[OS X TeX] Unexpected quotation marks

[Michael Kubovy]

On Jun 9, 2007, at 10:10 AM, Robert Spence wrote:

> Dear Michael,
>
> On 09 Jun 2007, at 15:41 , Michael Kubovy wrote:
>
>> Deat TeXers,
>>
>> This file
>>
>> %%!TEX TS-program = xelatexmk
>> %%!TEX encoding = UTF-8 Unicode
>> \documentclass[11pt]{article}
>> \usepackage{xunicode}
>> \usepackage[cm-default]{fontspec}
>> \defaultfontfeatures{Mapping=tex-text}
>> \setmainfont{Palatino}
>>
>> \title{Article}
>> \author{Author}
>> \date{}
>>
>> \begin{document}
>> \maketitle
>>
>> should be ``quoted''
>>
>> \end{document}
>>
>> does not produce raised inverted commas at the beginning of the  
>> text and raised commas at the end. Instead it produces pairs of  
>> slanted apostrophes at both ends. Is this characteristic of  
>> Palatino, or am I missing something in the preamble?
>
> It's a characteristic of Palatino, as you can see by inputting LEFT  
> DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK and RIGHT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK directly via  
> the Character Palette:
>
> %%!TEX TS-program = xelatexmk
> %%!TEX encoding = UTF-8 Unicode
> \documentclass[11pt]{article}
> \usepackage{xunicode}
> \usepackage[cm-default]{fontspec}
> \defaultfontfeatures{Mapping=tex-text}
> \setmainfont{Palatino}
>
> \title{Article}
> \author{Author}
> \date{}
>
> \begin{document}
> \maketitle
>
> should be ``quoted''
> and
> should also be “quoted”
>
> \end{document}
>
> This produces the same results.  I think it's ugly, and it's one of  
> the main reasons I eventually decided not to use Palatino, although  
> there are many other things about it that are very nice.  But if  
> the people in charge of the grant application process want  
> typographic muck, then do what Dame Nellie Melba would have done  
> and "give 'em muck".
>
> Good luck,
> -- Rob Spence

Oh, I'm perfectly happy to give 'em muck. But I do like to produce  
the best-looking document I can (perhaps to compensate for weaknesses  
in the content).In any event, I discovered that NIH grants may be  
submitted in Georgia as well. Even though it looks somewhat archaic  
(it's darker, and the numerals are either the size of a lc letter,  
e.g., 1; or they rise to the height of an uc letter, e.g., 8, or they  
descend below the baseline, e.g., 9). Other than those weaknesses, I  
don't see the sorts of aesthetic flaws as I have just learned are a  
feature of Palatino.

Any views on the aesthetic pros and cons of the two typefaces?
_____________________________
Professor Michael Kubovy
University of Virginia
Department of Psychology
USPS:     P.O.Box 400400    Charlottesville, VA 22904-4400
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WWW:    http://www.people.virginia.edu/~mk9y/



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