AP - subscript option inactive…

[wintermute]

There is no way to write H2O correctly... The substript option is inactive…
But at least co2 can be written correctly...

[Latens]

It depends on the font used, not all fonts have actual sub or superscript.
But there is a faking option in the paragraph panel options.

[KarinC]

I prefer to not use the super or subscript option because it makes the character too small. I highlight the character, reduce the font size to what looks readable then move it up or down depending. 

(I don't understand in your case why superscript is available but not subscript. That doesn't make sense)

[GarryP]

35 minutes ago, KarinC said:

I don't understand in your case why superscript is available but not subscript.

Each button in the Typography section of the Character Panel is only enabled if the font being used has provision for the functionality provided by that button and if the software has decided that it can provide that functionality properly.

[KarinC]

5 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Each button in the Typography section of the Character Panel is only enabled if the font being used has provision for the functionality provided by that button and if the software has decided that it can provide that functionality properly.

I know, but it seems odd that the font would provide a superscript but not a subscript.

[wintermute]

9 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Each button in the Typography section of the Character Panel is only enabled if the font being used has provision for the functionality provided by that button and if the software has decided that it can provide that functionality properly.

maybe - but it works in indesign. And it really doesn't matter to the user if it is the functions provided by the font or software (reducing and lowering glyph).  

[GarryP]

8 minutes ago, KarinC said:

it seems odd that the font would provide a superscript but not a subscript.

In my experience, not a lot of fonts are made for ‘proper’ typographical work and, as such, they are often missing some typographical features.

It’s down to the font designer to take care of these things and they often don’t, for whatever reason(s).

For instance, on my machine, both “Amaranth” and “Bitter”, to name two at (fairly) random don’t allow for typographical subscripts but do allow for superscripts.

[Latens]

Other software packages apply these fakes if it isn't found in the actual font.
The font designer is the one responsible for adding them and Serif is just playing by the rules to read only the things that are actually in the font.

[GarryP]

10 minutes ago, wintermute said:

maybe - but it works in indesign.

I can’t speak for InDesign, but the Serif developers seem to have decided that, in this case, any subscript functionality in the font being used cannot be used by the software. I have no idea what the reasoning behind this might be.

11 minutes ago, wintermute said:

And it really doesn't matter to the user if it is the functions provided by the font or software (reducing and lowering glyph).  

I agree, it doesn’t, and it’s the user who is in charge of whether that sort of thing is used via the correct controls.

As far as I know, pressing the button in the Typography panel tells the software: “When this button is pressed you can let the font handle this sort of thing when I have told to you to use this sort of thing, rather than you doing it yourself”.

For example, pressing the Subscript button tells the software to check with the font to see if the font can handle subscripts by itself without the software ‘inventing’ a subscript version of the character when we select subscript formatting.

That’s how I think of it, but I could be wrong.

[walt.farrell]

18 minutes ago, wintermute said:

maybe - but it works in indesign. And it really doesn't matter to the user if it is the functions provided by the font or software (reducing and lowering glyph).  

In the Affinity applications, the user has two choices for super-/subscript, enabling;ed by the Typography options when the font provides the necessary characters, or by Positioning and Transform (using "fake" characters) when the font doesn't provide the true characters. It is the user's responsibility to choose. Using a mix of true and fake characters would look odd, and so the Affinity applications do not mix them automatically.