Can't find Helvetica in CS4

[Guest]

I'm trying to update a catalog in InDesign CS4 and it can't find the Helvetica fonts that were used in the previous versions of the catalog. Is this font not included in the program? Does it have to be purchased separately? If I can't get it for CS4 could someone recommend a similar font that is available? Thanks in advance...

Mel

[Dov Isaacs]

No Adobe application products, including the Adobe Creative Suites, ship with any Helvetica fonts. InDesign specifically has never shipped with any version of Helvetica. Helvetica fonts may be licensed from Adobe and other font foundries. (Be careful, different Helvetica versions use varying font names that could require significant editing of your InDesign documents.)

- Dov

[Neil_Keller]

Melissa,

There are around 300 flavors of genuine Helvetica to choose from in Adobe's store alone. See: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/type/search.cfm?term=helvetica&category_type=Package%2CFace&go=go

Neil

[Guest]

After much digging around I finally discovered that the catalog was not created using InDesign. More work for me, I guess. Any advise on what fonts would be a good substitute for Helvetica?

Mel

[Neil_Keller]

Melissa,<br /><br />What car would be a good substitute for a Chevrolet? <g><br /><br />Can you tell us a little about the type of catalog this is? And what other typefaces are being used? I mean, a well-designed catalog for hospital supplies would probably look different and use a different family of fonts from one used to sell flowering plants and bulbs; or a catalog of medieval print reproductions.<br /><br />Then again, maybe no reason to give up the Chevy.<br /><br />Neil

[Thomas Phinney]

Just because it wasn't created in InDesign doesn't mean you can't use Helvetica in InDesign. These are two completely separate questions....

T

[Guest]

The catalog features automotive tooling. So, I don't need anything too fancy. Just easy on the eyes. Unfortunately my company has been doing a lot of layoffs so I'm not sure if now would be a good time to ask them to make any purchases if they aren't necessary. That is why I was wondering if there was an alternative font family to use.

[Neil_Keller]

Melissa,
>I'm not sure if now would be a good time to ask them to make any purchases

If you like Helvetica, you should have some form of it on your computer. What other sans serifs do you have? Maybe we can pick something from there.

Neil

[Thomas Phinney]

Arial and Univers are both reasonably similar....

T

[Ramón_G_Castañeda]

>Arial and Univers are both reasonably similar

and much nicer than Helvetica. :)

[EDIT: I'll admit that Helvetica works very well in catalogs. ;))

[Guest]

I just started working on the catalog using Franklin Gothic for the headings and Myriad Pro for the body. Not sure if I care for the Myriad Pro, though. I'll play around a little more with the fonts I have available. Unfortunately Univers isn't one of them either.

[Neil_Keller]

Melissa.

I don't think I would mix these two sans serifs. Both are very good typefaces, but (personally) I prefer the look, readability and versatility of Myriad.

Neil