scientific inferiors — TypeDrawers https://typedrawers.com/ Sat, 10 Oct 2026 23:12:44 +0000 en scientific inferiors — TypeDrawers Positioning of sups, subs, ordn and sinf https://typedrawers.com/discussion/5714/positioning-of-sups-subs-ordn-and-sinf Sat, 10 Oct 2026 17:14:50 +0000 Type Design Technique & Theory mauro sacchetto 5714@/discussions Here is yet another question I am raising after noticing inconsistencies in the settings of certain fonts.
It concerns the positioning of sups, subs, ordn, and sinf - sets of glyphs that, in reality, most fonts do not include.
Now, considering a single case — a font that contains all of them, namely EB Garamond — the situation is as follows (though, as I noted earlier, other fonts contradict this):
1) they all share the same size;
2) sups are positioned exactly at the height of numerators;
3) subs are positioned slightly lower than denominators;
4) ordn are positioned just slightly higher than numerators;
5)`sinf are positioned somewhat higher than denominators.
Setting aside the exact positioning, are these appropriate choices, and are there "objective" criteria involved? For instance, what is the reason for placing ordn slightly higher than numerators?
Thank you
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