Inspiring

Question

Type1 Fonts and Oldstyle Figures

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
October 5, 2022
3 replies
2304 views

This feels like it might be a silly question, but here goes. We have some old files we did not create to which we have to make some changes and we're trying to decide whether to swap out the Type1 fonts.

We work almost exclusively in Windows and the files were created on a Mac in InDesign CC 2015 and use the Minion Type1 font in main text. The PDF sent with the InDesign file has oldstyle figures throughout. Opening the InDesign files on the PC it doesn't show old oldstyle figures, and looking in the PDF using both Acrobat's editing and PitStop, it shows the oldstyle figures as just Minion-Regular and not the small cap and oldstyle figures font.

How can that be?

Thanks!

This topic has been closed for replies.

Mike Witherell

Community Expert

Don't put off the inevitable. Change the doc to OTF versions of Minion and do the page checking to make sure all the characters survived. If the document is founded on Paragraph Styles and Character Styles then this shouldn't be too bad on time and Quality Control.

Mike Witherell

K

KenWKAuthor

Inspiring

Will likely make these changes on our single Mac for this reprint then update the file if client thinks the title is worth the cost.

And Bob: "There is practically no reason in the year 2022 to have any problem with fonts."

Ever since the data general days with 512k diskdrives the size of cloths washing machines, fonts have been a pain in the a_ _! LOL! I don't think that is every going to REALLY go away. Well, not at least for those of us who get all the "crappy old files" that were put together will less than decent forsite as to what the next guy will have to deal with.

Thanks again everyone!

BobLevine

Community Expert

Well, I won't argue about how much of a PITA they used to be. Now? I don't even use a font manager, any more and I've reached a point where I'll tell anyone sending me files to be worked on that if they include any platform-specific fonts, they will be replaced.

rob day

Community Expert

Hi @KenWK , If you check the font usage in the InDesign file are the Type 1 Minion versions listed but missing? Can you show a capture of the ID Find/Replace Font dialog

K

KenWKAuthor

Inspiring

Thanks for answering, Willi. I understand about the Type1 fonts but the client needs the book prepared for immediate reprint and doesn't have time at the moment for checking everything with the significant changes that will occur switching to OTF.

Rob, As you can see from the screen shot below (taken on the PC) we have the fonts loaded but the old style figures don't show. There are no font changes on the numbers in InDesign so I'm not sure how they cold be in the PDF. I was wondering if there might be something on the Mac (they way it handles fonts?) that resolves things and uses the old style figures...somehow?? But then, what would the InDesign setting be?

Either that, or the InDesign files we received did NOT create the PDF they sent.

Thanks a bunch for replying,

Ken

Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com

Legend

I think you're seeing the difference between how old PostScript fonts and today's OpenType versions handle numbers.

Referring to your last screen capture, to have old style numbers with a PostScript font required a separate font, Minion Small Caps & Oldstyle Figures.

Today's OpenType version of Minion Pro has the oldstyle figures built into the main fonts. Just select the numbers, then select OpenType / Proportional Oldstyle. Or create a character style set to use Proportional Oldstyle and apply it to the numbers.

But with PostScript, you need to have that additional Oldstyle Figures font installed, and then search for numbers in the document and apply the Oldstyle font to the figures. A character style set to use the Oldstyle font would help speed up the task, and you can also use a GREP to apply the character style automatically.

@Willi Adelberger's suggestion to migrate to Minion Pro (OpenType) is the best solution because it solves the problem not just for today, but in the future, too. Your PostScript fonts are scheduled to be discontinued very soon, either in a few weeks when 2023 is launched at Adobe Max, or a few weeks later. But it's not long away from now!

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer, Trainer, & Technologist for Accessible Documents ||    PubCom |    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |

Willi Adelberger

Community Expert

You should use OTF fonts and not T1 fonts. You have to change anyway soon. Only OpenType supports different numeral types.

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