fractions to look right

[hendy_5450]

any way to get all these fractions to look right without using glyphs?

[hendy_5450]

I don't have third options in the glyphs.

[BobLevine]

As Randy says, use a Pro Opentype font that contains fractions. Once you follow those instructions, if you're going to make heavy use of this, a character style will make things easier to apply.

If you have to use the current font and it doesn't have fractions you can look into this: Proper Fraction: How to Make Fractions Automatically in InDesign & InCopy

It's an older script so I can't vouch for how well it will work in a new version of InDesign.

[Randy Hagan]

If you're using OpenType fonts, you can use its specialized functions to make typographically correct fractions, like I'll show in the exercise below.

First, choose an OpenType font. For the illustration below I used the default Minion Pro font installed with InDesign.

Then, type out your desired fractional value. In my illustration below, I typed the fraction value 37/64. Highlight the type.

Now, go to your Control Panel above your document window. At the far right is a button with three horizontal lines. That's generally known as the Hamburger Menu, or specifically for InDesign the Flyaway Menu. Click on it, and select the OpenType>Fractions sub-menu command, as shown at right.

Once you apply the OpenType>Fractions command, using an OpenType font, you can make any fraction you want look like the example shown below:

If you're really picky, you can apply custom kerning on both sides of the fractional slash and  between the 3 and 7 to make this precisely, typographically, excellent. But for text purposes, it's probably fine as it is.

Hope this helps,

Randy

[hendy_5450]

thank you,

doing this gives a different look though than using the glyphs.

Note that the 2/3 is what I used open type for and the 1/2 is done with a glyph

[BobLevine]

Best to use one method or the other. I'd be shocked at this point if you weren't using an OpenType font but that doesn't mean it has fractions as a feature. That would typically only be in a pro version of the font.

[hendy_5450]

how do I know if i'm using an opentype font?

[Barb Binder]

how do I know if i'm using an opentype font?

• Type > Find/Replace Font
• Select the font name being used for the fractions in the list at the top
• Click the More Info button (once clicked, it shows Less Info) to see the font information

~Barb

[Barb Binder]

how do I know if i'm using an opentype font?