While display styles allow room for imagination and elegance in shaping delicate serifs or refined letterforms full of sophisticated details, styles designed for footnotes and other small texts proceed in exactly the opposite way — pragmatically and rationally, with an understanding of the optical properties of small type.
The development of Tabac Micro followed the principles that guide microtypography — a methodology focused on achieving good readability in small text. This primarily includes an increased x-height, which optically enlarges the appearance of the typeset text, looser letterspacing, and significantly emphasized punctuation that remains visible even in tiny nonpareil sizes. To prevent the setting from becoming spatially inefficient due to increased spacing and wider gaps, the overall measure is compensated by slightly narrowing the width of all letterforms.
A distinctive feature of this typeface is its consistent use of ink traps. Thanks to this, the type in footnotes does not spread into an amorphous typographic mass; on the contrary, the setting remains sharp and clear. This characteristic morphology, which often invites use in display sizes, disappears completely when reduced and begins to serve its intended purpose. The open humanist construction, which allows sufficient light to enter the letterforms, is likewise directly suited to maintaining readability under demanding conditions.

This typeface completes the mosaic of the Tabac superfamily type system.