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Diane-Rhodes
Diane-Rhodes
Participant
November 30, 2017
Question

InDesign Font Changes

  • November 30, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 330 views

Hello!  I was wondering if someone could tell me why the InDesign fonts change from computer to computer?  We are all in the same classroom using Mac computers and connected to the same printers, and yet when a student submits their project and I open it on my Mac, it does not look the same.  Our students do not sign into Adobe Cloud, nor do I, so we are not using TypeKit.  It's very frustrating when you are trying to critique/grade a project and you know the fonts did not open correctly.  It's happened ever since we went to CC software.  We currently use Adobe InDesign CC 2017 software.  Any suggestions?  Is there a set-up issue that we need to correct?  Or do we have to live with this error?  As an education professor, it is very frustrating when you are trying to create professional printed projects.  Any suggestions would be most welcome.

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2 replies

JonathanArias
JonathanArias
Legend
November 30, 2017
  1. make sure they are all using only system fonts only is one way to work.
  2. if they download fonts free from the web you are opening yourself to font issues since you are not using a professional font manager. ( such as suitcase fuision https://www.extensis.com/products/font-management/suitcase-fusion/suitcase-fusion-free-trial/ ). a professional font manager will not allow corrupted fonts to be installed.
  3. I would recommend for all of you to be on typekit to insure you are all working from the same fonts.
  4. Students will need to learn font management ( using a font manager and about the different kinds of fonts) anyway so maybe you want to consider teaching them font management? I was never shown that in college and it was a big dose of reality that i had to learn fast ( truetype, postscript, opentype, font managers, adobe typekit.. these are important things to learn).

here are some free font managers to look into:

10 Most Popular Font Managers for Mac & Windows

hope this helps.

John Mensinger
Community Expert
John MensingerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
November 30, 2017

Well, I assume you realize there are really no "InDesign fonts."

While it is possible to map particular fonts to InDesign specifically by placing them in a sub-folder of the InDesign application folder, fonts are installed and operate at the operating system level, independent of InDesign or any other application.

My point is that your font disparities aren't an InDesign issue, but rather a systems management oversight within your institution, or particular classroom. To conduct your studies properly, there should be a commonized set of fonts licensed and installed across all your computers.

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