TTF are displayed as OTF - why?

[Frank0]

Hello Community,

we have the following issue in the Adobe Font Cloud.

We upload a new TTF font there. It is then displayed in e.g. Indesign (current version, MAC) as '.otf' - under 'Search/First font/More information'. Why? I do not understand that.

The font, is in the information in Indesign, an 'OpenType TrueType'. In the preview or selection menu (top menu bar), however, it is a TTF font. When packing the document, an .otf font is collected. If you open this font with an editor, it has the structure of a TTF font and not an OTF font(?).

In a sample document, there are also OTF fonts with the type 'OpenType CFF' and also as OTF in the preview menu. And they are packaged as OTF fonts (which is fine).

But why does a TTF in the cloud become a supposed OTF font?

Many thanks for your input.

[Bobby Henderson · Accepted solution]

OpenType is simply a container format for font data. An OpenType font file can contain glyphs defined by TrueType-based outlines or Postscript-based outlines. The TrueType outlines are built with quadratic splines. Postscript-based glyphs use cubic splines. There are pros and cons with either approach.

I don't like the inconsistencies how font file formats are named or suffixed. Some of that is happening automatically via file associations by the computer operating system. It sniffs a certain kind of font data and automatically assigns "OpenType" to it, even if the font file has a TTF suffix. I'm a big fan of Variable Fonts. The format is technically called OpenType Variable. But every Variable Font I've purchased or downloaded from the Google Fonts web site has a TTF suffix. Weird.

[Frank0]

Hi,

that means for me and my team, 'that's right', what's happening and we're working with the '.otf' font, even though it's a TTF? Spooky.

I find the 'variable fonts' thing interesting.

Many thanks.