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Alexander Rott
Alexander Rott
Known Participant
January 5, 2023
Question

Have the LT Pro version of the font, but need to open the LT STD version

  • January 5, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 5547 views

We have purchased a ton of fonts a couple of years ago from fonts.com and they all downloaded as LT Pro fonts (i.e. Helvetica LT Pro). A lot of clients will send us documents in Illustrator and InDesign with the same font, but with the LT STD version, but even though they should be the same style of font, Adobe programs force us to manually replace the fonts everytime when we open a new client file. Is there a feature or even maybe a plugin somewhere that will bypass this issue somehow. If we were to have the LT Pro version of the font installed, and open a document that has an LT STD font in it, it will auto replace or just accept that font since we have to Pro version? After a couple of years having to replace fonts with the same thing every once and a while its getting tedious.

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2 replies

B
Community Expert
Bobby HendersonCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 6, 2023

"Live" fonts are one of the more frustrating hazards of dealing with customer provided artwork and documents. If customers are just sending us a vector-based logo or other graphics elements to use we usually request they convert any type objects to raw vector outlines. Otherwise we'll need the same exact font files the client used and need to open the artwork in the same application environment.

In the case of Helvetica many font file versions of it have been released over the years. There's Postscript, True Type and OpenType variants, some of which are not cross-platform compatible. Different builds of 1957 Helvetica and 1983 "Neue" Helvetica have been bundled in the MacOS and iOS for many years. Monotype released OTF and Variable versions of Helvetica Now during the past couple or so years. Then there's all the Helveti-clone typefaces (Nimbus Sans, Swiss 721, Triumvirate, etc).

I wish the font substitution dialog box in Adobe Illustrator worked better. I think the current implementation is a bit cumbersome to use.

    Mike_Gondek10189183
    Community Expert
    Mike_Gondek10189183Community Expert
    Community Expert
    January 5, 2023

    Use your font manager on your computer to insall.

     

    Mac - Applications >> Font Book

    Win - Control Panel >> Fonts

     

    Of if you have a commercial product like Suitcase use that.

     

    That the name are similar does not matter it treats like an entirely different font and will not substitute, unless syou choose the option to substitute when opening.

    Alexander Rott
    Alexander RottAuthor
    Known Participant
    January 5, 2023

    Right, I understand. We have a font managment system in place. The problem is we have ONLY the Pro fonts licensed and available. A lot of times we get files with STD fonts missing when opening and have to go through and manually replace the STD fonts with our PRO ones. I'm asking if there is a solution out there to do this automatically? Like if a STD font is missing, it will pick the PRO one. According to font suppliers, the PRO version is identical to the STD except the PRO has more language support. 

    Lukas Engqvist
    Community Expert
    Lukas EngqvistCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 7, 2023

    It is basically a select number of fonts or font families that we are finding from certain clients that come to us that we finalize before sending to print. We figured buying the PRO version of the font families would cover us for any kind of variations. But it seems like most, if not all of our clients or other agencies use the STD versions. This is odd since sites like MyFonts exclusivley only provide the PRO version (or at least their customer rep said). 

    I kind of figured that there isn't any built in conversion feature with Illustrator or others. Not sure if there are any scripts or plugins out there that can help before residing to re-purchasing all of the fonts again to ensure we have the STD versions too. 


    Unfortunately you are in a very small group of users. Having to use the clients font can mean that you need to remove another superior version to avoid conflicts. A font management software is the only rational way to handle this, FontBook does have some of the functionality bur it is a pain to find and handle conflicts. I am not current with font management nut Extensis Suitcase is a brand that has previously been very strong, not sure if FontExploerer is going to make a comeback (was discontinued last year)

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