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I'm doing my university assignment on Helvetica Neue and I've got to design it in Indesign. I have CS6 but when I went to find it
in the fonts, it wasn't there.
I'm using windows 7 but at university they use MAC computers. Please tell me it doesn't depend on what computer platform you are using?
Thanks.
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Helvetica Neue is neither a standard Windows font nor is it bundled with any Adobe products.
There is a version of Helvetica Neue bundled with MacOS as .dfonts, a format that is not Windows-compatible. Even if the license allowed for it, you couldn't even copy those font files over to a Windows system for use.
There are various versions of Helvetica Neue available for licensing as OpenType fonts from Adobe and other font foundries (i.e., they are not “free”). Note that they are unlikely fully design and metric-compatible with the MacOS system .dfonts.
Note that when choosing fonts for projects, it is very prudent to not select fonts that are platform-dependent. We recommend platform-independent OpenType fonts.
- Dov
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Unfortunately, I never chose the font, my lecturer did.
So there is no other way of getting the font apart from buying a similar version?
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Unfortunately, not!
Your lecturer made a poor choice of fonts based on a poor assumption that all students use Macintosh-based computers, which is hardly the case in the real world.
A better, i.e., a more inclusive, choice would have been to select fonts that were bundled with InDesign or at least choose a font that was licensable and usable cross-platform.
I suggest you talk with this lecturer and discuss the problem and ask him or her what solution they would offer other than to buy a Macintosh!
(Note that over the past year, I served as an Industry Research Professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo running a project in which InDesign was used for production of some test files. I made sure that the fonts used were fully-cross platform compatible - OpenType - and licensed for use for all the students in the project!)
- Dov
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Dov, you locked the thread in the ID forum so you could talk about being a professor!
Courtney, when Dov says this:
Note that they are unlikely fully design and metric-compatible with the MacOS system .dfonts.
This means that: even if you went out and bought Helvetica Neue in a Windows-compatible version, then when you opened your file on a Mac, or worse when your prof opened your file on a Mac, then two things would happen:
1) You/he would still get a missing fonts dialog, because the font names are not quite identical, and
2) There would be differences in text flow, because of differences in the kerning on a few letters, the width of the fi ligature, and so on, would cause differences in layout. This can be minor or disastrous, depending on how "tight" the layout is.
I am really familiar with no. 2 because our office is a Windows shop and many designers use Helvetica Neue on their Macs. It makes cross-platform work a real chore. So basically, you should go tell your professor that Dov Isaacs, Principal PDF Scientist at Adobe Systems*, said that he made a poor choice of fonts.
*assuming that I remember your job title correctly, Dov
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Oh, how silly. All I want is a font - I would get given the one that wouldn't be compatiable on a windows laptop!
It all sounds so confusing too!
But I will surely tell me lecturer that he gave me a poor choice of font
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Courtney,
Don't be too rough on the lecturer. It is possible that s/he never used anything other than a Macintosh or even worse, has an “attitude” regarding Mac versus Windows. And you don't want that to affect your grade.
- Dov
PS to Joel: Official job title is Principal Scientist. Unofficial title is Equal Opportunity Harrasser of All Groups Within Adobe.