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Kaufman565

: How to handle drop caps when the first word is just one letter? Suppose you have a document or similar where each section starts with a drop cap. What's the standard typographical way to do

@Kaufman565

Posted in: #Typography

Suppose you have a document or similar where each section starts with a drop cap.

What's the standard typographical way to do these drop caps when the first word of the section is one letter long? E.g. "A" or "I".

If you do them exactly the same as normal, it'll look like the first and second words run into each other. For example, this post from Viz at first looks like it says "Anotice":
viz.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Letter_196.jpg
Adding a space before the second word would look misaligned with the second line.

The only other option I can think of is, increase the indent so all the indented lines are one space's width more indented than they'd normally be. Is this a standard practice?

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@Caterina889

This is why it is traditional to set the balance of the word or phrase in small caps.

Agree w/ Kjelle that more space would help this.

Another option here is to use some sort of decorative border behind / around the drop caps — design two, one for use when the text continues, another for use w/ a one letter word.

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@Correia448

I would suggest looking at the relation between the space below and to the right of the drop cap - whether the drop cap is a word in itself or not.

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