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For Your Typographic
Information
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Small caps are available for a select number of typefaces and allow you to bring distinction and sophistication to your work.
When designed for a text face, these shortened capital letterforms usually match the height of the shortest lowercase characters (commonly referred to as the x-height). However, small caps created for display designs vary considerably in height and are often taller than the x-height. Some display typefaces are all-cap designs (no lowercase at all) and have small caps in the lowercase positions.
Used frequently for setting title pages and page headings, small caps are often suitable for headlines, subheads and column headings. You'll also find small caps in lead-ins for opening paragraphs, often following an initial cap. Small caps are a great alternative to all caps for abbreviations such as states (MA and OR), times (A.M. and P.M.), educational degrees (BA and BS) and acronyms (PC, UNIX). Unlike all-cap settings, small caps stand out nicely without disturbing the balance and color of lowercase copy, and they require less space than all caps.
It's important to work with "true-drawn" small caps, which are available in actual small-cap fonts or as characters in their respective typeface families. True-drawn small caps are designed to blend with the weight, color and proportion of capital letters. In contrast, computer-generated versions or reduced caps are simply scaled-down caps, and they are usually too light and often too narrow. They lack essential design features such as adjustments to proportions, stroke weights, length of serifs and other details that contribute to the legibility and aesthetics of your work.
Small caps for display designs vary in size and
are often taller than the height of the lowercase
letterforms.