[XeTeX] Lettrines in XeTeX

[Stephen Moye]

On Jul 1, 2006, at 12:08 PM, Jonathan Kew wrote:

> On 1 Jul 2006, at 3:30 pm, jeffdod at netzero.net wrote:
>
>> Hello All,
>>
>> I was wondering if anyone here has a method of doing lettrines
>> (dropped caps and numerals) in XeTeX? I tried LaTeX's lettrine
>> package, but it does not resize the letters, as it does in standard
>> LaTeX. I was just wondering if anyone had an alternate method that
>> would both enlarge the characters, drop them, and make the
>> surrounding text flow around the character(s).
> I just tried a trivial sample with the lettrine package, and it
> seemed to work fine:
>
> \lettrine{H}{ere} is an example....
>
> gives me a two-line dropped "H", and "ere" in small caps.
>
> Perhaps you have something in lettrine.cfg that affects it? On my
> machine, I have lettrine.sty version 1.6 [2004/05/22], and no custom
> settings in lettrine.cfg.
>
> JK
>
>
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Well, there is one problem if you want more than, say, a 2-line drop  
cap, and you are using Computer Modern, and possibly other fonts for  
all I know. Apparently there is a limit of just how far LaTeX will  
allow you to scale CM. So that if you try this:

%%--%%

\lettrine[lines=5]{L}{orem ipsum} dolor sit amet, consectetuer  
adipiscing elit. Morbi commodo, ipsum sed pharetra gravida, orci  
magna rhoncus neque, id pulvinar odio lorem non turpis. Nullam sit  
amet enim. Suspendisse id velit vitae ligula volutpat condimentum.  
Aliquam erat volutpat. Sed quis velit. Nulla facilisi. Nulla libero.  
Vivamus pharetra posuere sapien. Nam consectetuer. Sed aliquam, nunc  
eget euismod ullamcorper, lectus nunc ullamcorper orci, fermentum  
bibendum enim nibh eget ipsum. Donec porttitor ligula eu dolor.  
Maecenas vitae nulla consequat libero cursus venenatis. Nam magna  
enim, accumsan eu, blandit sed, blandit a, eros.

%%--%%

you will end up with a 2-line cap dropped in a 5-line indent. You  
need to include this in your document:

\usepackage{type1cm}

to overcome this limitation.

Note that this does not apply to fonts used via fontspec.

SGM