Old Macromedia - Adobe cross platform font issues

Report · Apr 26, 2008

This message is more directed to Adobe.
I am aware that currently OpenType fonts are cross platform compatible but only with Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign.
However, my primary workspace is Fireworks-Flash. There are serious cross platform issues with fonts - I have looked at truetype, postscript and opentype and they all have issues translating onto PC - many of the styles are not available.
In our studio I design on Mac but our Flash developers are on PC - our final renders and review renders always need to happen on Mac as a result of this cross platform issue. This is a little inefficient.
When is Adobe planning on resolving this issue?

Report · Apr 26, 2008

rahledusheiko@adobeforums.com wrote:
> This message is more directed to Adobe.

No, it's not...it's directed at other users. If you want to contact
Adobe, do so directly.

> I am aware that currently OpenType fonts are cross platform compatible but only with Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign.

You are doing something wrong. Opentype is crossplatform compatible for
any applications on the system as long as the fonts are installed at a
system level.

Make sure the fonts you're using are installed properly.

Bob

Report · Apr 26, 2008

rahledusheiko,
>When is Adobe planning on resolving this issue?

Again, you are speaking with your peers here; other Adobe product users like you.

That said, Windows Type 1 and TrueType can work on the Mac with your Adobe applications. But, Mac Type 1 and TrueType fonts will not work on Windows. This will probably not be fixed. Parenthetically, it would be MicroSoft, not Adobe, that would have to spend the time and money here. Apple and Adobe already did their homework -- or at least as much homework as they plan to do for these older font technologies.

So, OpenType is the only current technology that is truly cross-platform.

As Bob says, be sure that you've installed your fonts correctly.

Neil

Report · Apr 26, 2008

And unless I'm mistaken, OpenType was a joint venture between Adobe and
Microsoft.

Bob

Report · Apr 26, 2008

"I am aware that currently OpenType fonts are cross platform
compatible but only with Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign."

No, they are fully cross-platform compatible. The Adobe products you
mention, along with a very few others, are the only applications
capable of taking full advantage of the advanced features available in
some opentype fonts. And even the three products you mention don't all
necessarily support open-type in the same way.

"However, my primary workspace is Fireworks-Flash. There are serious
cross platform issues with fonts - I have looked at truetype,
postscript and opentype and they all have issues translating onto PC -
many of the styles are not available."

If you are using the same application version on both platforms, you
should have identical functionality. If you're using an older version
of Fireworks.

The only cross-platform style issue with TT or T1 fonts is that
Windows doesn't recognize any styles other than Regular, Bold, Italic,
and Bold Italic. Also, there's a font menu difference between MacOS
and Windows. Mac display all available styles, whereas Windows only
displays the family name, and you have to select the variants from
somewhere else (typically "B" "I" "U" buttons). SOME font families
from some vendors use the style function to define such variants as
Small Caps, Light, etc. MS products get ... confused.

"In our studio I design on Mac but our Flash developers are on PC -
our final renders and review renders always need to happen on Mac as a
result of this cross platform issue. This is a little inefficient."

If you're using different applications for design and rendering, and
their functionality is different, then you have a cross-application
compatibility issue. You didn't mention what applications or versions
are involved.

"When is Adobe planning on resolving this issue?"

It may be more a Microsoft issue than an Adobe issue. In addition to
the style limitations, There are no MS products that yet support
open-type features.

Although Adobe personnel do sometimes visit here, this is not a
"talk-to-Adobe' forum. Since your problem is application related, I'd
suggest taking it to the appropriate application forumsFireworks
General Discussion looks right.

And, as Bob said, you might also contact Adobe support directly with
your concerns.

Report · Apr 28, 2008

To expand on what Herb said, read this:
http://www.adobe.com/type/browser/OTReadMe.html#Anchor-WindowsIssues

This is just how fonts work in normal Windows applications.

Regards,

T

Report · Apr 30, 2008

Thanks for all the answers
thanks Thomas for the link - very helpful.

windows does support other font styles such as extended or light in open type fonts.

I am using CS3 on both mac and PC - my issue is not restricted to fireworks but flash too and i will search again through those forums.

I am aware that the options apparent on mac are not apparent for the same fonts on PC and that using the "B" and "i" is an option, however it isn't as simple as just choosing b or i - eg light with "b" selected translates as roman bold and roman with "b" selected translates as black.
The problem I have with having to select and change so many variables is that our files are constantly moving between mac and pc and it would seem a big waste of time to keep editing each text field.

I have taken a sample of an open type font and tested it in illustrator and flash on mac and pc and the problem still persists.
Illustrator has no problems likewise with photoshop
flash and fireworks on pc give me limited available options or different appearances for the styles as i have mentioned above.

Bob says I am doing something wrong?
I am using font book and dragging the font folder into my user profile on mac to install the and copying the fonts into the windows/fonts folder on pc - what would I be doing wrong? Any clarity?

Like I said before - it's fine in illustrator - works perfectly on both mac and windows.
I see though that there is not currently a solution for my problem and will need to do the final renders on mac or PC depending on the project for now.
i guess the issue then would lie with Microsoft.

The other issue is the difference in the height of the actual font and leading but that is a mac / pc thing.
Thanks for the valuable feedback.

Report · Apr 30, 2008

> and copying the fonts into the windows/fonts folder on pc - what would I be doing wrong? Any clarity?

Use the install new font command to be sure that Windows is registering
that font for all applications.

Bob

Report · Aug 13, 2008

Has the OP been able to resolve this issue? We're running into the same issue here - Flash isn't reading the OpenType font metadata consistently across windows and Mac. I've partially resolved the issue by actually editing the fonts themselves so that their stylenames match their postscript style names (eg: MyriadPro-Bold instead of Myriad Pro, Bold; and MyriadPro-Semibold instead of MyriadPro Light, Bold).

So the bug is either with the old Macromedia products or with the Adobe OT font, since AI and the rest of CS3 doesn't have this problem.

Obviously it's not practical to create custom versions of all your OT fonts, especially when they're touted as being "the" cross-platform solution. Looks like a Flash issue after all, folks.

Your workarounds welcome.

Tom

Report · Aug 13, 2008

(forgot to subscribe)

Report · Aug 13, 2008

>This message is more directed to Adobe.

If you really want Adobe to read what you have to tell them, use the Contact button at the top of this user-to-user forum page.

Report · Aug 14, 2008

Have you looked into style linking on Windows? Do you understand for example that to get cross platform font selection from Windows to Mac, you'd need to select Myriad Pro and the Bold style on Mac, and then you'd get the same font on Windows?

If that's the problem, this is not an issue specific to OpenType fonts, nor to the former to Macromedia apps: it just has to do with differences in the way font selection works in "normal" Windows applications, including many of the former Macromedia apps. Same thing happens with Type 1 and TrueType fonts.

This issue is well understood, and dates back over 15 years now. Unfortunately, the only way to eliminate it completely is for programmers to avoid using standard Windows APIs for accessing fonts - but that means having a major infrastructure for font support. Some Adobe apps do this, but they're a minority.

See also:

This Adobe tech note:
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=328508

Adobe's OpenType readme file:
http://www.adobe.com/type/browser/OTReadMe.html

It's also mentioned in passing in Adobe's OpenType User Guide:
http://www.adobe.com/type/browser/pdfs/OTGuide.pdf

We're working at putting font-specific details into the readmes that ship with each font (when purchased from the Adobe web site), but we've been pretty active in documenting the problem in general.

Regards,

T