Type & Typography

I hope you don't mind if I pollute your forum with a dumb question but I just purchased my favorite font of all time from the Adobe store (Graphite) and it seems that if I use the font in an application (MS Word, for example) and then email the doc to someone, their system does not display the font as Graphite but substitutes another generic font in its place. This is *really* bumming me out since I doubt anyone I know has that font installed on their system. Is it the case that I can't use it in electronic docs that I intend to share with others? That would be a real shame. Thanks for reading. Nelson

I am working on a big job, that is completely layouted. Now they decided they want the available fractions in the layout in real fractions, as in smaller type with the slash... The font I used is Arial Narrow, and that font is not open type and does not have fractions available... Is there another way of doing fractions? There is around 3000 in the layout, so I would be grateful not to have to do them manually... Changing font would be the last but in no other solution way the latest... I am dutch speaking, forgive me for spelling mistakes Thanks in advance for any input...

Here's how we've made arbitrary fractions work at Adobe. [note: updated 4 Dec 2002] feature frac { lookup FRAC { sub [zero zerooldstyle zero.taboldstyle zerosuperior zero.inferior zero.denominator zero.titling] by zero.numerator; sub [one onefitted oneoldstyle one.taboldstyle onesuperior one.inferior one.denominator one.titling] by one.numerator; sub [two twooldstyle two.taboldstyle twosuperior two.inferior two.denominator two.titling] by two.numerator; sub [three threeoldstyle three.taboldstyle threesuperior three.inferior three.denominator three.titling] by three.numerator; sub [four fouroldstyle four.taboldstyle foursuperior four.inferior four.denominator four.titling] by four.numerator; sub [five fiveoldstyle five.taboldstyle fivesuperior five.inferior five.denominator five.titling] by five.numerator; sub [six sixoldstyle six.taboldstyle sixsuperior six.inferior six.denominator six.titling] by six.numerator; sub [seven sevenoldstyle seven.taboldstyle sevensuperior seven

Does Adobe make a Chinese OpenType font with the full range of traditional characters (like the 65,000 Simsun Foundry Extended TTF)? I would love to buy it... - J Heisig

I just replaced Python 2.2.2 with Python 2.3.2 on my Windows XP (i.e., I uninstalled 2.2.2 first and installed 2.3.2 afterwards). Now I cannot get FDK into working. When running FDK.py or MakeOTF.py, I keep getting: C:\Python23\FDK\Tools\Programs\makeotf\exe>python MakeOTF.py Error: Could not find makeotflib or makeotflibDB ['C:\\Python23\\FDK\\Tools\\Programs\\makeotf\\exe', 'C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\python23.zip', 'C:\\Python23\\lib\\site-pac kages\\Pythonwin', 'C:\\Python23\\lib\\site-packages\\win32', 'C:\\Python23\\lib\\site-packages\\win32\\lib', 'C:\\Pytho n23\\lib\\site-packages', 'C:\\Python23\\DLLs', 'C:\\Python23\\lib', 'C:\\Python23\\lib\\plat-win', 'C:\\Python23\\lib\\ lib-tk', 'C:\\Python23', 'C:\\Python23\\FDK\\Tools\\SharedData', 'C:\\Python23\\FDK\\Tools\\Programs\\OTFProof\\exe\\nt' , 'C:\\Python23\\FDK\\Tools\\Programs\\tx\\exe', 'C:\\Python23\\FDK\\Tools\\Programs\\tx\\exe\\nt', 'C:\\Python23\\lib\\ site-packages\\FontTools', 'C:\\Python23\\lib\\site-packages\\

I am designing an Armenian OT font in FontLab, and I want to add some features. I did most of the usual features like liga, clig, ordn, etc. but I am having problems with vkrn. I want to raise the marks when they are over capitals. When I use vkrn, the OT preview panel raises the mark and all subsequent glyphs. Plus, when I generate the font and install it, all other features work but the vkrn does not. Is there any way to make this work? Maybe something other than vkrn would be better.

Someone advised me to use a program called "spot" which he said is a shorter form of "OTFProof" and can be used to dump the 'cmap' table into text form from an OpenType font. Is there a difference between 'spot' and 'OTFProof'? Is it a simpler (shorter) program or just a shorter name for the same program? a batch file? I installed the OpenType FDK but OTFProof doesn't seem to work like 'spot' was described (from a command line). Jim Mott

We are working on a localized version of a French Magazine. I received a set of fonts that should work on PC. All the fonts that were sent to us did not work on either Mac or PC, they all have a strange suffix like AFM/dat (see example below) BauerBodBlaCon.AFM BauerBodBlaCon.dat I think the person who sent this to us exported them from ATM deluxe possibly or another font manager and not they are not a real copy of the font. Any one knows what are these files or how to utilize them? We are waiting for a reply from France but they are taking their time.

In order for a restricted user to launch the ATM control panel and add or remove fonts, they will need to have access to the following registry keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Type Manager HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Type 1 Installer\Type 1 Fonts HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Fonts Adapted from material originally posted by Lance K

I would like to change our logo/typeface to the Adobe Myriad pro family on Windows XP Pro and the full Adobe CS suite and MS Office 2003 software installed. After installing the Pro fonts from Adobe into the Windows Font control panel (using install new font option) they are not visable in the MS Word typeface menu, nor the AutoCAD 2004. What do I need to do to get support for these Pro fonts in Microsoft Office? Aram de Glas, Amsterdam

I've seen/had issues with Adobe's Myriad Pro (otf) font. It seems that the "semibold" weight (and others) don't show up in microsoft products such as PPT and Word. This no-show, or strange mapping happens with Microsoft products in both Mac and Windows platforms on multiple computers. I thought I'd turn to the experts here to figure out if there are any known issues with the typeface or what might be going on. Any advice would be most appreciated. This was the closest forum to this topic that I could find. If I'm in the wrong place I would be grateful if you could point me to where I should be. Cheers, Mick

Is there a simple tool/utility to convert an .otf (Adobe Windows) to .ttf. I purchased an .otf font without knowing that my cad program only supports .ttf and .shx

Hi all, This might be slightly off-topic, but I'd like to know if there's any means to directly download OTF fonts to my good old Apple Laser Writer II NT (1990). Of course, one can include them into PS files (or PDFs), or just convert them to PFAs (which might be already a legal problem, anyway ;-() and then send them to the printer. But I don't think ordinary PFAs will support full-featured Unicode character sets... Thus, what I'd like to do is having the full character sets of the "Pro" fonts in the printer's memory (maybe adding some old SIMM modules or even an SCSI HD to the printer). Any clue on that? BTW, I've got another problem, as the latest Adobe PS driver demands PS level 2, and the Apple printer description files don't work with 1.0.6 for Windows, if I don't declare my printer being a LaserWriter NTX (which is totally wrong for the very moment). Happy New year to all and best regards, Christoph

I would like to know the precise meaning and origin of the term "Open Type" font. I am a designer and do not have a technical computer backgrond, so if the explanation requires technical knowledge, I'd appreciate a 'ground-up' explanation. Thanks!

I have a customer that has been using Font Folio on a MacOS 9. Now they are converting to PC and want to use opentype instead. They have bought the library package for Opentype. Is there anywhere a listing of mappings of fontnames from the old library into the new font names on the opentype? Or are all fonts named the same?

Do InDesign CS, Illustrator CS and Photoshop CS apply language-dependent features? I am trying to work out a feature that would be applied differently in English and French. It seems to work OK in the shareware word-processor Mellel, but with the Adobe apps (under Mac OS 10.3.8) only the default substitutions show up. I am trying to do it in FontLab. Would the results be any different with the FDK?

There is a new patch for ATM for Windows. There are separate updaters for ATM Light and Deluxe, to update them to version 4.1.2. The ATM Deluxe update is at: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=1553 The ATM Light update is at: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=1552 The updates address the following issues: 1) Uninstalling ATM 4.0 on a Windows 2000 or XP system causes the system to no longer be able to install Type 1 fonts. This is a Windows bug, which ATM 4.1.2 works around. 2) Uninstalling ATM 4.0, or 4.1, or 4.11 on any Windows platform causes PFM files to be left unassociated with the system font applet preview page. ATM 4.1.2 associates PFM files with the system font applet instead of ATM; uninstalling 4.1.2 thus causes no problem.

The OpenType menu in InDesign can show four kinds of full-size numerals: - proportional lining (pnum + lnum) - proportional oldstyle (pnum + onum) - tabular lining (tnum + lnum) - tabular oldstyle (tnum + onum) This works fine with a font that has all four, but how can I set up the features so the menu will correctly show only two or three styles, for example in a font that has proportional lining, proportional oldstyle, and tabular lining numbers, but no tabular oldstyle - or one that has only tabular lining and proportional oldstyle?

We have recently adopted OpenType in our workflow of catalog production, and one thing that I've noticed in the absence of the ability to place an accent mark (option-e) over vowels in Helvetica Std. or Helvetica St. Bold. All of the rest of the faces in the Helvetica Std family (Light, Black, Condensed, etc) contain this character set by typing option-e before typing the necessary vowel. Has this character moved to another keyboard command? Is this simply an oversight ? And most importantly, if it isn't possible at the moment, will it be fixed? This functionality is very important as at least one client of ours uses this character in their logo and we need to be able to type it as such in all of the body copy relating to this client. Please advise........

I work for a large company and we just purchased the entire library of fonts from Adobe. We use both macs and pcs in our office. The fonts that were sent were "Open Type". I have a few questions: 1. We had been using "Type 1". Has "Open Type" replaced all of type 1 fonts? 2. There were several fonts that we used as type 1 that are not showing up in our Adobe Font library of type (Example: Helvetica Narrow). Does Adobe no longer support that font? Are there others available to purchase, or does the Adobe Font Folio CD cover all type that is available? Thanks,

Is there a way to force FDK to _not_ assign Unicode index values in the PUA for glyphs that are not in the AGL 1.2 or have an explicit uni-index set in the GOADB, and leave them empty instead? It is possible when using the FDK embedded in FL but I can't find an option for it in the FDK docs, apart from not using the GOADB feature at all. /mårten

I've purchased Adobe's OpenType version of its Mathematical Pi fonts. There were 6 Type 1 fonts originally. Now you can buy an inexpensive d/l package of the 6 and an OpenType version of them all rolled into one. It's called Mathematical Pi LT Std. As you can imagine, for the OTF the encoding of most characters has changed. I looked at the OpenType file in InDesign and found 689 glyphs (the package says 690, so I must have miscounted). Then I opened it in MS Word 2003 for Windows. The Symbols insert chart shows only 476 characters. Unaccountably, many of the missing ones are in the fraktur, script, outline and bold Greek alphabets, and they're especially weak in A through G, upper and lower case. These include characters that I used in the most recent issue of my journal. Anyway, something seems to have gone wrong in Word's encoding of characters from this font. You can see the gaps in Unicode character codes in Word's Symbol insert. Have others found a way to display in Word all

Hi! Have a small question if any one knows about this problem, we are using OpenType fonts and we are about to change printer. More or less accidental i found a PDF on their Webpage... and guess what, they say they can't print OTF, hmmm. The most frustrating is that they say they can't check the PDfs and see if there problem will occur Is this just to accept and change the printer or is there a solution? When I try to talk to them their attitude are more or less... "we can´t help you, change the font or get missing letters"... (we work in many different languages so this is not an option) hope some one knows... Åsa

Purchased open type and scrupulously followed directions loading through ATM Deluxe 4.6.1. The fonts are loaded into my fonts folder which is on the top level of my harddrive. If i load them anywhere else, ATM cant see them. I can send to my printer and print with no problem but when i try to make a PDF (Acrobat Distiller 6.0 Professional) i get a message Unknown Error, Error 32615 when creating the post script file. Anyone ever had this problem?

Are there any plans to produce a version of the EditOTFMetrics plug-in that will work with InDesign CS? If not, can InDesign 1.5 amd CS coexist on the same machine (with Mac OS 10.3)? The error message I get opening InDesign CS is: >Adobe InDesign cannot load the EditOTFMetrics >plug-in. The EditOTFMetrics plug-in requires the 2.1 >version of Adobe InDesign. Please contact the >vendor to get a compatible version of >EditOTFMetrics. JP