Exploring the new OpenType features in Office 2010

This post comes from John Berry, program manager in the Typography group, and Bill Davis, of Monotype Imaging.

Microsoft Word 2010 and Publisher 2010 include new text features previously available in high-end professional publishing applications. Now you can produce documents with text that rivals the highest quality printed books and magazines, as well produce materials with more visual impact.

This article showcases the new features in Word 2010 so you can start formatting text with a professional touch.

Word and Publisher harness the power of OpenType, a font format jointly developed by Microsoft and Adobe that, among other things, unleashes professional typographic features in fonts that include them. OpenType features can give your documents an added level of subtle professionalism or an extra oomph of exuberance.

Office 2010 comes with a number of fonts that include these features. Among these are Calibri, Cambria, and Consolas, the default fonts introduced with Office 2007, and a new showcase font, Gabriola.

We've used these fonts, and a selection from a third-party offering, Ascender's 2010 Font Pack and one of Adobe's Pro fonts, to showcase the power of the OpenType features in Word and Publisher 2010.

Ligatures

Standard, contextual, and discretionary ligatures connect two or more characters together. Ligatures can help improve a typeface's readability or increase its aesthetic appeal. Shown below are examples of ligatures that are automatically replaced when this feature is selected (ffi is a standard ligature, while linked ct and st are optional historical ligatures).

Contextual alternates

The contextual alternates feature provides an automatic replacement of defined characters based on the context in which they appear. This feature can be used to create a random appearance, or other special effects. Shown below is the font "Rebus Script 2010", which was coded to automatically replace certain characters with pictures.

 Number spacing and number forms

OpenType fonts allow for number character customization as well. With these new OpenType fonts users have the ability to choose between a variety of number forms and spacing options. Number Spacing options include Tabular and Proportional. Number Forms options include Lining and Old Style. Depending upon the font, you can mix and match these options.

Tabular numbers are all the same width; the widths of proportional numbers may vary, especially the narrow number 1. Lining numbers are all the height of capital letters, or close to it; old-style numbers vary in height, like lowercase letters.

Stylistic sets

An OpenType font can contain up to 20 stylistic sets, giving you the ability to customize the appearance of a font. Since each Stylistic Set has a number, you may need to experiment with this feature to witness its power and flexibility. Shown below are the fonts Impact 2010 and Gabriola.

When to use OpenType features (and when not)

Some OpenType features are fancy and decorative; others are subtle refinements that would be used routinely by a professional typesetter but are often overlooked in word processing and desktop publishing.

In general, standard ligatures should be turned on, as their purpose is to aid legibility by avoiding awkward collisions. Contextual and discretionary ligatures would probably be used sparingly, applied only where you really want them to appear.

Similarly, contextual alternates and stylistic sets might be turned on or off for selected text depending on the font and, well, the context.

Number styles are a little trickier. Anywhere that numbers will appear stacked up in columns of figures, use tabular figures (usually lining tabular figures, although if the font has proportional tabular figures, you might use them for a more elegant effect). In running text, however, proportional old-style figures are usually appropriate; they blend in with the text better than lining figures, which stick up like a bunch of all-caps and grab attention. The choice of available number styles varies from font to font.

One last point: swash characters will be more effective if you use them only occasionally, usually at the beginning or end of a word.

How to apply OpenType features in Microsoft Word 2010

1. Select the text you want to format.
2. On the Home tab, click the Font Dialog Box Launcher (in the lower right corner).
3. Click on the Advanced tab to select the desired OpenType features.

Tip: "What if the OpenType features are grayed out?"

The OpenType Features section will be grayed out when text is selected with a font that does not have OpenType features, or for any older document version opened in Compatibility Mode.

How to apply OpenType features in Publisher 2010

1. Select the text you want to format.
2. On the Home tab or the Text Box Tools tab, click the Font Dialog Box Launcher (in the lower right corner).
3. In the "OpenType features" pane, choose the OpenType features you want.

-- John Berry and Bill Davis