bigdrop
a macro for dropping caps ()
Watch the caps!
25pt1cmbx12This is the first example of the
\bigdrop
macro. This time the macro is used like this:
\bigdrop{25pt}{1}{cmbx12}{T}his is...
The first parameter
says that the dropped capital starts 25pt from the left margin.
The second parameter says that only one line is indenting, and the
third is there to choose the wished font cmbx12. The fourth is
just the character to be dropped. Note: this example can also be done
without this macro, with a small effort to get the 12pt character
10pt high.
0pt2cmsl10I'm happy to show another example of this
\bigdrop
macro. This time it is used like this:
\bigdrop{0pt}{2}{cmsl10}{I'}m happy...
The first parameter says
that the dropped capital starts at the left margin. The second parameter
says that two lines are indenting, the third is the wanted font for the
cap, and the fourth is just the text to be dropped. Note: this can be
more than one character.
And again!
0pt3cmr10TEXis a beautiful program, with a lot
of possibilities. Take this nice example of the \bigdrop
macro,
this time called with \bigdrop{0pt}{3}{cmr10}{\TeX}is a...
The first parameter says that the dropped capital starts at the left
margin. The second parameter says that three lines are indented, the
third is the chosen font, and the fourth is the text to be dropped.
Note: there are four lines indented instead of the requested three.
To explain why we take a look at the next example.
0pt3cmr10TEXis a beautiful program, even when the
macro is called with \bigdrop{0pt}{3}{cmr10}{TEX}is a...
We see something remarkable here: in both cases the number of indenting
lines is three, but in the previous example four lines are indented!
The reason for this is that in the first case the string \TeX
has non–zero depth, as opposed to the second case — and the first
two examples — where the string fits exactly in the reserved space.
The author could have chosen to fit the logo in the three–lines–space,
but in that case the font would have been smaller, and to the author's
opinion the best outcome is obtained by equal numbers of indenting lines
with equal font heights in any document.
So, when a non–zero depth is met, the macro automatically determines
whether an extra indenting line (or maybe more) is needed.
-20pt5cmsl10As a last example we make a very big
dropped cap. What? You did not know you could make such big
fonts? Of course you can, just use Rokicki's DVIPS with running
MakeTeXPK, then the fonts are generated automatically!
In this example the macro is called with
\bigdrop{-20pt}{5}{cmsl10}{A}s a last...
Note that the fonts automatically get bigger:
the height depends on the number of lines to be indented, the current
text font, the current baselineskip, and the chosen font. The
\bigdrop
macro computes the needed height of the font, so you
don't have to worry about that.