[comp.text.desktop] Troff drop caps

bobm@uunet.UU.NET (Bob+Marks) (02/02/88)

"If you have to set very long copy, there are some typographical
devices which increase its readership ...
   ...
   2  If you start your copy with a drop-initial, you
   increase your readership by an average of 13 per cent."

					David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising.

Following the tip-off on the net some weeks ago, I dug out Ogilvy, and
read the above.  It certainly is the case that the news weekly magazines
and Scientific American and The Economist all use drop-initials. (The
Economist after its recent facelift has changed from Times Roman to Gaudy
and now uses drop-initials.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
.\" The following is a short troff macro for creating drop-initials.
.\"
.de In		\"DI macro -- indent revert, trap turned off.
'in
.wh \\n(v2u
..
.de DI		\"Drop Initial letter to the next line.
.\" Print a nothing to establish the top level with nl
.br
.tr ~
~
.\" Calculate the point size of the drop initial.
.\" (Equal to twice the vertical spacing between base lines + 3 points)
.\" (This works OK for us -- but since .v is device-dependent, you
.\"  may have to find the correct factor -- here .1 -- by trial-and-error.)
.nr pS 2*\\n(.v/10+3
.\" Calculate the base-line position of the drop initial.
.\" (Turn the temp indent off with a trap at this position,
.\"  two lines below top -- from the printed ~ at nl.)
.nr v2 \\n(nl+(2*\\n(.v)
.\" Save the point size of the existing type.
.nr fS \\n(.s
.\" Need at least two lines (or more for larger drop initials).
.ne 2
.\" Break to move down a line (further breaks for larger initials).
.br
\\s(\\n(pS\\$1\\s(fS
.\" Calculate the temporary indent around the drop initial.
.nr hS \\w'\\s(\\n(pS\\$1\\s(\\n(fS\\^'
.in +\\n(hSu
.sp -2
.\" Set a trap to turn off the temporary indent.
.wh \\n(v2u In
..
.\"
.DI P
ut this macro at the top of this file and ditroff it to your
favourite output laser printer to see what it does.  (Remember that drop
initials look best with at least two and preferably three lines of text
around them, so that the large letter stands out.)
Note that it uses .tr ~ to print nothing on the top line.
For larger -- three-line -- drop initials, change the calculations
of the registers pS and v2.
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