FAQ: Multiple master fonts on OS X

[Thomas Phinney]

(This notice has been updated repeatedly to discuss: OS X 10.2, Adobe app bugs with 10.2 support, "cocoa" applications; Adobe phasing out MM font sales; Adobe discontinuing tech support for MM fonts. Last update: 23 Sep 2005.)

With versions 10.0 and 10.1, Mac OS X's native support for Type 1 and OpenType initially failed to include support for multiple master Type 1 fonts. This problem is fixed in OS X version 10.2 and later for applications using the "carbon" APIs, but not for applications using "cocoa" APIs. The two most common "cocoa" applications are TextEdit and Keynote.

Note that applications running in "Classic" mode are unaffected. They still need ATM for supporting Type 1 fonts, including multiple master fonts.

There is a workaround for some Adobe applications, such as InDesign 2, Illustrator 10 and Photoshop 7. You can rely on the native font imaging support in these applications, which is largely independent of the OS. Just put the fonts in the the Fonts folder in the application's folder, or the Application Support/Adobe/Fonts folder.

Additionally, the above-mentioned Adobe applications may have problems accessing all multiple master instances, when accessing the MM fonts which are installed at the system level, even in Mac OS X 10.2 and later. In some cases, this may be worked around by installing the fonts in the application's own fonts folder or the Application Support folder as described above.

PHASING OUT MULTIPLE MASTER FONTS

Adobe stopped making new MM and Type 1 fonts in 1999, and there is no equivalent to MM in the newer OpenType format. From late 2002 to mid 2003, Adobe phased out sales of multiple master fonts. As of this writing, they can only be bought from Adobe as part of Font Folio 9, which is still available for people who need compatibility with older fonts. The current version of Font Folio is Font Folio OpenType Edition, which shipped in August 2003.

At the end of 2004, Adobe stopped offering tech support for MM fonts, excepting for people with Font folio 9.

[_johnswhitehead_]

I always loved the theory of MM fonts but the practical implementation always seemed to disappoint (problems with print firms' rips etc). In the end, I just used the supplied instances and changed custom instances to the nearest standard one. So the loss of the ability to customize is no big deal for me. My question is this: why can't Adobe, or some enterprising third party, provide a utility that breaks the individual instances out into separate Type 1 fonts. After all, as someone pointed out above, MM is just Type 1 on steroids, so it can't be a huge big deal. I'd willingly pay for such a utility. Sure, I'd far rather have the Open Type versions, but the expense involved is prohibitive.

Best

J

[Neil_Keller]

john,

As multiple master fonts are also Type 1 fonts, their popularity is fading as new-technology cross-platform OpenType builds momentum.

So, I wouldn't hold my breath for any new standalone utility for them to be developed. I don't know if there is currently such a utility around.

Neil

[Thomas Phinney]

I believe the latest version of TransType does just this, actually.

T

[_johnswhitehead_]

Thanks for the tip - Transtype 2.1 certainly claims to be able to do that. I downloaded the demo but got no joy. I tried to create single instances of Kinesis MM but some were corrupted and others were empty. Has anybody made it work?

Best

J

[_Nigel_Moore_]

If anyone comes across this thread as I did, the demo version of Transtype adds TR logos to some glyphs. The demo did work. Not tried the full version yet though.

[_Scott_Melendez_]

Hi,

I've combed through this thread as best I can late at night, and I still come back to one question: how (or can) I use MM fonts under OS X 10.4? I did not use OS 9, so I have no masters created, but I do have the fonts from a Type 1 version of Font Folio. I'm using CS2 applications, but I don't see anywhere how to create multiples. Is this just legacy support, or can I actually do something useful with these fonts?

When I try to use a MM font in Illustrator, for example, I get the beachball, and I have to force quit.

I guess I just want to know if there is still use for them for an OS X-only person like me, or should I get rid of them?

[_Dr_Strik9_]

I'm in the same boat here. What the heck happened to the Multiple Master Type Format anyway? It seems I looked away for a second, and now the use of them, and certainly the support for them, is apparently gone completely! What the heck happened??!?

I want an answer. We paid good money for these typefaces, which Adobe promised would solve many problems, but now it seems they've totally forgotten their promises, and worse than that, their loyal customers.

:-(

Michael

[Neil_Keller]

Dr,
>I want an answer. We paid good money for these typefaces.

Please realize that you're not talking to Adobe here. Your audience is almost entirely Adobe product users, like yourself.

Font software, like any other software, are subject to updates, revisions, newer implementations, and...obsolescence. And like any other software, there is no expectation that what you have today will work with tomorrow's OS, or application and hardware advancements. We are still going to buy later versions of our software and hardware. And we're still "loyal customers", embracing the new, so we can continue work better, faster, and seamlessly with our colleagues, clients and vendors.

Font software has always been a bit of an oddity -- some folks even forgetting that these are software applications. We've all been spoiled in that font software just seems to go on and on, unscathed, like the Energizer Bunny. I still use fonts that are nearly fifteen years old; fonts that were developed without any knowledge or considerations for current computer technology or today's fonts integration and implementaton. It's pretty amazing that they still work! That said...

Multiple master Type 1 fonts, and to a lesser extent, Adobe's single master Type 1 fonts, are moribund technologies. Versatile, extended characterset, cross-platform OpenType is the direction that Adobe is following now.

I don't know if current apps support the creation of new, custom master font instances. AFAIK, if properly installed, the MM instances you currently have should function as they have before.

Neil

[Thomas Phinney]

I don't know of any way to create MM instances in OS X. You can however create instances in OS 8, 9 or Classic using ATM, and they should work in OS X.

Adobe has been very gradual in phasing out MM fonts. Tech support stopped at the end of 2004, after not selling them for a year and a half. Maybe it seems like "looking away for a second," but it really has been a much more prolonged process.

Regards,

T

[_Nicholas_Shanks_]

I'm not quite sure what you guys are doing wrong, but MM fonts work just fine for me (10.4.2) when kept in ~/Library/Fonts full variation axes work and so do presets using the same controls that AAT fvar fonts use (though, only in apps that support those). Here's a screenshot in action: http://web.nickshanks.com/typography/mmfont.png

[Ramón_G_Castañeda]

Nicholas,
> I'm not quite sure what you guys are doing wrong

I don't think anyone is doing anything wrong.

What Thomas Phinney is telling you (and, by the way, he's the top boss in charge of fonts at Adobe) is that you cannot "generate" MM instances in OS X, not that you cannot use them in OS X. :)

Have you found a way to create MM instances in OS X?

[_Carl_Chiocca_]

I have found a way to be able to use custom instances created in OS9 in OSX with the help of Fontographer.

When opening the multiple master in Fontographer, you are given the opportunity to enter values for the weight and width. You can then generate Type 1 fonts (or TrueType if you prefer) for each instance. Since most major apps (Quark, Adobe) recognize the default MM instances in OSX, I was only required to generate the custom instances created in OS9.

I hope this offers some help.