How to use superscript, subscript & footnotes in Datawrapper
Superscripts are characters set above the normal line of type (e.g. 2ⁿᵈ) and subscript are characters set below (e.g. Cᵥₑₓ). There are many reasons to use them in charts: Some organization's style guides demands that you use them for e.g. chemical and physical formulas or footnotes, or maybe you just find them pretty.
Here's an example of how subscript and superscript looks like in a Datawrapper chart:
How to display subscript and superscript
In Datawrapper, you can use subscripts and superscripts with Unicode characters that you can copy and paste into your data. To translate text into Unicode characters, use the Tiny Text Generator (external link) or copy the characters from the tables below.
The Tiny Text Generator. Here, the word "vex" is translated into superscript and subscript. To use them in Datawrapper, copy them and then paste them in your data.
Here's a list of Unicode characters that you can copy and paste directly into your data:
Numbers
It's most likely you'll want to use numbers when using subscript or superscript. Here are the Unicode subscript and superscript numbers for your to copy:
Number | Subscript | Superscript | Example |
---|---|---|---|
Zero | ₀ | ⁰ | Subscript₀ and superscript⁰. |
One | ₁ |
¹ | Subscript₁ and superscript¹. |
Two | ₂ | ² | Subscript₂ and superscript². |
Three | ₃ | ³ | Subscript₃ and superscript³. |
Four | ₄ | ⁴ | Subscript₄ and superscript⁴. |
Five | ₅ | ⁵ | Subscript₅ and superscript⁵. |
Six | ₆ | ⁶ | Subscript₆ and superscript⁶. |
Seven | ₇ | ⁷ | Subscript₇ and superscript⁷. |
Eight | ₈ | ⁸ | Subscript₈ and superscript⁸. |
Nine | ₉ | ⁹ | Subscript₉ and superscript⁹. |
Letters
Besides numbers, there are also Unicode superscript letters:
- lowercase alphabet but without a q: ᵃ ᵇ ᶜ ᵈ ᵉ ᶠ ᵍ ʰ ⁱ ʲ ᵏ ˡ ᵐ ⁿ ᵒ ᵖ ʳ ˢ ᵗ ᵘ ᵛ ʷ ˣ ʸ ᶻ
- uppercase alphabet but without C, F, Q, S, X, Y, and Z: ᴬ ᴮ ᴰ ᴱ ᴳ ᴴ ᴵ ᴶ ᴷ ᴸ ᴹ ᴺ ᴼ ᴾ ᴿ ᵀ ᵁ ⱽ ᵂ
- few letters from the Greek alphabet: ᵅ ᵝ ᵞ ᵟ ᵋ ᶿ ᶥ ᶲ ᵠ ᵡ
There are also Unicode subscript letters:
- few letters from the lowercase alphabet: ₐ ₑ ₕ ᵢ ₖ ₗ ₘ ₙ ₒ ₚ ᵣ ₛ ₜ ᵤ ᵥ ₓ
- few letters from the Greek alphabet: ᵦ ᵧ ᵨ ᵩ ᵪ
Trademark and copyright symbols
It's possible to use superscript letters to form the trademark symbol (like so: companyᵀᴹ), but trademark symbol has its own Unicode symbol that we recommend to use instead, to make sure it looks the same as it does everywhere: company™. Here are other Unicode symbols that you can copy to your chart:
Symbol | Unicode character | Example |
---|---|---|
Trademark symbol | ™ | Company™ |
Registered trademark symbol | ® | Company® |
Service mark symbol | ℠ | Gardener℠ |
Copyright symbol | © | © 2019 Anna Smith |
Footnotes
You might want to explain where certain data points come from or exceptions about them (e.g. "Measured between 2000-2011, not 1999-2010 like the rest of the data" or "Source: UN Data"). To do so, we recommend to place footnote symbols next to your labels and then explain them in the Notes section below the chart.
Here are some common footnote symbols:
- the most common one is the star, like so: label*
- after "using up" the star, many people use crosses for footnotes: label†, label‡
- it's also common to indicate footnotes with superscript characters: label¹, label², label³ (to do so, copy the Unicode numbers from the table above)
- ...or with letters: labelᵃ, labelᵇ, labelᶜ.