Inspiring

Answered

[BRANCHED] Underline in type disappears when outlining type

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
December 20, 2018
3 replies
4251 views

In my case, it is necessary because my client’s font (Optima) has some sort of corruption that will cause it to not print correctly if I don't convert it to outlines. I've also encountered other effects such as drop shadows that disappear when converting to outlines. Any chance of this bug getting fixed? The last post about this was ten years ago and it's still happening!

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Correct answer Steve Werner

It's not just underlines. It's also stuff like bullets in bulleted lists, and paragraph rules. See the illustration below (original type on left, outlined type on right):

The underline, rules, and bulllets are NOT part of the glyphs that make up the type. They are separate objects which are effects or attributes. Outlining only affects the shapes of the individual glyphs.

That's one reason why in the rare cases where outlining is really necessary, doing it in InDesign is not the best place to do it. The best place is to use Acrobat. See this article I wrote in InDesignSecrets.com

https://indesignsecrets.com/outlining-fonts-the-2016-edition.php

J

John YuelkenbeckAuthor

Inspiring

Using Acrobat is not an option in my case, Will, because when I open the file, the font is not accessible. See screen shot. "Gerald" is in Optima Demi, but the last name is in Optima Bold, but when opening in Acrobat it defaults to Helvetica or Arial or something and I get the dialog message. This is my client's font they've used for over a decade, and I have a lot of legacy files, so it's not a case where switching to a different font is really an option for me. But the workaround of highlighting the text and outlining is definitely good to know.

BobLevine

Community Expert

That looks like a very, very old version of Optima (check the font file for a date). I remember way back in the day when it was a known troublesome font. I think Meta was another but I won't swear to that.

The real answer here is to replace it with a new version. You'll probably spend less time fixing it in InDesign and get a better printed result that way.

Willi Adelberger

Community Expert

Never make ANY outlining in InDesign (except for some letters, which are edited or filled with an image, and even there are several workarounds).

Export instead a PDF and use the Preflight in Print Production, there is a function to outline text without any problems.

BobLevine

Community Expert

John, the post you replied to was 10 years old. I've branched it to a new one.

This is not a bug, it's as designed. If you really need to do this (and I suggest you buy a new version of the font) do it in Acrobat.

J

John YuelkenbeckAuthor

Inspiring

What is the thought behind designing it that way? I'm not using the underline, but the Rule Below feature (or shadow effects, etc.) I'm not following the logic.

Steve Werner

Correct answer

Community Expert

It's not just underlines. It's also stuff like bullets in bulleted lists, and paragraph rules. See the illustration below (original type on left, outlined type on right):

The underline, rules, and bulllets are NOT part of the glyphs that make up the type. They are separate objects which are effects or attributes. Outlining only affects the shapes of the individual glyphs.

That's one reason why in the rare cases where outlining is really necessary, doing it in InDesign is not the best place to do it. The best place is to use Acrobat. See this article I wrote in InDesignSecrets.com

https://indesignsecrets.com/outlining-fonts-the-2016-edition.php

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