Sigil superscript line spacing

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

By the way, why is this thread in Sigil when it's talking about Kindle eBooks? It should be in Kindle Formats forum (IMHO).

It wasn't. It was discussing the coding, initially and then I asked if he was using it also for Kindles. Because Amazon has their own thing going on there.

That's not the same thing and I see no reason for it to move, really.

Hitch

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Yes, which is what I mentioned earlier. When it's rendered, the lines will be taller, period.

Just...either switch to bracketed entries, eg. [1], or just live with it. You really can't force a device to NOT leave enough room for the tallest or longest letter, in a font family, after all, now can you? :-)

Hitch

You can. ePub allows you to (sometimes) set a line height too small so lines overlap.

[JSWolf]

When a publisher uses a large first letter of the first paragraph at the start of a chapter and/or section break, it makes that line have more space between it and the next line. There is no code in the CSS or HTML that can fix it.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You can. ePub allows you to (sometimes) set a line height too small so lines overlap.

Jon, dearest,

Yes, but not at KDP. They simply do not wish to allow it and given the fungibility of the text/fonts, you can see why not.

Hitch

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But this is about the code for use on a Kindle. Not about how to use Sigil. If I was asking about this same issue using a different editor, I'd still put it in the Kindle Formats forum.

You're not the decider. There's always going to be some overlap between Sigil, EPUB and KindleBooks (where EPUBs are used as Kindlebook source code).

You get to report items you think should be moved (behind the scenes with the built-in report button). We'll either move it or we won't. Either way, your part of the process is then over. You don't get to post in the thread about why something's in the wrong place.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Jon, dearest,

Yes, but not at KDP. They simply do not wish to allow it and given the fungibility of the text/fonts, you can see why not.

Hitch

Then how come some publishers get away with the large first letter?

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Then how come some publishers get away with the large first letter?

Well, if they're like us, perhaps they figured out how to do a Dropcap, and make it work. I put in money, and sweat, coming up with coding (that would work on a Paperwhite, even with the dreaded "Publisher Font" issue).

OR, they're just using BFLs--big first letters, not drop caps--that don't really affect anything, because there isn't a line of text above it. [shrug}. That could easily be it. A BFL has a different effect, because it's from the baseline UP, not both directions in a 2em or 3em sizing (like a dropcap).

Dunno. I know that "Kindle Create" features a dropcap, but I haven't tried it and tested it to see what happens post-rendering.

Hitch

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Well, if they're like us, perhaps they figured out how to do a Dropcap, and make it work. I put in money, and sweat, coming up with coding (that would work on a Paperwhite, even with the dreaded "Publisher Font" issue).

OR, they're just using BFLs--big first letters, not drop caps--that don't really affect anything, because there isn't a line of text above it. [shrug}. That could easily be it. A BFL has a different effect, because it's from the baseline UP, not both directions in a 2em or 3em sizing (like a dropcap).

Dunno. I know that "Kindle Create" features a dropcap, but I haven't tried it and tested it to see what happens post-rendering.

Hitch

Yes, it is BFL. It effects the space below that line and the next line.

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by ebookscovers

maybe the best thing going forward is to avoid using superscripts and just write 21st as is??

Yes, for readability/accessibility—and avoiding all these line-height problems too!—that's exactly what I do.

So instead of:

<p>In the 21<sup>st</sup> century, this happened.</p>

use this:

<p>In the 21st century, this happened.</p>

- - -

Side Note: Word defaulting to "superscript ordinals" (st + nd + rd) is one of the worst settings there is.

It's one of the first things I disable + instantly correct whenever I see it inside documents.

- - -

Side Note #2: Like Hitch said, for footnote numbers, we recommend NOT using superscripted numbers:

<p>In the 21st century.<sup>99</sup></p>

but instead use bracketed numbers:

<p>In the 21st century.[99]</p>

For more info on that, see:

• 2022: "Footnotes: Best Practices?"
• 2022: "bridging endnotes in scanned document"

and even my old post from 2013 which explains why brackets in ebooks are better than superscript notes:

• 2013: "A link to jump back to the original start point?"

(The same logic still applies all these years later.)

- - -

Side Note #3: One of the only few places I can see <sup> needing to be used is languages that have a:

• superior letter
  
  • French 'e'
• ordinal indicator
  
  • Spanish/Portuguese 'ª' + 'º'

For more info on that, see my post here:

• 2021: "superscript code"

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Yes, it is BFL. It effects the space below that line and the next line.

Yes, but it's different than a Dropcap, which affects both the above and below lines.

Hitch