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C
Corniger
Inspiring
January 6, 2017
Question

Viewing Glyphs in full size

  • January 6, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 2782 views

Hi guys,

I have the same problem in InDesign (both CS4) and was wondering, if it were possible to view glyphs as a whole somehow.

When I, for example, use certain script fonts, I never get to see the swashes or anything outside their tiny little glyph box. Is it possible to adjust that? Or any other workaround? Creating a character map doesn't really help, doesn't make finding/swapping alternates easier.

Thanks!

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2 replies

Jeff Witchel, ACI
Community Expert
Jeff Witchel, ACICommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 6, 2017

If you upgrade to Creative Cloud, there's an InDesign feature that will allow you see and select Opentype alternates to a selected character in text, simply by hovering over that character.

In Illustrator you can use the Opentype panel to turn on or off various Opentype options.

    Mike_Gondek10189183
    Community Expert
    Mike_Gondek10189183Community Expert
    Community Expert
    January 6, 2017

    While there are no settings in the Illustrator glyphs panel to add additional canvas for characters, there may be a system utility such as pop char to do this. What OS are you on, and can you name some fonts you are having most trouble with?

    This is buffet script form Sudtipos

    CC2017 has added a feature to contextual menu click and get glyphs alternates which you might like, though they are still chopped off when the descenders/ascenders go beyond. Other issues though make 2017 undesirable to upgrade to.

      C
      CornigerAuthor
      Inspiring
      January 6, 2017

      Mike and Jeff, I've read about thos new features. I just wonder if the problem isn't just going to persist, just shaped differently.

      I'm doing lots of wedding typography, where I have to rely on heavy use of alternates etc. Seeing only half - 1/10th of the letter isn't really working for me with scripts such as Mozart, Desire, The Secret, CandleScript etc.

      Mike, I'm running Win 8.1 and PopChar is available for it. I just wonder, seeing another matrix of tiny squares, if this may help solve my problem. To demonstrate what I'm struggling with:

      many of the letters have varying swashes of different/varying length to accomodate better fitting them with the text. Swashes for beginning/ending text, or even swashes ONLY. After showing you the milder forms of desaster, here's an even more obvious:

      I just have no chance to work with this. All I can do is click around like an idiot, and at some point I'll remember the succession of the glyphs by heart. And I won't upgrade until such issues are resolved - which is precisely why I haven't yet. But maybe I'm just looking at it wrong, maybe I'm missing something, because, honestly, I can't imagine being the first.

      Jeff Witchel, ACI
      Community Expert
      Jeff Witchel, ACICommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      January 6, 2017

      As you can see in Mike's screenshot above, in InDesign, you will see the alternates for just that one selected character. And if there are too many alternates for the popup, it will automatically open the Glyphs panel showing ALL the alternates for just that selected character. It's a very cool feature!

      Take a look at my video tutorial about InDesign Popup Glyphs: http://www.jeffwitchel.net/2016/06/the-power-of-popup-glyphs/

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