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J
Joe Hus
Known Participant
September 15, 2011
Question

How do I enter fractions say 8 1/2 where the 1/2 becomes smaller asyou would do in Word

  • September 15, 2011
  • 2 replies
  • 20096 views

How do  I enter fractions say  8 1/2  where the 1/2 becomes smaller as you would  do in Word.Currently I use size 12 for main number and size 10 for the fraction.

Any suggestions? I am using Framemaker 9.

thanks

Joe

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

Michael_Müller-Hillebrand
Michael_Müller-Hillebrand
Legend
September 15, 2011

Joe,

the three fractions ¼, ½, ¾ are available in all fonts as they are part of the traditional standard Windows character set. You enter them by holding Alt+0188, 0189, 0190. What font are you using? Many modern fonts have a number of additional fractions or specially designed digits for nominator and denominantor digits, like ⁶⁵⁴⁄₇₈₉ — no need to use superscript or subscript!

Word has an auto-replacement feature that replaces 1/2 with ½ – and oops, I have a tool running that does this for me in every application (Typinator for Mac OS).

- Michael

    J
    Joe HusAuthor
    Known Participant
    September 15, 2011

    Many thanks

    Michael,

    Nothing happens when I hold  alt 0188 etc in Framemaker.

     itried several times.

    I am using Roman New Times and need fractions like

     1/2 , 5/8, 3/8 , 1/8

    regards

    Joe

     

    Michael_Müller-Hillebrand
    Michael_Müller-Hillebrand
    Legend
    September 15, 2011

    Joe,

    You have to type the digits on the numbers block. It is the same method you would use to enter Alt+0151 to create an em-dash.

    I have not heard of Roman New Times, but Times New Roman as shipped with Windows 7 contains several ready-made fractions, see my screen shot of the charmap.exe tool (German version):

    - Michael

    Bob_Niland
    Community Expert
    Bob_NilandCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 15, 2011

    We do fractions as Variables. This works with any roman font. We do use the fraction slash (\xa4, auto-converted to §) from the Symbol set.

    Pre-requisite: make sure these Character Formats are defined:
    "Superscript" - as is except for

  • Superscript and
  • Pair Kern

    "Subscript" - as is except for

  • Subscript and
  • Pair Kern

    "Symbol" - as is except Font [Symbol] and

  • Pair Kern

    Typical Variables

    Name: fraction.500.one.half

    Definition: <Superscript>1<Default ¶ Font><Symbol>§<Default ¶ Font><Subscript>2<Default ¶ Font>

    Name: fraction.781.twenty_five.thirty_second

    Definition: <Superscript>25<Default ¶ Font><Symbol>§<Default ¶ Font><Subscript>32<Default ¶ Font>

    Doing it this way you aren't restricted to the pre-defined fractions in your fonts, or compelled to use a separate math/symbol font with a larger selection of fracs.

    You also avoid adjacent text being at risk of being rendered as super/sub. The frac is a single object, easily cut, copied and pasted without literal side effects.

    Including the decimal equivalent causes the pull-down menu list to self-sort.

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