Creating fractions vertically

[IRIS BK]

Hello!  I have the task of creating fractions that require the numbers to be directly above and below (not in the usual fraction separated by a forward slash) Like this:

   3   –   1   =

   5        3

With the line between them (not 3/5).  The Minus and Equals signs should also be centered but I figure I'll just use baseline shift.

I can't use Underline Options because it tends to underline the entire line and not just the single number (3 and 1 are on the same line).

I can't use the simple text underline (as I did here) because even though it will underline the number alone, it can not be baseline shifted to be equally between the numbers, if that makes sense.

I've tried other settings but can not simply set an underline for a single number with a lower baseline shift.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[Ashutosh_Mishra]

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. Please check out the link https://indesignsecrets.com/formatting-fractions.php to know about fractions formatting.

Hope it helps.

Regards,

Ashutosh

[IRIS BK]

Thanks AshutoshRox, but I think that's for the usual fraction layout, not aligned directly above and below with the horizontal line between them.  Unless I'm reading it wrong? 

[John Mensinger]

This is a quick-and-dirty example of just using typographical settings to wrangle the characters into a vertical arrangment. It's a (superscript) 3, and (subscript) 1 and 6, all at 47 pts, with a 33 pt em dash between them, all tracked at minus-147 em/1000, then each kerned-by-eye to minus-700-some em/1000. Of course all those numbers will vary according to your needs with respect to size.

[IRIS BK]

LOL!  I like that! 

I've been messing around since I posted and have come up with this (goofy) workaround.  Because these are math problems, I created 3 text lines.  The top fraction numbers are on the top line with a -7 baseline shift , the second line is the dividing line (an em dash), the third line is the bottom fraction numbers with a +4 baseline shift.

Here's a screenshot of what it looks like:

 

It seems to be working (I'm copy/pasting and changing the numbers). 

Thank you for your quick-and-dirty idea though!

[John Mensinger]

Your method can work, but I fear ultimately, using spaces that way will let you down. It would be better if you set (center-aligned) tabs for those 6 positions. You'd have better control and and assured consistency equation to equation.

[IRIS BK]

Right you are!  I'll get right on it.  Thank you!

[David Popham]

To create basic stacked fractions, you can:

1. Place a space between the numerator and denominator characters.
2. Create a paragraph style with the correct font attributes, and add space above and below to the style.
3. Create a "Numerator" character style with a baseline shift of about 7 pt and the Underline options set to something like Weight: 0.75 pt and Offset: 3 pt.
4. Create a "Denominator" character style with a baseline shift of about -9 pt.
5. Create a "DenominatorSpace" character style with Tracking set to about -780 pt.
6. Apply the character styles in this order: Numerator, Denominator, DenominatorSpace.
7. Adjust the settings in each of the character styles as needed to get the look you want.

All that being said, this just gives you a baseline to set fractions, and the results are not ideal. Different numbers may need manual tweaking to look proper, especially the denominator space due to different character widths.

I would hate to have to set more than a handful of fractions using this method. If your content has a lot of math, I would invest in a plug-in—Math+Magic, MathType or MathTools. Personally, I prefer MathTools because it allows you to keep live text rather than converting to EPS files as the other two do. However, it's kind of expensive and the learning curve is high.

And don't forget to use proper math characters for your operators so that they are read properly by screen readers in your output. Rather than using the hyphen character or a lowercase "x", use the minus sign and multiplication characters.

[IRIS BK]

I'll try your method, and excellent point about using the proper minus and multiplication characters!  Thank you!

[Barb Binder · Accepted solution]

Hi Brenda:

Vertical fractions are called nut fractions, and there is a font available on GitHub (https://github.com/TiroTypeworks/Nutso) called "nutso" that you can use for this situation. One of our ACPs, Nigel French, explains it here: https://www.lynda.com/Design-tutorials/Nut-stacked-fractions/653227/2823266-4.html. If you don't have a subcription to lynda/linkedin learning, a lot of local libraries have free memberships for their communities to use.

~Barb

[IRIS BK]

Hi BarbBinder,  I didn't know vertical fractions had a proper name!  I'll check out that font.  Thank you!