Autoformatting fractions
Mark Richards
autoformatting of "1/2" to show on the page as a small fraction.
Where can I find this option in Office: Mac OS X?
Scott MacKenzie
ma...@markrichards.net (Mark Richards) wrote:
Mark, that feature tells Word to use the half character that is actually
built into standard Windows fonts. It is not a formatting feature it is
a substitution feature. It also works for 1/4 and 3/4 but as it simply
accesses the characters rather than creating the fractions by formatting
them it doesn't work for any other fractions.
Standard Mac fonts do not include fraction characters so there is no
option in Word for Mac.
You can however, create your own AutoCorrect entry that changes a plain
1/2 into a formatted half character. Try combining a superscript 1 with
a subscript 2 and use a fraction bar rather than a slash. You type a
fraction bar by Shift + Option + 1.
Or, you could buy a font full of fractions, or wait until everything
supports Unicode fonts properly.
Scott
Elliott Roper
Scott MacKenzie <scot...@optushome.com.au> wrote:
Or you could set up equation fields for your commonly used fractions
using autocorrect to do the substitution for you as above. I had not
given it much thought before seeing this post, but it seems to work
quite nicely. Set up the fraction field how you want it to look,
including the right amount of reduced font size and baseline shift,
select it and go through the autocorrect panels to set up a 'name' for
it. When you apply it, it seems to do the right thing for whatever size
and style is current.
Clive Huggan
ell...@yrl.co.uk wrote on 12/5/02 6:42 AM:
Scott and Elliott,
Thank you for your responses on this. I had been lamenting the disappearance
of easily formatted fractions since Word 5.1 and your guidelines gave me
just the info I needed.
I don't understand the process involved when Elliott says "you could set up
equation fields for your commonly used fractions", but I followed Scott's
suggestions and, after printing about 20 variations of font sizes and
superscript variations, arrived at formatting that is aesthetically pleasing
-- it looks as though it's an integral part of the font set.
In 12-point Times text, I found the best settings were:
All three characters in 7 point.
"1" raised 3 points.
Fraction bar raised 2 points.
"2" not raised.
In 11-point Times text, I found the best settings were:
"1" in 6 point and raised 3 points.
Fraction bar in 7 point and raised 1.5 points.
"2" in 6 point and not raised.
For anyone who isn't familiar with superscripting or with preparing a
formatted AutoCorrect entry, I have prepared blow-by-blow notes of the
complete procedure, as follows:
1. FORMATTING THE CHARACTERS
A. For 7-point components suitable for 12-point Times text
For 12 point Times, format all three characters in 7 point (ł1˛ is raised 3
points; fraction bar is raised 2 points; ł2˛ is not raised) as follows.
Type ł1˛ followed by Shift-Option-1 (which is a fraction bar) and ł2˛. Key
Shift-[left arrow] to select the ł2˛. Key Command-d, click the łfont˛ tab
and enter ł7˛ in the łfont size˛ field. Click łOK˛.
Left arrow to de-select the ł2˛. Shift-[left arrow] to select the fraction
bar. Key Command-d, click the łfont˛ tab and enter ł7˛ in the łfont size˛
field. Click the łCharacter spacing˛ tab and enter ł2 pt˛ (raised) against
łPosition˛. Click łOK˛.
Repeat for the ł1˛ character but raise it 3 points.
B. For 6-point components suitable for 11-point Times text
For 11 point Times, format ł1˛ in 6 point is raised 3 points; fraction bar
in 7 point is raised 1.5 points; ł2˛ in 6 point is not raised.
To format this:
Type ł1˛ followed by Shift-Option-1 (which is a fraction bar) and ł2˛. Key
Shift-[left arrow] to select the ł2˛. Key Command-d, click the łfont˛ tab
and enter ł6˛ in the łfont size˛ field. Click łOK˛.
Left arrow to de-select the ł2˛. Shift-[left arrow] to select the fraction
bar. Key Command-d, click the łfont˛ tab and enter ł7˛ in the łfont size˛
field. Click the łCharacter spacing˛ tab and enter ł2 pt˛ (raised) against
łPosition˛. Click łOK˛.
Repeat for the ł1˛ character but enter ł6˛ as the font size and raise 3
points.
2. SETTING UP THE AUTOCORRECT ENTRY
Select the three formatted characters (if you do not have łSmart cut and
paste˛ enabled (Edit menu -> Preferences -> Edit tab), you may also want to
select a 12 or 11 point space after them).
Go to the Tools menu -> AutoCorrect.
In the right-hand field, ł1/2˛ will be present. Click the łFormatted Text˛
button above the right-hand field.
Click in the left-hand (łReplace˛) field and type in the term you want
AutoCorrect to amend. I did not want to use ł1/2˛, because itąs likely that
I will want to type those characters in other contexts, such as two
alternative dates (March 1/2, for example). I therefore allocated the term
łhhalf˛ ‹ note the repeated łh˛.
Click the łAdd˛ button, then the łOK˛ button.
I opted to have only the one entry and to manually alter the ł1/2˛ to ł3/4˛
and so on, but if I were using fractions more often I would prepare more
examples.
Cheers,
Clive Huggan
Please post replies to the newsgroup.
Remove "nilspam" from my address for any direct communication.
Elliott Roper
Huggan <off...@nilspamstrategists.com.au> wrote:
>
> Scott and Elliott,
>
> Thank you for your responses on this. I had been lamenting the disappearance
> of easily formatted fractions since Word 5.1 and your guidelines gave me
> just the info I needed.
>
> I don't understand the process involved when Elliott says "you could set up
> equation fields for your commonly used fractions"...
Yes, I was terse. In more detail. To make a half:-
Create an empty field (type Command F9) then insert equation stuff till
it looks like { EQ \f(1,2) }
Note that if you omit the space between the Q and the \ it will
silently fail and not produce anything.
Make the "(1,2)" smaller point size, and save that as an autocorrect
Do the same for other fractions.
Hint shift-F9 opens up the contents of a field for editing and closes
it again afterwards.
Resist the temptation to throw your machine out the window as you look
for help on displaying and editing and updating fields.
(That's why I was terse the first time. The rubber feet on the bottom
of my Powerbook were clutching the desk in terror. The help in Word v.X
is so incredibly grrrhhh... I can't think of a word harsh enough)
If you set the approximate right size for the fraction inside the
field, it does the right thing when the fraction is typed in different
styles. It is easy to change the size of the fraction even when the
field is closed later on.
With a little more effort, you can embellish the same trick to place
the fraction elements even more precisely. There are raise and lower
expressions as part of the EQ field syntax.
I'm teaching myself TeX for documents with equations that require
halfway decent typesetting.
Word 5.1 was such a vast improvement on its successors, yet I need
something that works in OS X and keeps the people I talk to on the dark
side happy. Sigh!
Jim Gordon
This link may be of interest to you:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/CreateFraction.htm
Any reason why you don't want to use the Equation Editor?
-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP
All responses should be made to this newsgroup within the same thread.
Thanks.
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In article <c022eac1.02050...@posting.google.com>,
ma...@markrichards.net (Mark Richards) wrote: