expert, Centaur Expert and Ariadne Diotima. Those have Swash Cap variations. AFAIK, those are designed small caps and they should work properly.