OpenType Guide · Character Panel
Small Caps
Small caps are capitals the size of lowercase letters, drawn with the same stroke weight as the rest of the font. They are made for acronyms, abbreviations and labels inside text, where full capitals would shout. Shrinking regular capitals gives thin, light letters instead.
See it in Capicú
Flip the switch to see what changes.
Where to find it
- Character panel
- Panel menu ☰
- Small Caps
Shortcut ⇧ ⌘ H Mac Shift Ctrl H Windows
InDesign uses the font's real small caps when it has them and fakes them when it does not. To turn capitals into small caps as well, use OpenType, All Small Caps.
- Window
- Type
- Character
- Small Caps
Open the Character panel ⌘ T Mac Ctrl T Windows
A button in the row along the bottom of the Character panel.
How to use it
- Type the word in lowercase.
- Select it and switch on Small Caps.
- For acronyms already typed in capitals, use All Small Caps.
Good to know
- A little extra letter spacing helps small caps read well.
- If they look too thin next to the text, the app is faking them: the font lacks real ones.