texopentype

Accessing OpenType font features in L^AT_EX

Mainstream typography websites discussing OpenType support in design and typesetting applications (1–2) seem to be largely unaware of the amazing work done by the creators of the X_ƎT_EX typesetting system and of its high-level interface to OpenType features (the fontspec package). To bridge this gap I put together a table with a list of font features currently supported in X_ƎT_EX, based on version 2.0 of fontspec. T_EX distributions such as X_ƎT_EX allow you to make the most of the advanced typographic features available with expert fonts via a simple user interface.

Activating font features with fontspec

Specific OpenType features can be activated globally, by declaring them in the document defaults:

\setmainfont[<font features>]{<font name>}

or locally in the text, only when needed:

\addfontfeature{<font features>}

Notes

• Further information about script-specific OpenType features controlling CJK shape, Character width and Vertical typesetting can be found in section 10 of the fontspec documentation.
• Additional OpenType features for which fontspec does not provide an interface can be manually accessed, as described in section Part 4, section 14 of the fontspec documentation.

See also

The Beauty of L^AT_EX
A comparison of typographic accuracy in L^AT_EX vs ordinary word processors.

Typesetting an academic CV in L^AT_EX
Templates to compile an academic curriculum vitae or resume using X_ƎT_EX and expert fonts.

L^AT_EX on Mac OS
A review of open source software, tools and fonts to use L^AT_EX and X_ƎT_EX on Mac OS.

Pure CSS T_EX logos
A simple hack to generate T_EX, L^AT_EX and X_ƎT_EX logos in plain CSS.