w:position (Vertical Text Position)

Raises or lowers text in a run relative to the baseline, expressed in half-points.

Parent elements

w:rPr

Description

w:position shifts characters in a run vertically relative to the text baseline. A positive value raises the text (superscript-like effect); a negative value lowers it (subscript-like effect). Unlike w:vertAlign, this element does not reduce the font size — the characters remain at their declared size.

It is defined in ECMA-376 Part 1 §17.3.2.36.

Attributes

Attribute	Type	Possible Values	Description
`w:val`	`ST_SignedHpsMeasure`	Signed integer in half-points (e.g. `12` = 6 pt raised, `-8` = 4 pt lowered)	Vertical offset from the text baseline. Positive = up, negative = down.

Examples

<!-- Raised by 6 pt -->
<w:r>
  <w:rPr>
    <w:position w:val="12"/>
    <w:sz w:val="16"/>
  </w:rPr>
  <w:t>raised</w:t>
</w:r>

<!-- Lowered by 4 pt -->
<w:r>
  <w:rPr>
    <w:position w:val="-8"/>
  </w:rPr>
  <w:t>lowered</w:t>
</w:r>

using DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Wordprocessing;

// Raised 6 pt (12 half-points)
var raised = new Run(
    new RunProperties(
        new Position { Val = "12" },
        new FontSize { Val = "16" }
    ),
    new Text("raised")
);

// Lowered 4 pt (8 half-points)
var lowered = new Run(
    new RunProperties(new Position { Val = "-8" }),
    new Text("lowered")
);

Notes

w:position does not scale the font — contrast with w:vertAlign (superscript/subscript), which both shifts and reduces font size.
Use w:position for precise baseline adjustments, e.g. for custom ordinal indicators or footnote markers at a specific offset.
Values are in half-points: 2 = 1 pt, 12 = 6 pt.