How to translate yinitial macro from TeX to LaTeX?

Question

There is this macro in TeX.

In Yannis Haralambous' TUG Conference presentation in 1990, https://www.tug.org/TUGboat/tb12-1/tb31hara.pdf, in Initials, in page 132, he wrote:

To typeset the initial D of Appendix B, I used the macro \yinitial{D} as follows (with zero_depth:=false)

\def\yinitial#1 
{\hangindent=2.54cm 
\hangafter=-4 
\hskip-3.24cm 
\lower-2.7mm 
\hbox{\yinit #1} 
\hskip1.5mm} 

How to translate this macro in a newcommand in LaTeX to write the beautiful initial D exactly as in Appendix B?

Of course, I already have font yinitas installed properly.

Answer 1

I would use lettrine but to answer the question as asked, the code should work more or less as is in latex, I made a couple of spacing adjustments.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{kantlipsum}

\font\yinit=yinit at 15pt

\def\yinitial#1{%
\hangindent=2.54cm 
\hangafter=-5 
\hskip-3.24cm 
\smash{\lower1.7cm \hbox{\yinit #1}}%
\hskip1.5mm
}

\begin{document}

\yinitial{D}\textsc{avid uses Yannis' code}. \kant[5]

\end{document}

Answer 2

I wanted to point there is now an opentype version of this font, making it easier to scale and zoom in the viewer. The following example uses fontspec and can be compiled with xelatex or lualatex:

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt, twoside]{article}

\usepackage[marginratio={4:6, 5:7}, textwidth=131mm, noheadfoot]{geometry}

\usepackage{fontspec}% font selecting commands%
\defaultfontfeatures{Numbers = {OldStyle, Proportional}, Ligatures = Rare, WordSpace = 1.1}%,2
\setmainfont{Minion Pro}%
\usepackage{polyglossia}
\setmainlanguage[variant = british]{english}%
\newfontface{\yinit}{Yinit}
\usepackage{parskip, nicefrac}

\usepackage[x11names]{xcolor}
\title{\color{Tomato2}\huge\bfseries\addfontfeatures{LetterSpace=1} TO MAKE AN AMBLONGUS PIE}
\author{\Large Edward Lear}
\date{}

\usepackage{lettrine}
\renewcommand{\DefaultLoversize}{0.1}
\setlength\DefaultFindent{0.1em}
\setlength\DefaultNindent{0.25em}
\renewcommand{\LettrineFontHook}{\color{Tan1}\yinit}

\begin{document}

\maketitle

\lettrine{T}{ake} 4 pounds (say 4 \nicefrac{1}{2} pounds) of fresh Amblongusses, and put them in a small pipkin.

\lettrine{C}{over} them with water and boil them for 8 hours incessantly, after which add 2 pints of new milk, and proceed to boil for 4 hours more.

\lettrine{W}{hen} you have ascertained that the Amblongusses are quite soft, take them out and place them in a wide pan, taking care to shake them well previously.

\lettrine{G}{rate} some nutmeg over the surface, and cover them carefully with powdered gingerbread, curry-powder, and a sufficient quantity of Cayenne pepper.

\lettrine{R}{emove} the pan into the next room, and place it on the floor. Bring it back again, and let it simmer for three-quarters of an hour. Shake the pan violently till all the Amblongusses have become a pale purple colour.

\lettrine{T}{hen}, having prepared a paste, insert the whole carefully, adding at the same time a small pigeon, 2 slices of beef, 4 cauliflowers, and any number of oysters.

\lettrine{W}{atch} patiently till the crust begins to rise, and add a pinch of salt from time to time.

\lettrine{S}{erve up} in a clean dish, and throw the whole out of the window as fast as possible.

\end{document}

Answer 3

Use lettrine and adjust the parameters, taking into account that yinit is a big font.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{lettrine}
\usepackage{kantlipsum}

\renewcommand{\LettrineFontHook}{\usefont{U}{yinit}{m}{n}}
\setcounter{DefaultLines}{4}
\renewcommand{\DefaultLoversize}{-0.75}

\begin{document}

\lettrine{I}{t was} a dark and stormy night. \kant[5]

\end{document}