Adobe Font Install FairPlay Display - renders too bold in InDesign, but perfect in MS Word

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
January 17, 2026
3 replies
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I installed Adobe Create Cloud this week. In navigating to Adobe Fonts I came across Fairplay Display family so I installed it. However, I'm getting both display and printing variances with regular and italic in InDesign where it almost appears there's a bold override. But when I view the font on adobe fonts web browser library and ms word, it looks like the perfect weight. I've tried uninstalling the font, checking for software updates, but can't seem to get InDesign to render the font properly. Any ideas?

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Barb Binder

Community Expert

Ok, so here's the same dual app screen shot on Win 11.

2026-01-20_08-19-13.png

I think @leo.r 's idea is worth a closer look. Playfair Display is available from other sources, including Google Fonts, 1001 Fonts and Right Font. Word can use Adobe's version, but you have to activate it in the CC Desktop app. In my screenshot below, Playfair Display is activated for use in local apps like Word, but Alkaline is not.

2026-01-20_08-24-21.png

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training