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Participating Frequently
September 5, 2023
Question

Swiss 721 BT font

  • September 5, 2023
  • 5 replies
  • 54440 views

We have several documents that use the font family Swiss 721 BT.

 

When I open the documents, it is normally the Roman, Mediumm and Light versions.

 

When I go to replace the font, I see Swiss 721 BT (Regular) available in the selection of fonts. Can someone help me understand why it is available? I thought Swiss 721 BT was not supported anymore in Adobe products because it is a Type 1 font.

 

I thought if I used the Regular version, it would say the font is missing or would not even be shown in the font menu.

    5 replies

    Participating Frequently
    September 11, 2023

    Thank you ALL for your answers and support!

    Abambo
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    September 13, 2023

    What was the solution to your problem? Did you have the font installed as an OTF or True Type?

    ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
    Participating Frequently
    September 13, 2023

    The font is OTF

    Abambo
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    September 6, 2023

    If the font originates from an older collection of Corel Draw fonts, you may have utilized the True Type version of that collection. True Type is still supported. You might be using an older version of the Adobe program. The software and version were not specified, but the Type 1 fonts were supported until recently, and support is still live in older versions.

    ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
    Participating Frequently
    September 6, 2023

    Hey,

    That's puzzling, isn't it? You're right that Adobe has been phasing out support for Type 1 fonts in favor of more modern formats. However, it's possible that the Swiss 721 BT you're seeing in your font list could be a different version—perhaps OpenType or TrueType—that's still supported.

    Another possibility is that the software you're using still has some residual support for the font, even if it's technically no longer recommended. Adobe apps sometimes display available fonts based on what's installed on your system, not necessarily what's 'officially' supported.

    To get a definitive answer, you might want to check the font files themselves. Look for the Swiss 721 BT font file on your system and see what type it is. That could give you a clue as to why it's still showing up in your software.

    If it's crucial that your documents maintain their original appearance, you might want to consider converting them to a PDF with the fonts embedded. That way, you'll lock in the current look, regardless of what happens with future software updates.

    Hope that helps a bit!

    Cheers,
    Ahmad

    Community Expert
    September 5, 2023

    The Swiss 721 BT family is a copycat of Helvetica made by Bitstream. The typeface is commonly bundled with CorelDRAW. Past versions of CorelDRAW included TrueType and Postscript Type 1 copies in separate sub folders; more recent versions include a mix of TrueType and OpenType fonts.

     

    Very likely you're seeing a TrueType version of Swiss 721 BT in the InDesign fonts menu.

    Participating Frequently
    September 5, 2023

    by the way I opened these files in InDesign 18.5.