Adobe Postscript Type 1 Fonts?

[kcrossley]

I have a lot of Adobe Postscript Type 1 fonts that I've accumulated over the past several decades. Does Adobe plan on offering an upgrade to OpenType versions of the same fonts? If not, is there a website or some other resource that shows Postscript Type 1 fonts and the OpenType equivalents?

Also, with this pending change is OpenType the new professional standard or are TrueType fonts okay as well?

Thanks!

[Ashutosh_Mishra]

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. You should find the answers to most of your questions on this help article: https://helpx.adobe.com/fonts/kb/postscript-type-1-fonts-end-of-support.html

Additionally, you may check out suggestions given on this community post & let us know if they help.

Regards,

Ashutosh

[BobLevine]

OpenType is more than 20 years old and was developed by Microsoft and Adobe. It has been the professional standard for many, many years due to its crossplatform nature as well as the ability to handle thousands of glyphs.

If you bought Type 1 fonts in the last 15 years, I'm afraid you weren't well served.

[kcrossley]

No, all of my recent type purchases have been OpenType. The Type 1 fonts are probably more than 15 years old, but since I'm old school I have my favorites. 🙂 

[Peter Spier]

Support for TrueType does not seem to be near an end...

[BobLevine]

Important to note that many, in fact, most at this point, TTF fonts are actually OpenType.

[Eugene Tyson]

Also, with this pending change is OpenType the new professional standard or are TrueType fonts okay as well?

Thanks!

By @kcrossley

Opent Type has been a professional standard for a long long time.

Adobe are only moving with the times, lots of mobile devices, web browsers, epub readers, etc. all ended support for Type1 fonts years ago. 

It would be foolish for Adobe to allow apps/webpages/mobile/epub etc. to be built using software that is not supported by the programmes that read it - or the hardware that it is using. 

You would have to contact the Type Foundry individually to see if there's an upgrade path you can take - or a license transfer - if you still have the receipts and proof of purchase for all your fonts. 

[kcrossley]

You would have to contact the Type Foundry individually to see if there's an upgrade path you can take - or a license transfer - if you still have the receipts and proof of purchase for all your fonts. 

Hi Eugene, and there's the rub. I seriously doubt I have receipts that old. 

[Eugene Tyson]

Even if you have email transactions - they could be evidence of proof of purchase.

Again, it would be up to individual type foundry and how they are handling it.

There is a font converter - https://www.fontlab.com/font-converter/transtype/ 

There's a pretty extensive thread here

https://community.adobe.com/t5/type-typography-discussions/announcement-adobe-ends-support-for-type-...

FontLab (creators of TransType) already commented in that thread - and they say if your local laws permit it  you can use their software - but you'd need to check the EULA of your fonts.

If in doubt - get in touch with the font foundry. 

[kcrossley]

I think I already know the answer to this, but if a Type 1 Font is called Hevetica Neue, can I assume that an OpenType font with the same name has the same or similar structure? In otherwords, are font names exclusive?

[BobLevine]

No, you cannot assume that...in fact, you should assume just the opposite.

[kcrossley]

Thanks, Bob. I figured that was the case. That's what make this transition a little more difficult—for me. As you know, a seemingly insignificant variation in the font structure can sometimes have a big impact in the desktop publishing file. 

[Mike Witherell]

Find/Change Font will give a clue:

A font will have a common name that stays the same, but each font is also known to InDesign by its version number. 

So, suppose you buy a font with a common name years ago; then buy it again recently: it might be named the same, but it is a different version, sometimes containing design tweaks, and this will trigger a reflow that has to be examined closely when republishing an old document. Letting go of the 1980s venerable PostScript fonts is a good thing, but you will wisely reinforce your Quality Assurance human-editing steps for any re-publishing projects that take old and make new.

[kcrossley]

Thanks, Mike. Replacing my old Type 1 fonts was probably something I should have done years ago. I just opened Suitcase and I see what you're referring to. That should make identifying fonts a lot easier. I just hope I can find suitable substitutions for all of my Type 1 fonts. 

[J E L]

@kcrossley I'd also like to chime in to say that there are some commercial Type 1 font converters that might work but please tread carefully as users have reported problems where the converted font looks fine on their screen but falls apart when exported. It's much better to replace your Type 1 fonts starting now. I'm already going back through old projects to swap fonts. Sadly, in some cases, the text just doesn't look the same. However, if your Type 1 fonts were embedded correctly into your PDF it will still print just fine. It's only when InDesign changes have to be made that there will be a problem.

I also suggest hiding Type 1 fonts on your system if you don't want to delete them so you don't use them by mistake. I don't know of a specific site or resource that shows the equivalent fonts but typically name to name is a good start though they aren't always the same!

I sorted my font folder to see what Type 1 fonts I have installed and then started looking for Adobe and/or Google font equivalents. I'm also starting to only work with Open Type fonts as I was advised that True Type fonts are legacy and should be avoided. I've read a lot on this and I can't say I'm 100 percent sure about anything other than for now, Open Type doesn't give me any problems, has more flexibility, and I use gylphs quite a bit. I'm sure different thoughts on all this will continue.

[kcrossley]

Thanks, Jain. I appreciate your advice and I totally agree with you regarding font converters. I also like your idea about hiding Adobe Type 1 fonts, whose easy access has led me to where I am now. 🙂 Fortunatelty, there are only about a dozen legacy Type 1 fonts that I routinely use, so that should make finding substitutions a little easier. 

[kcrossley]

Here are the Type 1 fonts I use the most:

• Akzidenz Grotesk BE
• Franklin Gothic*
• Function
• Garamond*
• Helvetica Neue
• Rockwell*
• Univers

I checked online and some of these font families (the ones with an asterisk) are available through an Adobe CC subscription. Others are not, and in some cases are as much as $500 for an OpenType equivalent. Which online font distributor has the best prices or are there any lower priced alternatives to the fonts I indicated above?

[Eugene Tyson]

Here are the Type 1 fonts I use the most:

• Akzidenz Grotesk BE
• Function
• Helvetica Neue
• Univers

Univers is by Linotype - you could ask them do they have an exchange or upgrade path for the open type version. 

Similar to the other fonts - same advice is going to apply - ask them.

And also ask them if it's ok to convert what you have to Open Type using TransType.

And this time - retain your emails as proof 🙂

Good luck with it.