Contextual Alternates are another fun OpenType feature enabled by default throughout Avalon. Below are the words “Contextual Alternates” written with the beautiful Ambiance BT with contextual alternates enabled:

The words 'Contextual Alternates' with contextual alternates enabled

Contextual alternates are enabled by default, so the markup I used for this is quite simple:

<TextFlow FontFamily="Ambiance BT" FontSize="30">
  Contextual Alternates
</TextFlow>

You can, of course, disable alternates. Here is a screenshot of the same words with contextual alternates disabled:

The words 'Contextual Alternates' with contextual alternates disabled

And the markup:

<TextFlow FontFamily="Ambiance BT" FontSize="30"
  Typography.ContextualAlternates="False">
  Contextual Alternates
</TextFlow>

If you compare the two images, the difference is most noticable in the capital letters at the beginning of each word. These alternates look really cool when you’re typing and the characters are swapped automatically. I’ll close this post with an animated screenshots of typing the word “Effect” with alternates enabled (especially the transition from “E” to “Ef”):

An animated sequence of the word 'Effect' being typed

6 Comments

  1. zxl
    April 3, 2005 Link to this

    What kind of tool do you use to create the animated screenshot? Thanks for your great post!

  2. zxl
    April 3, 2005 Link to this

    What kind of tool do you use to create the animated screenshot? Thanks for your great post!

  3. April 3, 2005 Link to this

    zxl: I’m manually taking screen captures, then using Photoshop / ImageReady to create the animated GIF.

    It’s not a recommended technique (I need to get my hands on some proper screen capture software).

  4. April 3, 2005 Link to this

    zxl: I’m manually taking screen captures, then using Photoshop / ImageReady to create the animated GIF.

    It’s not a recommended technique (I need to get my hands on some proper screen capture software).

  5. Hippie mac user
    April 13, 2005 Link to this

    Welcome to four years ago…

  6. Hippie mac user
    April 13, 2005 Link to this

    Welcome to four years ago…