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Suggest alternative fonts for TNR PS and Gill Sans PS

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
September 29, 2023
3 replies
4412 views

I've been using Times New Roman PS and (the full family of) Gill Sans for my formal reports since about 1995, using PageMaker and Indesign.
I now realise that they are now redundant despite being beautifully created and styled.
Will the Opentype fonts with very similar names look just as good?
John - now getting old.

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Correct answer Bobby Henderson

The old Postscript version of Times New Roman is pretty basic compared to the Times and Times New Roman system fonts for Mac OSX as well as the current version of Times New Roman bundled into Windows. Those OpenType fonts have more glyphs and more typographical features.

The Gill Sans Nova type family is available to sync at Adobe Fonts. I think that version of Gill Sans totally blows away any digital version that preceded it. It has more styles and each style has more glyphs, such as a native small capitals character set. Gill Sans Nova has several decorative inline and block shadow fonts.

BigJohnDAuthor

Participating Frequently

Many thanks to you all for your suggestions, options and tecnhical facts.

I now have my new Win11 Geekom micro PC up and running. BTW setting up a new version of Win11 is a complete pain.

I de-registered my copy of CS5.5 Design from my Win10 PC (an enormous box with 3 HDDs) and re-installed it on the Geekom.

I had nothing to lose so copied the old Type1 Fonts into the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe InDesign CS5.5\Fonts, and Bingo! Success! I tried opening a few files which used the Type1 fonts, and they opened without any error. They print just fine and PDFs are as they should be.

Many thanks again for bearing with an old man, who remembers installing and using ATM with Windows 3.1!

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Community Expert

You don't have to search out OpenType versions of either of these; you already have them. They already exist in Windows 10 as OpenType (TrueType-flavour).

As far as Times New Roman PS, there's no need to be using it in this day and age anyway. It is, for all intents, identical to the OpenType (TrueType) version you have in Windows 10. It only exists because, waaay back when TrueType was first introduced, some Postscript printers/RIP workflows and early Macs could not yet handle the then-new TrueType format, hence a PS Type 1 version was released. There was also a Type 1 version of Arial around that time as well.

You can safely dump it and switch to the OpenType version, with the added benefit of expanded glyphs and language support. There a minor differences in how each format calculated line spacings and metrics, so if you're opening and old document, best to check for any reflows.

As far as Gill, again, the version installed in Windows 10 is perfectly fine and up to date, but the newer Gill Nova should also be in your Windows 10 install; it certainly is in mine.

B

Bobby Henderson

Community Expert

Gill Sans Nova is not a type family normally bundled into the Windows OS. The Gill Sans MT and Gill Sans MT Condensed families are included with MS Office app suites. Gill Sans Nova is a very substantial upgrade over those older Gill Sans families. It's a pretty good bonus for anyone with a Creative Cloud subscription.

Regarding Times New Roman, one thing missing from the newer OTF system fonts for Mac OSX and Windows is a replacement for the native condensed version (Times New Roman MT Condensed). What I would really love to see is an OTF Variable version of Times New Roman, one equipped with axes for weight, width and optical size (from subhead size to display and titling sizes). That would cover anything missing from the current fonts as well as open new design possibilities. As prominent as the Times New Roman and Arial type families are in Windows it would only seem logical for Monotype to give those "default" type families a technological upgrade via new Variable versions.

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Community Expert

Sorry to disagree, but Gill Sans Nova is definitely in my install of Win 10 AND 11.

Even if it's not, it's free to download from the Microsoft store

B

Bobby Henderson

Correct answer

Community Expert

The old Postscript version of Times New Roman is pretty basic compared to the Times and Times New Roman system fonts for Mac OSX as well as the current version of Times New Roman bundled into Windows. Those OpenType fonts have more glyphs and more typographical features.

The Gill Sans Nova type family is available to sync at Adobe Fonts. I think that version of Gill Sans totally blows away any digital version that preceded it. It has more styles and each style has more glyphs, such as a native small capitals character set. Gill Sans Nova has several decorative inline and block shadow fonts.

Imaginerie

Community Expert

More than agrees on the Gill sans Nova...!
If @BigJohnD doesn't want to sync it but actually download the font it is available to purchase at Monotype:
https://www.monotype.com/fonts/gill-sans-nova

through myfonts for a standard licence
https://www.myfonts.com/collections/gill-sans-nova-font-monotype-imaging

BigJohnDAuthor

Participating Frequently

Many thanks for your replies.
I'll check out your suggestions.
(Still using InD CS5.5 on Windows 10!)

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