Move Drop Cap 1/2 way outside the text box

[bnix]

How do u move a drop cap so it is positioned 1/2 outside the text frame to the left. This is a text frame with many paragraphs.

I tried type>story>optical margin. Do u have to have insets for this feature to work correctly?

Thanks

[Dave Saunders]

Easiest way (if you plan ahead) is to make the text frame wider and use paragraph margins in your styles to clear the space for the drop cap.

From where you are now, you might be able to achieve your goal by:

1. Change the drop cap style to two-characters (or, one more than it is already).

2. Insert a hairspace as the first character.

3. Select both and apply negative tracking (use tracking because it can be captured in a style; kerning can't) to them so that the second character ends up where you want it.

4. Capture the result in a character style and then use it to do the same to all the other instances.

Be warned that i only THINK this will work, I've not actually tried it.

Dave

[Jerry Mayeroff]

Without using the heairspace trick ...
After making your drop cap to the desired size, widen your text frame, as suggested. Then, using the left indent control on the paragraph palette, indent all the text to allow space for the half-drop-cap to the left ... then use the "first line left indent" control on the paragraph pallette and set a negative value to move the drop cap where you need it.

Jerry

[Gene Trujillo]

Dave, your resourcefulness continually amazes me.

[Dave Saunders]

It's a very narrow space (12th of an em, I think; perhaps narrower). It's accessed via Type/Insert Whitespace or you can use Alt-Shift-I.

Dave

[bnix]

what is a hairspace?

[Dave Saunders]

Ah, that's right, it's a four-fingered jobbie!

Dave

[Jerry Mayeroff]

Dave --

I tried your solution to create the effect without indents, as I suggested. It worked, but I had to put another white space (in this case a figure space) following the drop cap, and adjust the drop characters to 3, in order to have the text wrap around the drop properly. Is this necessary, or did I do something wrong otherwise?

Jerry

[Gene Trujillo]

Alt-Shift-Ctrl-I

[Dave Saunders]

bnix,

You can't capture Indent to Here in a style.

But you can adjust the left margin of the paragraph and give the first line a negative indent and then capture that in a paragraph style.

That was my first method outlined in my initial reply.

Dave

[bnix]

thanks, i like variety in my DTP documents...

[bnix]

got it to work with jerry's method. Can u save jerry's method as a style?

[Dave Saunders]

Jerry,

Aha, I've just tried it too and you're right.

The problem is that when you apply tracking to a range of text, it also applies to the insertion point immediately after that range, so that is dragging the text that should wrap back over the drop cap.

So, you could get around this by using kerning, except that you then couldn't capture the result in a style or by doing as you did.

Dave

[bnix]

In Olav book he has another method. Create 2 drop caps. to the left the first drop cap put an en space. Between the en space and drop cap apply negative kerning--may have to be high values. This will force the drop cap pass the text frame.

[Dominic Hurley]

How is this different from what Dave originally suggested in post 1?

[Dave Saunders]

With an en space you have more fun applying negative kerning?

Dave

[Dominic Hurley]

Ah! Of course ... So an em space would be even better?

[bnix]

if dave already brought the en space up i apologize to dave....i missed it...

[Dave Saunders]

bnix,

No, I suggested a hair space. Hence the kerning jokes. Basically, you could use any fixed space and kern back over it. The bigger the space, the more kerning you have to do.

Dave