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Karen B Hutchison
Known Participant
December 9, 2021
Question

Helvetica Neue Alternative in Adobe Fonts

  • December 9, 2021
  • 5 replies
  • 35563 views

I’ve been notified by Adobe that it will no longer support Type 1 fonts in January. Unfortunately, the font I use for our company newsletter (Helvetica Neue) is Type 1. I'd like to keep the appearance of the newsletter consistent, but my IT department doesn't want to purchase an Open Type version of Helvetical Neue (if it even exists). Is there a way to find out what font in Adobe Fonts will most closely match Helvetica Neue (other than by visually wading through all the fonts)? Thanks.

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5 replies

K
Karen B HutchisonAuthor
Known Participant
December 10, 2021

Thank you for the replies, everyone.  At this point, I'm confused.  I'm on a Mac, so it sounds like continuing to use Helvetica Neue shouldn't be an issue.  But if you look at what I've attached, you'll see 1) Adobe telling me I have 4 Type 1 fonts and 2) my preflight panel showing four Helvetica Neue fonts and one Optima. When I saw that, I assumed Helvetica Neue was the problem; it's the only font I have in this document four times.  But this morning I took a closer look at the preflight panel and I see that it says I have zero Type 1 fonts.  Is this just a bug?

James Gifford—NitroPress
James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
December 10, 2021

The Type 1 font warning is maddeningly sloppy and can be triggered by almost anything. If you've reviewed your active styles and none use T1 fonts, just ignore it. (There is, after all, some two years to go before it becomes absolute.)

 

Concur with above comments about an IT department that's afraid of anything not bundled with the OS. Smacks of the arrogant laziness so much of the field is known for. You know, by god if it works for the CEO, accountants and secretaries it should be good enough for the CAD, graphics and video folks too. (And I've run IT departments... don't think I am simply a prejudiced creative type! 🙂 )

    Willi Adelberger
    Community Expert
    Willi AdelbergerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 10, 2021

    Helvetica Neue is a very important font from Linotype (also in Adobe's Fonts) and exists with extended characters as OTF. You should buy a license to continue without problems. There is no reason for your IT department to avoid OTF fonts, excelt they want to stick with technology which was up to date 1985.

     

      Dave Creamer of IDEAS
      Community Expert
      Dave Creamer of IDEASCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      December 10, 2021

      @Willi Adelberger You bring up a good point--is the IT department concerned about the cost of the new fonts or the fact that they are OpenType? I got the idea it was about the cost. 

      David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
      K
      Karen B HutchisonAuthor
      Known Participant
      December 10, 2021

      They don't like to put anything on our computers that is not standard issue.  I don't know why.

      Dave Creamer of IDEAS
      Community Expert
      Dave Creamer of IDEASCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      December 9, 2021

      You can check out the fonts mentioned here:

      https://www.thoughtco.com/what-fonts-look-like-helvetica-1077403

       

      I know CorelDRAW use to come with TT/OTF versions of Swiss (along with lots of other Bitstream fonts).

       

      Of course, if the IT dept is that cheap, maybe they should just switch to Arial!

      David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
        Willi Adelberger
        Community Expert
        Willi AdelbergerCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        December 10, 2021

        Swiss from Corel has many errors and I don't like to use them therefore. With the TTF version I am not sure if this license allows embedding in PDF.

         

          Brad @ Roaring Mouse
          Community Expert
          Brad @ Roaring MouseCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          December 9, 2021

          "(if it even exists)."

          It does. Linotype controls those families now as Adobe no longer offers them. If you were someone who had purchased Adobe Font Folio, they are there. OTF versions have been renamed though, so there still is some font replacing  work that would need to be done in your documents, but the outlines are in most case exact matches.

          "but my IT department doesn't want to purchase an Open Type version of Helvetical Neue".

          If you want it to match, yes, you will have to. Yes, the Mac still licenses it for their TTC version (TrueType Collection), but this will only be of use to you in a Mac environment, as Windows does not handle TTC format.

            Scott Falkner
            Community Expert
            Scott FalknerCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            December 9, 2021

            Helvetica is a rather distinc typeface. People who know type will know Helvetica and know something isn’t Helvetica anymore. If you are using Macs the OS has a Truetype of Helvetica Neue built in. You can also purchase Helvetica Neue from many sources. 

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