[texhax] Font Size Question

[Axel E. Retif]

On  22 Jun, 2010, at 18:47, Reinhard Kotucha wrote:

>> [...]
> 
> Sorry for the late response.  But I woudn't redefine \tiny.  I simply
> wouldn't use it.

That would be a solution, of course; but I don't think there is anything wrong with that. The first example I gave was about redefining normalsize, which I had to do in a book ---you just can't go without using normalsize.


> [...]
> Problematic are subscripts and superscripts in math formulas.  They
> are obviously controlled by \DeclareMathSizes.

Ah! Good point ---if the OP needs to use math, but can't use anything below 7pt, that would be a problem. But the document you refer to wonderfully explains in a few lines what to do.

> [...]
> 
> I've seen in this tread that the .clo files were mentioned.  It's
> quite odd to point casual users to them.

The OP asked:

>> Can you tell me how you (or I) would know the defined font sizes for a given class, like your book class example?  Where do you look for such information, etc.

Well ---such information is in the bkXX.clo (for book class) and sizeXX.clo (for article, report and letter classes).

> [...]
> 
> Convincing a casual LaTeX user to modify a .clo file is almost as
> wrong as to convince him to buy "The TeXbook" in order to solve LaTeX
> problems.

I never advised modifying .clo files! I clearly said

>> You can redefine sizes in your preamble; v.gr.,
>> 
>> \renewcommand{\normalsize}{\fontsize{11.5pt}{14pt}\selectfont}



> [...]
> 
> BTW, the arguments of \DeclareMathSizes are numbers, but they aren't
> restricted to integers.

Yes, this is really good, as different font families might require different adjustments, though usually package writers take good care of that.

> Just for the record, I received the newest TUGboat release today and
> there is a related article "Mathematical typefaces in TeX documents"
> written by Amit Raj Dhawan (page 27).  It provides samples of a math
> formula typeset with various fonts.  There is also a comparison
> between "cmr5" and "cmr10 at 5pt".

Yes, I have seen those examples ---very good to have a grasp on the complexities of font design.

> Please apologise the advertising. :)
> 
>    http://tug.org/join.html

More than advertising, if one is able to, I think is a good advice. 


Best

Axel