June 2026 - ntg-context - Mailing Lists

Starthanging alignment on grid
by Aryeh Zapinsky 06 Jul '26

06 Jul '26

Hi, I've been trying to use the \starthanging to place a metapost drawn graphic at the start of a paragraph. Unfortunately, the graphic does not appear to be aligned with the grid. I know I can mess with the placement manually by doing something like: \setuphanging[location=left, n=2,topoffset=1*em,distance=.2*em]. Is there a way to enforce alignment with the grid, so the letter that looks like an "n" is snapped to the gridlines? In the attached image, the first example uses \placeinitial which puts the letter on the gridline, whereas the second and third instances use \starthanging and the letter does not appear to be on the grid line. *Minimal example:* \definefontfeature[minimal][hebrew] \starttypescript [serif] [hebrew] \definefontsynonym [Serif] [file:/workspaces/context_lmtx/context_2/build_from_cmake_2/context_from_scratch/tex/texmf-fonts/firago/FiraGO-Regular.ttf][features=minimal] \definefontsynonym [SerifBold][file:/workspaces/context_lmtx/context_2/build_from_cmake_2/context_from_scratch/tex/texmf-fonts/firago/FiraGO-Regular.ttf][features=minimal] \stoptypescript \definetypeface [hebrew] [rm] [serif] [hebrew] \definetypeface [hebrew] [ss] [serif] [hebrew] \setupbodyfont[hebrew, 20pt] \setupalign[r2l] \setupdirections[bidi=global, method=unicode] \setupinitial[n=2] \definegridsnapping[tolerant] \setuplayout [grid=normal] \showgrid \showstruts \starttext \placeinitial חַי ה' וּבָרוּךְ צוּרִי בַּה' תִּתְהַלֵּל נַפְשִׁי כִּי ה' יָאִיר נֵרִי בְּהִלּוֹ נֵרוֹ עֲלֵי רֹאשִׁי בַּה' תִּתְהַלֵּל נַפְשִׁי כִּי ה' יָאִיר נֵרִי בְּהִלּוֹ נֵרוֹ עֲלֵי רֹאשִׁי חַי ה' וּבָרוּךְ צוּרִי בַּה' תִּתְהַלֵּל נַפְשִׁי כִּי ה' יָאִיר נֵרִי בְּהִלּוֹ נֵרוֹ עֲלֵי רֹאשִׁי \blank \def\hangingCharacter#1{% \setMPtext{hebrew_letter}{#1} \startuseMPgraphic{letter_w} picture q; q := outlinetext(\MPstring{hebrew_letter}) scaled 3; for i within q: j := j + 1; draw pathpart i withpen pencircle scaled 2; endfor; % draw bbox currentpicture withpen pencircle scaled 1pt; \stopuseMPgraphic \useMPgraphic{letter_w} } \setuphanging[location=left, n=2] \startparagraph[align=lohi] \starthanging{\hangingCharacter{חַ}} י ה' וּבָרוּךְ צוּרִי בַּה' תִּתְהַלֵּל נַפְשִׁי כִּי ה' יָאִיר נֵרִי בְּהִלּוֹ נֵרוֹ עֲלֵי רֹאשִׁי ה' וּבָרוּךְ צוּרִי בַּה' תִּתְהַלֵּל נַפְשִׁי כִּי ה' יָאִיר נֵרִי בְּהִלּוֹ נֵרוֹ עֲלֵי רֹאשִׁי \stophanging \stopparagraph \blank \starthanging{\hangingCharacter{חַ}} י ה' וּבָרוּךְ צוּרִי בַּה' תִּתְהַלֵּל נַפְשִׁי כִּי ה' יָאִיר נֵרִי בְּהִלּוֹ נֵרוֹ עֲלֵי רֹאשִׁי \stophanging \stoptext *Context Version:* ConTeXt ver: 2025.11.24 17:55 LMTX fmt: 2026.6.3 int: english/english Any help would be appreciated. -- Aryeh

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Problem with widows and orphans
by Tomáš Hála 30 Jun '26

30 Jun '26

Hi all, I tried the example from https://wiki.contextgarden.net/Text_blocks/Typography/Widows_and_orphans and both widows and orphans appeared. Is the settings complete, or should I add anything else? Thanks in advance, Tomáš % MWE: \startsetups[grid][mypenalties] \setdefaultpenalties \setpenalties\widowpenalties{2}{10000} \setpenalties\clubpenalties {2}{10000} \stopsetups \setuplayout[ grid=yes, setups=mypenalties, % height=20cc, % height=30cc, ] \starttext \dorecurse{10}{\input knuth} \stoptext %%%%%%

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ANSS-CE: Now in Serbian!
by Jim Diamond 28 Jun '26

28 Jun '26

Hi everyone, A huge shout-out to Ivan Pešić for his work translating ANSS-CE into Serbian. I have created a new release for this... you can get the Serbian version (as well as the English version with many relatively minor updates since the previous release) at https://codeberg.org/anss-ce/ANSS-CE/releases As always, anyone with the time and skill to translate ANSS-CE into another language is most welcome to do so, and we will be happy to host the translation at Codeberg. Jim

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Trimbox and crop marks on cover page
by Jeroen 27 Jun '26

27 Jun '26

I want to generate a press-ready PDF book with cover with the following but I dont seem to get the cover correct. - Trim size 320 × 240 mm - MediaBox enlarged using \setuppapersize[cover][oversized] - Crop marks (marking=color) - Artwork extending into the bleed outside the TrimBox - I am using LMTX v. 2026.04.27 on windows 11 Pro, 25H2 1. With the minimal example below, \startMPpage is clipped to Page so the bleed area in the enlarged MediaBox remains white 2. Is this the intended behaviour of \startMPpage? If so, what is recommended to create artwork that extends into the bleed while keeping the TrimBox and crop marks? \definepapersize[cover][width=320mm,height=240mm] \definepapersize[book][width=160mm,height=240mm] \setuppapersize[distance=38mm] \setuplayout[backspace=18mm, width=129mm, height=223mm, marking=color] \setuplayout[location=middle] \starttext \pagebreak \setuppapersize[cover][oversized] %\startoverlay{ \startMPpage StartPage; numeric w, h, m; w := bbwidth(Page); h := bbheight(Page); m := 19mm; path p; p := unitsquare xyscaled (w-2m,h-2m) shifted (m,m); fill p withcolor \MPcolor{yellow}; \stopMPpage %}\stopoverlay \pagebreak \setuppapersize[book][oversized] \dorecurse{5}{\input{tufte}} \stoptext

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interesting article on the state of “AI” based font design
by Henning Hraban Ramm 24 Jun '26

24 Jun '26

https://simoncozens.github.io/state-of-ai-font-generation/ (big differences between Latin and Chinese etc.)

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interlinespace
by juh+ntg-context＠mailbox.org 23 Jun '26

23 Jun '26

Dear all, This code results in a titlepage with a small problem. \startdarkcoverpagemakeup \blank[10*big] \externalfigure[\documentvariable{metadata:cover}][width=\makeupwidth] \blank[6*big] {\bfd \color[white]{\documentvariable{metadata:title}}} \blank[2*big] {\tfc \color[white]{\documentvariable{metadata:subtitle}}} \blank[4*big] {\tfa \color[white]{\documentvariable{metadata:author}, }} {\tfa \color[white]{\documentvariable{metadata:location}}} \blank[big] {\tfa \color[white]{\documentvariable{metadata:date}}} \stopdarkcoverpagemakeup When metadata:title gets hyphenated the interlinespace is not adjusted to the greater fontsize of \bfd oder \tfc. I guess my approach is wrong. How can I do better? juh

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Multiple Broken Examples in the WIP mvlcolumnsets manual
by Chen Wang 22 Jun '26

22 Jun '26

Dear Mailing List, I understand that the documentation for the new columnsets is very much a work-in-progress and I appreciate all the work the ConTeXt developers have graciously put in for free. However, the official mvlcolumnsets source code included in the install also does not work. You can try rendering it yourself at tex/texmf-context/doc/context/sources/general/manuals/mvlcolumnsets.tex Please note example 102 where the figures with a width spanning multiple columns are not rendered, and example 006 where two columnsetspans are not rendered. There are other inconsistencies too. I was under the impression that the new columnsets system is largely complete and that the main issue was a lack of documentation. Yet, the documents written by Hans himself do not appear to be rendering correctly. Perhaps there are bugs in the system, or maybe I have done something wrong. Please advise me on how to fix this if possible. I really enjoy using ConTeXt for typesetting and its column support is unparalleled in terms of automation. Any help is appreciated. Thank you. Yours sincerely, Wang Chen

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Understanding float and span placement in new columnsets
by Chen Wang 22 Jun '26

22 Jun '26

Dear List, Please find attached the tex file and generated output. The placement directives for columnsets does not seem to be followed by my understanding. There are two issues: one, the first columnsetspan is not placed at the expected location when using "here", "fixd", "btlr" or "btrl". Two, the second columnsetspan is not rendered at all when the method for the FIRST columnsetspan is set to "here" or "fixd". I am not sure if this is a known issue or new, but I am much in need of help as I cannot resolve this issue. Thank you. Yours sincerely, Wang Chen

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issue with a font with no features
by Pablo Rodriguez 21 Jun '26

21 Jun '26

Dear list, I have a couple of fonts (https://www.dafont.com/sv-basic-manual.font) which contain no GPOS/GSUB features. I mean, the following command gives nothing as a result: otfinfo -f ~/many-fonts/SVBManual.ttf But I get an error such as tex error > tex error on line 6 in file : lua error: …font-ctx.lmt:2483: attempt to index a nil value (field 'gpos') Well, the minimal function reads on my end (font-ctx.lmt): function constructors.currentfonthasfeature(n) local f = fontdata[currentfont()] if not f then return end f = f.shared if not f then return end f = f.rawdata if not f then return end f = f.resources if not f then return end f = f.features return f and (f.gpos[n] or f.gsub[n]) end I guess that lacking features is a problem with checking whether a font has a given feature. I need to compile the original document ASAP. Is there an easy fix to make these fonts work? Many thanks for your help, Pablo

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https://wiki.contextgarden.net/References_notes_and_floats/PDF_navigation
by Jim 21 Jun '26

21 Jun '26

Hi all, in https://wiki.contextgarden.net/References_notes_and_floats/PDF_navigation it says In the bookmark window, only chapter bookmarks are visible by default. If chapter and section bookmarks should be visible: \placebookmarks [chapter,section,subsection] [chapter] This will open the document with the bookmarks for chapters and sections visible (read as: and open up the chapter bookmarks). On my system, the above command causes only the chapter bookmarks to be open by default. I was about to edit the wiki, but it occurs to me that perhaps my PDF readers are non-compliant. Can anyone authoritatively confirm that the above example should read \placebookmarks [chapter,section,subsection] [chapter,section] ? I'll be happy to edit the wiki if indeed that part is in error. Jim

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