[XeTeX] Charis SIL font problems in XeLaTeX

[Will Robertson]

On 07/11/2005, at 6pm, Bernd wrote:

> Just for clarity, I've been reading this thread and I was wondering  
> whether font sizes are alway defined by way of Latex and not by  
> fontspec. Is that correct? With fontspec you only "scale" according  
> to the Latex font size. I.e. Latex 10 and scale=1.2 makes it size 12?

If I understand you correctly, then yes, [scale=1.2] will be 20%  
larger than not specifying anything.

This feature exists because the "size" of a 12pt font isn't constant.  
If you have a font with thick stems and a large x-height (such as  
Palatino), you'll find that it looks a lot "larger" on the page than  
a more delicate font with long ascenders and descenders (such as  
Baskerville), even at the same font size.

[I sent a message to the list with a nice image demonstrating this a  
few hours ago, but it appears not to have gone through.]

If you are blending two different fonts that vary in this way  
(usually roman with sans-serif or monospaced), scaling them so they  
look the same "colour" (or blackness density, if you prefer) avoids  
one font from dominating the other on the page.

Will