[Pmwiki-users] Re: Idea for extension of special list syntax

[Neil Herber]

At 2005-01-22  06:07 PM +0100, chr at home.se is rumored to have said:
>  Here's an example using the letters you mentioned:
>
>        * This is an item with lots of text.
>         bla dasf asf adsflad
>         Line starting with an L
>         In this line it starts with an I
>         This line starts with a T
>         On this line it starts with an O
>         Hmm.. what about a line with an H
>         bla dasf asf adsflad
>         Line starting with an L
>         In this line it starts with an I
>         This line starts with a T
>           On this line it starts with an O
>         Hmm.. what about a line with an H
>         bla dasf asf adsflad
>         Line starting with an L
>         In this line it starts with an I
>         This line starts with a T
>         On this line it starts with an O
>         Hmm.. what about a line with an H
>
>Hmm... I'm not sure I'm so young (I recentely passed 31), but I don't find


Oh, to be 31 again!

I am not sure how this renders on your email reader, but in Eudora, which I 
use, I have set the default font to proportional rather than fixed pitch.

In your example above there is an interesting optical illusion. In the 
first instance of :

>         In this line it starts with an I
>         This line starts with a T
>         On this line it starts with an O

the T looks very slightly indented relative to the I and the O looks to be 
in the same position as the T.

In the second instance, the O is definitely indented, but it somehow makes 
the T look indented too. I think it is because the optical edge of the 
letters appears to form a diagonal line, and the brain (well, my brain) 
sees the T as indented.

This is a problem in traditional typesetting called (not surprisingly) 
"optical alignment". There is a short sample here:
http://www.wexfordpress.com/tex/sample.pdf
but it is concerned with alignment of the right edge with hanging punctuation.


Neil

Neil Herber
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