Font Typesetting Function 17: “Lining Numbers and Old Style Numbers (lnum/onum)”

Lining numbers with arranged height are used in the most Japanese fonts. In contrast, numbers that can have unevenness on the top and bottom at typesetting are old-style numbers. Old-style numbers are also called “text figures” or “lowercase figures.” As they match with lowercase letters of alphabet, they are often used in Latin typesetting texts.

In the previous article, I talked about proportional figures (pnum) and tabular figures (tnum). Additionally providing differentiation between lining numbers (lnum) and old style numbers (onum) enables a total of four combination types (2 x 2).

In most cases, the default numbers in Japanese fonts are tabular lining numbers. However, the default numbers are proportional lining numbers in TP Iris, as used in the figure; proportional old style numbers are prepared as an option.

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