Comments on: Versal letters on the web http://klepas.org/2008/05/27/versal-letters-on-the-web/ Proudly bending beziers since 2006 Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:33:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: KLEPAS.ORG » Biblia anno 1736 http://klepas.org/2008/05/27/versal-letters-on-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-41899 KLEPAS.ORG » Biblia anno 1736 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:35:36 +0000 http://klepas.org/?p=439#comment-41899 [...] sure whether by hand or by the press), which today is quite unusual. I noticed also that the the versals are quite exquisite, and vary throughout the book in complexity [...] […] sure whether by hand or by the press), which today is quite unusual. I noticed also that the the versals are quite exquis­ite, and vary through­out the book in com­plex­ity […]

]]> By: Matt http://klepas.org/2008/05/27/versal-letters-on-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-41898 Matt Thu, 05 Jun 2008 03:37:15 +0000 http://klepas.org/?p=439#comment-41898 Cool! I've seen CSS used to create a large cap first letter of an article/paragraph. Never even thought about adding a background image to create an older style look. And thanks for the heads up about the IE bugs. Cool! I’ve seen CSS used to create a large cap first letter of an article/paragraph. Never even thought about adding a back­ground image to create an older style look.

And thanks for the heads up about the IE bugs.

]]> By: Pascal http://klepas.org/2008/05/27/versal-letters-on-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-41897 Pascal Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:52:34 +0000 http://klepas.org/?p=439#comment-41897 @Piotr: Sorry mate—fixed! @Piotr: Sorry mate—fixed!

]]> By: Piotr http://klepas.org/2008/05/27/versal-letters-on-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-41896 Piotr Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:55:36 +0000 http://klepas.org/?p=439#comment-41896 Hi! Thanks for mentioning my site here. You have a bit outdated screenshot of my folio's dropcaps ;-) Plus: I'm not Italian, I'm Polish. Kind regards, Piotr Hi! Thanks for men­tion­ing my site here. You have a bit out­dated screen­shot of my folio’s drop­caps ;-)

Plus: I’m not Italian, I’m Polish.

Kind regards, Piotr

]]> By: dylunio http://klepas.org/2008/05/27/versal-letters-on-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-41895 dylunio Tue, 27 May 2008 20:45:01 +0000 http://klepas.org/?p=439#comment-41895 Those are some beautiful glyphs... though I'm trying to think how they would create the molds for them. Those are some beau­ti­ful glyphs… though I’m trying to think how they would create the molds for them.

]]> By: Alex http://klepas.org/2008/05/27/versal-letters-on-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-41894 Alex Tue, 27 May 2008 20:37:51 +0000 http://klepas.org/?p=439#comment-41894 For the purposes of information interchange, <acronym title="Extensible Markup Language">XML</acronym> formats beat binary file formats, such as PDF. This is what the web was created for. You'd be writing some very complicated binary parsers to even begin to emulate the flow of XML (or even something like JSON), for example Google-maps style mashups would be basically impossible. The lines are becoming slightly blurred with XML tagged PDF documents, but then you're still needing to fall back on XML. Also sometimes I like to <em>View</em> → <em>Page Style</em> → <em>No Style</em>. The control has to be with the user. For the pur­poses of infor­ma­tion inter­change, XML formats beat binary file formats, such as PDF. This is what the web was created for.

You’d be writing some very com­pli­cated binary parsers to even begin to emulate the flow of XML (or even some­thing like JSON), for example Google-​maps style mashups would be basi­cally impos­si­ble.

The lines are becom­ing slightly blurred with XML tagged PDF doc­u­ments, but then you’re still needing to fall back on XML.

Also some­times I like to View → Page Style → No Style. The control has to be with the user.

]]> By: johno http://klepas.org/2008/05/27/versal-letters-on-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-41893 johno Tue, 27 May 2008 18:38:26 +0000 http://klepas.org/?p=439#comment-41893 @Taco Buitenhuis: And why not just use paper? PDF is not a viable alternative to HTML. HTML is the language of the Web, and as such it does an exceptional job. PDF documents require a plugin. And then what about menus and JavaScript and animated content? (an entire web site, a blog, perhaps, as a a collection of <abbr>PDF</abbr>s?) HTML plus CSS plus JavaScript, plus scripting languages (e.g. PHP), plus the ability to deliver content from numerous kinds of databases, plus greater accessibility, plus reduced file sizes.... The above article is an excellent one because it demonstrates that good typography on the Web is possible/accessible. @Taco Buiten­huis: And why not just use paper? PDF is not a viable alter­na­tive to HTML. HTML is the lan­guage of the Web, and as such it does an excep­tional job. PDF doc­u­ments require a plugin. And then what about menus and JavaScript and ani­mated content? (an entire web site, a blog, perhaps, as a a col­lec­tion of PDFs?) HTML plus CSS plus JavaScript, plus script­ing lan­guages (e.g. PHP), plus the ability to deliver content from numer­ous kinds of data­bases, plus greater acces­si­bil­ity, plus reduced file sizes….

The above article is an excel­lent one because it demon­strates that good typog­ra­phy on the Web is possible/accessible.

]]> By: Pascal http://klepas.org/2008/05/27/versal-letters-on-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-41892 Pascal Tue, 27 May 2008 18:09:33 +0000 http://klepas.org/?p=439#comment-41892 It’s definitely true that PDF offers higher degrees of typographical control but I doubt a change from HTML to PDF would be viable today; there has just been too much invested into the HTML infrastructure and support. The new media creative types wouldn’t be particularly fond of such a more either as they loose all the Flash wankery (and think of all the glossy web apps!). It’s def­i­nitely true that PDF offers higher degrees of typo­graph­i­cal control but I doubt a change from HTML to PDF would be viable today; there has just been too much invested into the HTML infra­struc­ture and support. The new media cre­ative types wouldn’t be par­tic­u­larly fond of such a more either as they loose all the Flash wankery (and think of all the glossy web apps!).

]]> By: Taco Buitenhuis http://klepas.org/2008/05/27/versal-letters-on-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-41891 Taco Buitenhuis Tue, 27 May 2008 15:55:32 +0000 http://klepas.org/?p=439#comment-41891 More difficult to index: possibly, but Google doesn't seem to have any trouble with them. File size: PDF <em>should</em> be smaller for big documents and complex layouts. Don't forget to add the sizes of separate images when comparing to <acronym title="Hyper Text Markup Language">HTML</acronym>. Also, does it still matter? Bonus point for <abbr>PDF</abbr>: nice ligatures, especially when you use TeX. With XeTeX one gets to use nice fonts, too, but I still have to try that. More dif­fi­cult to index: pos­si­bly, but Google doesn’t seem to have any trouble with them.

File size: PDF should be smaller for big doc­u­ments and complex layouts. Don’t forget to add the sizes of sep­a­rate images when com­par­ing to HTML. Also, does it still matter?

Bonus point for PDF: nice lig­a­tures, espe­cially when you use TeX. With XeTeX one gets to use nice fonts, too, but I still have to try that.

]]> By: Pascal http://klepas.org/2008/05/27/versal-letters-on-the-web/comment-page-1/#comment-41890 Pascal Tue, 27 May 2008 11:02:51 +0000 http://klepas.org/?p=439#comment-41890 Call me out if I speak the bollocks here, but aren’t <acronym title="Portable Document Format">PDF</acronym>s more difficult to index, and of a larger file size? Call me out if I speak the bol­locks here, but aren’t PDFs more dif­fi­cult to index, and of a larger file size?

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