helvetica font

[Thomas_Crowley]

Three questions regarding the helvetica font:

1) Does Illustrator have this font?

2) I have used this font previously in Photoshop but the version I'm currently using (the first CS version from 2003) does not have it. Is there a way to add this font to an old version of Photoshop?

3) I would also like to have this font in the following programs: MS-Word 2010, MS-Powerpoint 2010 and ChemBioDraw (from Cambridgesoft). Is there a way to add this font to these softwares?

Thomas C.

[Jacob Bugge]

Thomas,

You either have it or not.

Certain fonts are installed with (certain versions of) certain applications, and you may buy (or download free) fonts.

Normally, the fonts are installed in the main font folder, thereby accessible within all applications, and remain there even after uninstallation of the application it was installed with.

If you still have the same computer, what has happened since you used the font?

[Thomas_Crowley]

Jacob,

The last time I used Helvetica was probably on a PC distinct from the one I'm currently using. It was also a Photoshop version earlier than the one I'm currently using. May I get a download of Helvetica for Photoshop on the Adobe website?

Thomas

[Jacob Bugge]

Thomas,

May I get a download of Helvetica for Photoshop on the Adobe website?

That is not an option (unless that version of Photoshop comes with it as an extra).

I've noticed that Arial is very similar to Helvetica.

Arial is fake Helvetica. There may be different opinions on the word very in that sentence.

Is it standard practice to substitute Arial for Helvetica if using Windows software?

Not if you wish to stay friends.

[Thomas_Crowley]

Thanks.

[artsybrenda]

If you are working on a Windows system, you will have to purchase Helvetica before you can use it. Arial is the windows version of Helvetica.

If you are working on a Mac, that is a curious case, because I think all Macs are supplied with Helvetica. (Mac owners, please correct me if I am wrong.)

[Thomas_Crowley]

Brenda,

I'm using Windows 7 and all my softwares have the Arial font. I've noticed that Arial is very similar to Helvetica. I'm preparing line drawings for publication (.eps format) and the typesetter tells me they usually require Helvetica font for annotation within the drawings. Is it standard practice to substitute Arial for Helvetica if using Windows software?

Thomas

[artsybrenda]

As a designer on a Windows platform, I actually purchased the Helvetica Neue family from Adobe, so I do not have that problem.

But most users do substitute Arial for Helvetica, although they are NOT identical. They look somewhat similar, and for your case, perhaps this is a workable solution.

Either that, or buy just the Helvetica style that you need: http://www.linotype.com/526/helvetica-family.html

[Steve Fairbairn]

Arial is like a badly drawn version of Helvetica.

Compare the two and you will soon see how vastly superior Helvetica is in all its nuances, even though over-use tends to dull one’s sensibility towards it.

Doesn’t matter much for web text but for half decent typography always choose Helvetica over Arial if you have the choice.

[Thomas_Crowley]

Steve,

Thanks for your help.

Thomas

[Wade_Zimmerman1]

If you like Helvetica and are going to purchase the font then you can consider Berthold's Akzidenz Grotesk it is a Much older Font designed before the beginning of the Twentieth Century but is quite modern and has a great caligraphic quality even though it is a gothic lettter form I believe it is the basis for the development of Helvetica. I used to use it when I was in middle school before helvetica became known here in the States in the late 1950's and early 1950's.

I still like but it is an expensive font to purchase.

You can see it here

http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/berthold/akzidenz-grotesk-be/

Then there is my favorite which is Univers series which I at first did not like myself.

[Wade_Zimmerman1]

Here is a little history if you are interested from my fonts

Developed at the Haas typefoundry in Münchenstein, Switzerland, to compete with the sans-serif typeface Akzidenz Grotesk, it has succeeded in becoming the most popular typeface in the world. It was originally named "Neue Haas Grotesk", but was renamed Helvetica (from the Latin name for Switzerland) by the German Stempel foundry when they produced versions in 1961.

[Thomas_Crowley]

Wade,

Thanks for your help. If I purchase Helvetica and Univers from Myfonts.com will they both work on the MS Office 2010 suite as well as Adobe Illustrator?

Thomas C.

[Jacob Bugge]

Thomas,

will they both work on the MS Office 2010 suite as well as Adobe Illustrator?

Indeed, and on any other, as mentioned in the first post,

Normally, the fonts are installed in the main font folder, thereby accessible within all applications,

[Wade_Zimmerman1]

Absolutely this is Office 2008 but it works just the same in 2010

Here is a group of the families of both typefaces in Office 2008 it will work the same in 2010

[danielw15198335]

Helvetica is the only font. I just learned that I doesn't come on Windows and now I'm sad and I hate Windows more than ever before.

[Thomas_Crowley]

Brenda,

Thanks. I'll try to purchase a windows-compatible Helvetica.

Thomas