A_B_C Posted February 24, 2024 Posted February 24, 2024 Please take a look at the attached files. The .zip archive contains a Publisher file and a test font. The test font contains six glyphs /A/B/C/A.sc/B.sc/C.sc/, all of which are just rectangles of the same width (but different heights). There is something strange with the computation of tracking. In the screenshot below, there are two text frames, one containing the text string /ABC/ with the OpenType Feature c2sc applied to the text (blue text), the other one containing the string /A.sc/B.sc/C.sc/ where the small caps glyphs were entered through the Glyph Panel without using the OpenType Feature (red text). Additionally, a tracking value of -50 per mille is applied to both frames. Now, one would expect that the glyphs should perfectly line up. It shouldn’t matter whether the uppercase letters are replaced by the small caps letters through an OpenType feature or whether the small caps letters are directly inserted by the user through the Glyph Panel. The text should look identical. Yet, the two text frames look different. So there seems to be something wrong with your text shaper when tracking is applied. The glyph positions are not computed consistently. Please take a look. Thank you. 🙂 Test files: Tracking-Issue.zip Quote
A_B_C Posted February 24, 2024 Author Posted February 24, 2024 Publisher 2.3.1, latest MAS version, macOS Sonoma 14.3.1 (23D60), MacBook Pro 16'', 2019, 2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7 Quote
Oufti Posted February 25, 2024 Posted February 25, 2024 Your example is made with capital letters (ABC, not abc), set in the typography panel option to "Caps in small caps". If you choose instead "Small caps", there is no problem of tracking. No idea if this is what is expected but please compare: Quote Affinity Suite 2.5 – Monterey 12.7.5 – MacBookPro 14" 2021 M1 Pro 16Go/1To I apologise for any approximations in my English. It is not my mother tongue.
A_B_C Posted February 26, 2024 Author Posted February 26, 2024 Of course, there is no issue in this case, because Publisher simply does not replace the uppercase glyphs by the small cap alternates when you enable Petites capitales (Small Caps). Both the uppercase glyphs and the small caps have the same metrics in my example font: The reported issue is specifically about tracking in the context of applied OpenType GSUB features. And this is where Publisher goes wrong. 🙂 Oufti 1 Quote
Alfred Posted February 26, 2024 Posted February 26, 2024 1 hour ago, A_B_C said: Petites capitales (Small Caps) Hmm, interesting! How does one distinguish between Petite Capitals (‘pcap’) and Small Capitals (‘smcp’) when using the French language interface in the Affinity apps? Quote Alfred Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.5.1 (iPad 7th gen)
Staff NathanC Posted February 26, 2024 Staff Posted February 26, 2024 Hi @A_B_C, I did run a comparison in InDesign just to confirm if there were oddities with the font, but amending the tracking kept the two perfectly aligned compared to publisher, i've now replicated and logged this with the developers. 👍 Quote
MikeTO Posted February 26, 2024 Posted February 26, 2024 2 hours ago, Alfred said: Hmm, interesting! How does one distinguish between Petite Capitals (‘pcap’) and Small Capitals (‘smcp’) when using the French language interface in the Affinity apps? The translation for Petite Caps is "Très petites capitales" which Affinity handles correctly. This is a rarely used font feature. Alfred and A_B_C 1 1 Quote Download a free PDF manual for Affinity Publisher 2.6 Download a quick reference chart for Affinity's Special Characters Affinity 2.6 for macOS Sequoia 15.5, MacBook Pro (M4 Pro) and iPad Air (M2)
Alfred Posted February 26, 2024 Posted February 26, 2024 1 minute ago, MikeTO said: The translation for Petite Caps is "Très petites capitales" which Affinity handles correctly. Ah, merci bien ! Quote Alfred Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.5.1 (iPad 7th gen)
A_B_C Posted February 26, 2024 Author Posted February 26, 2024 1 hour ago, NathanC said: Hi @A_B_C, I did run a comparison in InDesign just to confirm if there were oddities with the font, but amending the tracking kept the two perfectly aligned compared to publisher, i've now replicated and logged this with the developers. 👍 Many thanks! 😀 Quote
A_B_C Posted February 26, 2024 Author Posted February 26, 2024 1 hour ago, MikeTO said: The translation for Petite Caps is "Très petites capitales" which Affinity handles correctly. This is a rarely used font feature. Cool. Thanks for looking this up. 😀 Quote
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