What is the slug height of the font?

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
February 13, 2023
5 replies
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In Adobe manual for Table, "By default, row height is determined by the slug height of the current font." I want to know what the slug heigt of the font means.

Type

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S

SEASONS283724216wp2Author

Inspiring

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/creating-tables.html

USING THE CREATE TABLE OPTION

Peter Kahrel

Community Expert

@SEASONS283724216wp2 -- Aobe's text -- " (The slug is based on the leading value. In this context, a slug is the approximate height of the highlighting in selected text.)" -- doesn't make much sense since 'slug' has meaning in InDesign's interface only when you set up a page (as in slug and bleeding). InDesign doesn't have 'slug' as a font metric. You'll have to make do with ascent, cap height, x-height.

Peter Spier

Community Expert

a slug is the approximate height of the highlighting in selected text

Seems like "approximate" is the operative word. If I set my default point size to 100 and the leading to anything, a new table’s cell height is 92.99 pts, which doesn’t seem to correspond to any combination of font metrics –point size, ascent+descent, capheight, etc—definately not leading:

Gotta love it...

Peter Kahrel

Community Expert

You live and learn. Here's a link to an article that says that a font's "em-height originally derives from the height of the metal slug on which each character was contained in traditional mechanical printing." http://benwhitmore.altervista.org/line-spacing-getting-right/

Interestingly, one of the options in anchored frame's Y-relative-to value is EMBOX. It's not exposed in the interface (unlike ascent, cap height, leading, and x-height). Looks as if it was once part of or intended to be part of the interface, but was abandoned was left in the scripting model.

Some expriments show that an anchored object's em-box height is the same as the font's type size. Its position is such that a character's cap heigh is centred in the box:

P.

Derek Cross

Community Expert

My description of font sizes was based on metal type. There might well be different calculations used in digital fonts but for ordinary mortals working with fonts, my description IMO be fine for those typesetting with InDesign.

Understanding this is particularly useful for calculating a base line grid. For example, a 14pt baseline grid (based on 12/14) I have a 7pt baseline grid so I can apply half a line space.

Derek Cross

Community Expert

The type size of a font is the measurement from the top of the heighest ascender to the bottom of the lowest defender plus a little space to stop the assenders and descenders touching in multi line text. So, for example 12pt is this total depth and 12 on 14pt leading would actually be 2pt leading. In some typeface designs the capital letters are the same height as the lower case assenders and in some designs the lower case assenders are higher than the capitals

Peter Spier

Community Expert

In metal type, the slug height would, I think, be the point size of the type. How the type desinger chooses to place the glyphs on the slug would be up to them.

Adobe being what it is, though, it wouldn't surprise me if they mean the assigned leading leading value.

Peter Kahrel

Community Expert

As far as I'm aware, fonts don't have a slug height. Cap height, x-height -- yes. But slug height?

Do you have a link to that manual?