[OS X TeX] latex and xelatex

[Kirk Lowery]

On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 12:00 PM, Peter Dyballa <Peter_Dyballa at web.de> wrote:
>
> Am 15.03.2010 um 13:57 schrieb Kirk Lowery:
>
>> I've run across this limitation with xe(la)tex before. Is there a
>> technical reason xelatex cannot be adapted to use it?
>
> XeTeX follows consequently the settings inside a font to position glyphs,
> pdfTeX can use PostScript operators to manipulate the shape of a font's
> glyphs.
>
>> Or is it a question of the developer(s)' priorities?
>
> Do they want to violate a font's design or respect it? That's the question.
> (I would like them to want, no question.) The easier part might be to
> perform protrusion, i.e., letting parts of the glyphs protrude into the left
> and right margins. This is likely to come since a year ago the OpenType
> format has received updates. One of them is the "opbd" table or feature (a
> companion of "rand?") which tells the text processor how far the glyph can
> hang outside of the text area to create an improved optical look of the
> margin.
>
>
> Look up some eMails by Adam Twardoch from February last year!

This was helpful. I understand things a bit better. Thanks!

Kirk