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creating an ordinal superscript character style

Forum|Forum|10 months ago
May 20, 2025
5 replies
2308 views

I am unable to create a ordinal superscript character style in InDesign. In opening the create new character style there is no choice for a superscript in the panel. I’m using Bell MT true type font. Bringing in the superscripted ordinal from Word causes a paragraph style override as does using GREP in find/change. Any suggestions?

Correct answer BobLevine

The OT features won't/shouldn't work on a TT font.

See if you can find an OT version of the font.

Worth pointing out is that not every OTF font has an OTF file extension, many of them do indeed have a TTF extension since there are two "flavors" of OpenType. I'm sure you know this Dave, but many people don't.

Also, not every OpenType font has every OpenType feature available. Generally speaking I would be looking at the Pro version of any font if I needed some of the advanced features. Bell doesn't seem to be available via Adobe Fonts but there are plenty of choices out there.

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Rita32868529b3mpAuthor

Known Participant

I'm not sure how to mark the problem as solved. My problem is solved and I thank everyone for your responses.

Scott Falkner

Community Expert

Since it seems your font does not have an Opentype with superscripts option you’ll have to fake it. I find the best way is to type the superscript 1 (most fonts have a 1 and 2 in superscript) using the Glyphs panel, then a normal 1. Use horizontal and vertical scale plus baseline shift to make the 1 match the superscript 1 as best you can. It might be a good idea to bump the weight up by one value (normal to semibold, for example). Make that a character style.

In the example below I used 1, 2, and 3 since those were available. I gave the superscript style more vertical compression than horizontal compression (V: 52%, H: 60%). It’s a coin flip whether to go with Normal or Semibold.

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Rita32868529b3mpAuthor

Known Participant

I appreciate your explanation Scott. This is a little complicated for me. I decided not to superscript the ordinals.

Barb Binder

Community Expert

Hi @Rita32868529b3mp:

Your character style for superscript could also change the font to one that does offer ordinal superscripts. The trick is to use a font that looks a lot like Bell MT so that it doesn't draw attention. And yes, you can ignore the override, but it's not a best practice.

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training

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Rita32868529b3mpAuthor

Known Participant

Thank you for your opinion Barb.

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

Just to clarify--you are using a TrueType font and not OpenType--correct?

(OT fonts can either be based on TT fonts or older T1 fonts, but that doesn't mean a TT font is the same as OT.)

If this is correct, the OT feature won't work with a "plain" TT font.

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

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Rita32868529b3mpAuthor

Known Participant

Yes, I'm using a True Type font. Bell MT.

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

The OT features won't/shouldn't work on a TT font.

See if you can find an OT version of the font.

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

Robert at ID-Tasker

Legend

Can you post some screenshots from the CharStyle panel?

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Rita32868529b3mpAuthor

Known Participant

I don't know how to do that. Nothing happens when I right click on it.

Robert at ID-Tasker

Legend

I don't know how it works on Mac - but on Windows, you can press Shift+WinKey+S and draw an area - then switch to your browser where you're typing your message - and press Ctrl+V - Paste.

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