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Participant
May 9, 2025
Question

Hyphens are highlighted as substituted glyphs

  • May 9, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 873 views

Hi, I have tried to find what is the issue on the other posts, but with no luck – all hyphens gets highlighted as substituted glyphs in all fonts and with every document, therefore I'm sure it is not the font issue of lacking the glyph. It just drives me mad, what do I miss here? 🙂 Thank you in andvance! 🙂

4 replies

Mike Witherell
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 12, 2025

I often fail to fully understand what the OP is asking. 

Is it even possible for InDesign to substitute the font?

Mike Witherell
Robert at ID-Tasker
Legend
May 12, 2025
quote

I often fail to fully understand what the OP is asking. 

Is it even possible for InDesign to substitute the font?


By @Mike Witherell

 

Looks like it is: 

 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/indesign-falsely-claims-a-font-is-missing/m-p/15306161#M623462 

 

Mike Witherell
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 12, 2025

Hey Stan,

Why not simply turn off the radio button for Substituted Glyphs? All these onscreen color hintings are hyperactive over-doers and largely unnecessary once you have made a well-balanced Paragraph Style.

In a paragraph style for body copy, be sure to add these settings for a well-balanced style:

Hyphenation: 9, 3, 4, 1, off, off, off

Justification: 80/100/120 and also -5/0/5% and also 95/100/105%

Try it. You'll like it. And a well-made style largely obviates many typesetting problems as a result of its flexibility.

 

And SC: since InDesign makes the decision to inject these hyphens according to its spell check dictionary, it is a case of substituting formerly nothing with a hyphen that you had not keyboarded; hence a substitution made by the application.

A violation is InDesign saying: "I cannot typeset this line according to the rigid rules you have applied to the paragraph. I'm going to do what I want to do instead. I will signal to you that I have disobeyed you by this on-monitor color highlight."

Mike Witherell
rob day
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 12, 2025

Hi Mike, I might be misreading @Stan Buls question, but I think he is expecting Substituted Glyhs to flag substituted fonts.

 

...that's the thing why it bothers me – I want to be able to see when something in a particular font gets substituted

 

Find/Replace Fonts lets you search for unwanted font substitutions.

 

 

 

Robert at ID-Tasker
Legend
May 11, 2025

@Stan Buls

 

Shouldn't they be pink'ish - instead of yellow? 

 

Can you share a sample document? 

 

Community Expert
May 12, 2025

@Robert at ID-Tasker ,

the pink highlighted glyphs are missing glyphs.

 

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

Susan Culligan
Inspiring
May 9, 2025

Check to see you don't have Substituted Glyphs selected in your Preferences->Composition window (see screenshot).

Stan BulsAuthor
Participant
May 11, 2025

Thank you, Susan!

I do, that's the thing why it bothers me – I want to be able to see when something in a particular font gets substituted.  So, I don't want to turn off the red light that indicates the problem, I wan't to understand what's causing it to turn on, in this case – why hyphens in every font triggers a violation when I'm sure that there is none. 

rob day
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 11, 2025

I want to be able to see when something in a particular font gets substituted.

 

Hi @Stan Buls , In case it isn’t clear, when Substituted Glyphs is turned on, it is not highlighting a font substitution, but an alternate glyph that is included with the font.

 

This text is all set in Vista Sans Book 10 pt and substituted glyphs from the same font (but which might affect the setting) get highlighted. Glyphs like fl, fi, ligatures; the real 1/2 fraction glyph; alternate Q; and hyphens added via H&J settings—note the keyed in hyphen is not highlighted:

 

 

 

If I turn off Hyphenate, the substituted glyphs are still highlighted and the keyed in hyphen is not: