Subscript of a superscript?

[Guest]

Not even sure how to explain this properly...I have a string of text that's
in superscript, but I want some of it to be subscript to the superscript (if
that makes any sense at all). So basically, I have fullsize text, then a
superscript that's above and smaller, then I want some of that superscript to
be the same size, but slightly lower than the rest of the superscript.

Not sure if anyone can figure out what I'm talking about here, but if anyone
knows how to do this I'd appreciate it!

Thanks,
Jen

 

[Jay Freedman]

It makes sense mathematically, but it's a little tedious to do in Word.

The easiest way is probably to use the Equation Editor (Insert > Object >
Microsoft Equation Editor). There's a toolbar of "templates" for various
kinds of math layouts, and one of them is a superscript template -- a larger
box with a smaller box to the upper right. After you insert that, with the
cursor in the small box, insert the subscript template; you 'll get a
smaller box inside the small box.

Without the Equation Editor, you can do something similar with font
formatting. As an example, say you want the expression "x to the power of
a-sub-1 times b-sub-2". Type the x and then press Ctrl+Shift+= to turn on
superscript format. Type a1b2. Select the 1, go to Format > Font > Character
Position. Change the Position setting to "lowered by 2 pt". (Note: you don't
have to change the first box from "normal" to "lowered", just click the down
arrow next to the "by" box twice.) Click OK. Select the 2 and press F4 to
repeat the formatting.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Greg Maxey]

Jen,

Select the characters you want to lower and then Format>Font>Character
Spacing>Position>Lowered and fill in the by amount field.

 

[Guest]

Thanks to Greg and Jay for your responses.

I'd rather not go the equation route - I do use the equation editor
routinely, but in this case I want the formula to be part of the text.

Changing the character position seems to work OK. However, it also moves the
subsequent lines of text down. I tried compensating by moving the next line
of text up a bit, but it didn't work at all. Is there any way to avoid this?
Now it looks like my paragraph is broken up (it's subtle, but there's a small
extra gap between the lines).

Jen

 

[Beth Melton]

For the line spacing you might try going to Tools/Options and on the
Compatibility tab, select "Don't add extra space for raised/lowered
characters".

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Guest]

Beth - thanks so much! That worked like a charm. (Now, how on earth did
Microsoft think we would find that there? It seems like such a weird
location.)

Thanks again for all the help.

Jen

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Note, however, that an Equation Editor object can be formatted as In Line
With Text and placed in your running text.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Beth Melton]

Glad to hear that fixed it for you.

The Compatibility Options are for behaviors that changed between the
versions of Word and for some foreign language versions. For example the
Don't add extra space for raised/lowered characters" was the default
behavior for Word 2 and it was changed since then. Why, I don't know, but I
do know that some of them can still be useful for specific situations.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Co-author of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/