OpenType features
Its clear that the support of OpenType features may be different depending of the software of the version of it. Some features will be available in one software and not others. Please refer to your software manual for more information about the support. Note also that OpenType features may be oddly translated in your own language.
Porchez Typofonderie offer two kind of OpenType fonts:
—The families with the PTF suffix.
—The families with the STD suffix.
OpenType font features glossary
Small Caps design follow standard capitals but are in wider form in a size to match the lowercase.
Case forms These fonts contain special alternate letterforms and punctuation with a distinct design and spacing for use in all-capital text settings.
Ligatures Some ligatures are designed to correct awkward combinations of letters, such fi, ffi, fb, etc.
Special ligatures are provided simply for esthetic reasons, such st, ct, sp, Th.
Swashes forms appeared during the sixteenth century, notably in typefaces from Garamond, Granjon, etc. Generally, swashes are ornamented italic capitals, today it extends to any letterforms with an ornamental effect.
Stylistic sets or Stylistic Alternates were designed to offer various effects to words: any kind of alternates to give words a slightly more animated and informal appearance and to lend more visual interest to type composition. Ligatures are also added to such features depending of the siuation. Their names in software menues are still basic, Stylistic set 1, Stylistic 2, but this situation will change in the future. References to the Stylistic set are generally clearly explanded into the pdf specimen available on the typeface page.
Caps figures (or standard ficgures) These figures are designed in same alignment compatible with the uppercase characters of the typeface, they are preferred when setting certain text, such as an all-capital headline and generally don’t fit well in lowercase text setting. Caps figures can be designed in proportional and tabular versions.
Oldstyle figures (or OsF) These figures are designed with ascenders and descenders and have features and proportions compatible with the lowercase characters of the typeface. Oldstyle figures, also known as hanging figures, are typically used for text settings because they blend in well with the optical flow and rhythm of the lowercase alphabet. Oldstyle figures can be designed in proportional and tabular versions.
Semi Oldstyle figures These figures are designed with ascenders and descenders and have features and proportions compatible with the lowercase characters of the typeface. Semi Oldstyle figures are a sort of intermediate version between Oldstyles figures and caps figures, in some cases, they are the standard version in OpenType fonts.
Tabular Figures are especially useful when setting columns of numbers, such as in financial reports. Tabular figures can be Caps, OldStyle or Semi Oldstyle in their design.
Fractions include an expanded set of the most commonly used diagonal fractions beyond 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 and may include any additional fractions. Just key any figures and slash or fraction bar, then apply the feature.
Superscript/Subscript, Superior/Inferior figures Theses various kind of figures are used for footnote references, chemical compounds, and as mathematical exponents.
Ordinals/Superior Letters and figures These fonts contain superior letterforms that are used when creating ordinals, which specify position in a numbered series, and in certain English, French and Spanish abbreviations, such as Madame, compagnie, and segundo.
Ornaments Common ornaments include fleurons, vignettes, borders, bullets, brackets, arrows, and any contemporary graphic decorations. In several cases, we added a copy of this feature into the Stylistic set for a better support of ornaments in softwares who don’t support yet the Ornaments feature.
