Issue with Fraunces variable font in Illustrator - Variable Font settings lost when reopening file

[uem4o504-30]

I'm having a problem in adobe illustrator with the Fraunces variable font. When the file is open and I change the variable font settings like optical weight, softness ect it works fine. When I reopen the file it asks me to replace the font and all my settings are lost. I'm doing logo designs so I've had to manually update the 4 variable settings across the 6 versions of a logo each time I open the file. This won't work for showing clients so I've just had to outline everything. Is there a way to fix this as I'd preffer the text to be ediable. I don't have this issue when editing the varaible settings in figma.  It says missing fonts but the variable font still works once the file is open but I have to make the changes again manually.

[Kurt Gold]

Unfortunately, I have no solution right now, but I can reproduce the issue with Fraunces Variable from Adobe Fonts.

[Bobby Henderson]

I'm seeing the same problem on system (Win 11 Pro). I create a test file, save and close it. When it is re-opened the fonts are listed as missing and the text objects are changed to default Myriad Pro. The version of Fraunces Variable at the Google Fonts web site has the same technical problems. I assume Adobe Fonts and Google Fonts have the same build of the type family.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @uem4o504-30,

Thanks for bringing this up. I understand how inconvenient it is to lose variable font settings every time you reopen the file. 

To help us investigate this further, could you please share a short screen recording showing the behavior from start to finish? Also, let me know if this issue happens only with Fraunces or if you've seen it with other variable fonts as well.

Looking forward to your update so we can take a closer look.

Abhishek 

[uem4o504-30]

Thanks for getting back to me. Yes this is only with Fraunces so far. I've tried it with other variable fonts with multiple settings  and they have been fine ( Sprat and Commitmono ).

I've tried to include a gif of a screenrecording. A bit blurry but you can see the process.

[Bobby Henderson]

Occasionally I'll see technical issues with Google Fonts. I like it that they have a large library of free/open source fonts at their web site and they're usually really good in quality. With that being said, they really need to do a lot more testing of the fonts and then get the errors fixed when they're found.

Sometimes Google's site will have a different build version of a type family than the version at Adobe Fonts. One version may have technical issues while another build of the typeface works correctly. After doing some quick testing, I've seen the same technical problem with Fraunces Variable in both the Adobe Fonts version and the version availalbe at the Google Fonts web site.

Additional edit: I tried testing Fraunces in Adobe InDesign. I don't encounter a font substitution error when re-opening a saved .INDD file containing text objects styled in Fraunces. However, it is a real pain to get any live previews of variable font setting changes. It's as if InDesign only wants to apply pre-set static style choices in the font menu rather than apply changes via the variable axis sliders. InDesign doesn't have the best variable font previews to begin with (nothing near as smooth as what we see in Illustrator), but other variable fonts installed in my computer's OS will at least give some active previews when the axis slider settings are changed.

[uem4o504-30]

Yes true the font might have not been tested extensively or just not with compatible with adobe illustrator.

 I have no issues with the Fraunces Variable font and editing / closing the file with Figma so not to sure if its a font / Illustrator issue.

[Bobby Henderson]

It's possible there could be technical issues with the font files and some issues within Illustrator as well. I don't often see fonts misbehave in Adobe Illustrator; I see it more often in some other applications.

If a given font file from Google Fonts has any bugs I'm more likely to those bugs cause problems in CorelDRAW and/or its built-in font management app. The most common error is when trying to apply a certain font to a string of text the lettering may turn into default Arial rather than the intended font. And the font from Google may be rendered looking like Arial in the font menu. There is a certain type family called Barlow; Google only carries static versions of it. There is a free variable version of it; the variable font works alright in Illustrator. The same variable font will cause CorelDRAW to completely crash when the font is selected in the font menu. The application window will just go "poof" and disappear.

Anyway, the point of all that is the type designers and developers working with/at Google really need to do a lot more real world testing of their fonts in various creative applications. It's not just variable fonts either. Plenty of plain, static OTF and TTF files have had technical issues too. I've been seeing this for at least the past several years. The situation is frustrating.

[bigbignews]

Fraunces is also an Adobe font and I have this issue with the version I am using through Adobe's system.

[Kurt Gold]

I did a test with Fraunces Variable in InDesign. There the behaviour is also unexpected. All variable settings are just not accepted as custom settings. Instead, when you try to use custom settings, they get immediately (re)set to "Black Italic".

It indicates that Bobby's assumption is right: There is some technical issue with that font.

Also, note that InDesign and especially Illustrator are very finicky when dealing with fonts that are not fully developed.

[Bobby Henderson]

I tested Fraunces Variable a little more on my notebook at home since it is running Win 10 Pro (my office PC is running Win 11 Pro). The missing fonts issue still occurs when opening a saved document with text objects styled in Fraunces.

I discovered a new wrinkle in this. If I style the text objects in Fraunces using the 12 stock styles in the drop down menu and not mess with variable sliders at all (and then save the changes) the file will re-open successfully without any missing fonts dialog box displayed. Obviously this is not the best sort of work-around. Fraunces is a beautifully drawn typeface with a lot of old style Cooper charm to it. The ability to customize the lettering in very creative ways makes it so much better. But you have to use those variable sliders to get to all that custom visual goodness. The only other work-around in Illustrator with these fonts in their current state is converting the text objects to outlines.

[Ton Frederiks]

Looks wonky to me. I can reproduce it on Mac. You also may want to mention it here:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/adobe-fonts/ct-p/ct-fonts?page=1&sort=latest_replies&lang=all&tabid=a...

[Bobby Henderson]

I sent an email message to the public email address for Undercase Type describing the problem. I included a link to this forum discussion in the message.