[tufte-latex] [OT?] Letterspacing for acronyms

[Oleg Lobachev]

Hello all,

I know that in theory the acronyms in uppercase (like PDF, FBI, etc)
should either get better inter-letter spacing or be typeset in
smallcaps.

I have tried the following code with T-L and I like the result of
\textsc{\uppercase{PDF}} most. Note, that I load the microtype
package.

So, 1) am I doing something wrong in using T-L, microtype or both? 2)
Am I doing everything right, but my aesthetics is spoiled by non-
letterspaced acronyms in everyday life?

%=== test.tex begins ===
\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{tufte-book}

\usepackage{microtype}

\newcommand{\statement}{Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer
adipiscing \allcaps{PDF}
elit. Ut purus elit\dots

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing \smallcaps{PDF}
elit. Ut purus elit\dots

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing
\textsc{\lowercase{PDF}}
elit. Ut purus elit\dots

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing {PDF}
elit. Ut purus elit\dots

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing \textsc{PDF}
elit. Ut purus elit\dots

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing
\textsc{\uppercase{PDF}}
elit. Ut purus elit\dots

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing \uppercase{PDF}
elit. Ut purus elit\dots}

\begin{document}

\statement

{\em
\statement
}

{\bf
\statement
}

\end{document}
%=== test.tex ends ===

Greetings,
Oleg

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[Dan T. Abell]

Dear Oleg,

Kevin may have some other comments, but here's my two cents.

By default, T-L loads the package letterspace, which I think of as
a stripped-down version of microtype. Your example should therefore
yield the same result if you don't load microtype. Hence, if you use
a vanilla T-L format, then you should not need microtype. On the
other hand, I do think microtype yields better results if you fully
justify your text.

You should obtain identical results from \textsc{\uppercase{PDF}}
and \textsc{PDF}.

My test complains of missing font shapes in the bold version, and
yields a bold lowercase `pdf'. I have to use the amsmath package
and \pmb to fake the results.

Re "non-letterspaced acronyms in everyday life", you may always
consult Bringhurst.

Cheers,
-Dan

--
Dan T. Abell :: dabell at txcorp dot com :: 303.444.2452
Tech-X Corp., 5621 Arapahoe Ave, Ste A, Boulder CO 80303
http://www.txcorp.com :: 303.748.6894/c 303.448.7756/fx

[Kevin Godby]

Hello, Oleg.

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 6:21 AM, Oleg Lobachev <oleg.l...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I know that in theory the acronyms in uppercase (like PDF, FBI, etc)
> should either get better inter-letter spacing or be typeset in
> smallcaps.
>
> I have tried the following code with T-L and I like the result of
> \textsc{\uppercase{PDF}} most. Note, that I load the microtype
> package.
>
> So, 1) am I doing something wrong in using T-L, microtype or both? 2)
> Am I doing everything right, but my aesthetics is spoiled by non-
> letterspaced acronyms in everyday life?

In addition to what Dan has already mentioned, here are a few more
notes for you.

The tufte-book class doesn't support the 11pt option. The only font
sizes I've defined are based on the 10pt option. So specifying 11pt
won't have any appreciable effect.

The \textsc command is redefined in the tufte-book class to add a bit
of extra spacing automatically. It uses the same spacing as the
\smallcaps command. Since you prefer that spacing, you could set the
\allcaps command to use it as well. in the preamble of your document,
add these line:

\let\allcapsspacing\smallcapsspacing% use same spacing for
\smallcaps and \allcaps
\renewcommand{\allcaps}[1]{\allcapsspacing{\MakeTextUppercase{#1}}}%
Fix a bug in the T-L classes

(The second line fixes a bug in the T-L classes that I just noticed.
The spacing for the \allcaps command was hard-coded, but it should use
the \allcapsspacing instead. I'll fix this for the next release.)

Then \textsc, \smallcaps, and \allcaps will use the same
letter-spacing parameters.

The \textsc command will override any other formatting commands so
that the text will appear *only* in small caps. If you want the text
to inherit the bold, italics, etc. formatting, use the \scshape
command instead:

{\bfseries This text is bold {\scshape and small-caps}.}

Note that the \scshape command is *inside* the braces. The command
will stay in affect for the duration of the group it's in. This will
only work if the font has bold small-caps characters, though.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

--Kevin

[Oleg Lobachev]

Hello Kevin,
hello Dan.

Thank you for your valuable replies! And-- sorry for my reply being so
late.

Regarding Bringhurst: I have some hardships in obtaining a copy, but
I'll search for it.

On Apr 24, 12:44 pm, Kevin Godby <god...@gmail.com> wrote:

> The tufte-book class doesn't support the 11pt option.  The only font
> sizes I've defined are based on the 10pt option.  So specifying 11pt
> won't have any appreciable effect.

Ok, that's important for me. I will surely adapt it.

Is there a way to scale T-L document nicely, besides defaulting to a
smaller format (A5, B5?) and scaling by printing on A4?

I think, I need to elaborate a bit on my printing habits. Setting the
font size setting for final version of the document aside, I tend to
crop the margins off the PDF file, print it in two-on-one page A4 with
upscaling to fill the whole page without loosing some of the text, and
then to proofread the text. 11 pt size bases on this habbit: it looks
fine when scaled and it still readable in two page format, should I
forget the scaling. I'll try that with 10pt T-L, but I have doubts it
will be as nice as 11pt for proofreading.

> The \textsc command is redefined in the tufte-book class to add a bit
> of extra spacing automatically.  It uses the same spacing as the
> \smallcaps command.  Since you prefer that spacing, you could set the
> \allcaps command to use it as well.  

[snip]

> Then \textsc, \smallcaps, and \allcaps will use the same
> letter-spacing parameters.

Ok, I'm updating the SVN working copy. Thank you for the hack!

> The \textsc command will override any other formatting commands so
> that the text will appear *only* in small caps.  If you want the text
> to inherit the bold, italics, etc. formatting, use the \scshape
> command instead:
>
>   {\bfseries This text is bold {\scshape and small-caps}.}
>
> Note that the \scshape command is *inside* the braces.  The command
> will stay in affect for the duration of the group it's in.  This will
> only work if the font has bold small-caps characters, though.

Ack.

Thank you again for the help! Have a nice day!

--
Greetings Oleg