OpenType - Pro vs. Std fonts

signal29

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Apr 9, 2003, 1:36:40 AM4/9/03

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I thought the whole reason OpenType was going to help us all was because of the high charectar content possibilities. So why is it that the majority of Adobe's (and others) type libraries still put OSF and Alt packages in separate font files?

The Pro fonts have them all lumped in, why not the others? Or is it just another way to jack up the price?

And why is it that InDesign won't properly display ligatures OpenType fonts that are not their pro fonts?

TextEdit will properly show ligatures for Zaphino in OSX 10.2.4 but InDesign 2.0.2 won't display them.
Any reason in particular?

Thomas Phinney

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Apr 9, 2003, 3:01:33 AM4/9/03

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First, let me explain that the "Pro" designation actually has to do with language support, and not added typographic features. Our Pro fonts support CE/Baltic/Turkish languages. BOTH Pro and Standard fonts can have added goodies folded in.

"So why is it that the majority of Adobe's (and others) type libraries still put OSF and Alt packages in separate font files? The Pro fonts have them all lumped in, why not the others?"

That's just not true. ALL of Adobe's OpenType fonts have any available oldstyle figures and alternates folded in. Since only four font families are not yet shipping in OpenType format, that's virtually the entire Adobe Type Library.

Just go to the Web page for any of our fonts, and you'll see a set of teal-colored icons that show what sorts of features are supported by that font. Start at <http://www.adobe.com/type>

"And why is it that InDesign won't properly display ligatures OpenType fonts that are not their pro fonts? For example: TextEdit will properly show ligatures for Zaphino in OSX 10.2.4 but InDesign 2.0.2 won't display them.
Any reason in particular?"

Zapfino is NOT an OpenType font. It is an AAT font. AAT is Apple's proprietary equivalent to OpenType. TextEdit supports the advanced features of AAT, but not of OpenType. InDesign (and Photoshop) support OpenType, but not AAT. However, there are a couple of thousand OpenType fonts out there, compared to a few dozen AAT fonts.

Regards,

T

Thomas Phinney
Fonts Program Manager
Adobe Systems

signal29

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Apr 9, 2003, 10:35:42 AM4/9/03

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Thanks for clearing that up.

Had they been separated out at one point?
I was using a Mac with Adobe OpenType fonts on it the other day and it had separated out files for Adobe Garamond (among others) that included separate OSF, Alt, and SC. Had they been that way at one point or did this guy manage to pirate early copies?

AAT - never knew about that one. Is there somewhere I can get more info about that? I'd appreciate it.

Like I said, I wasn't feeling too good when I wrote the first post, so it was a little harsh, thanks for not laying into me too much.

Steve Werner

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Apr 9, 2003, 11:12:28 AM4/9/03

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AAT - never knew about that one. Is there somewhere I can get more info
about that? I'd appreciate it.

If there were public info anywhere it would be on the Apple website. It must be pretty hidden because I just did searches on "typography" and "AAT" and nothing came up.

In fact, it's a technology that's never really been adopted to any degree to my knowledge.

Just_A_Mac_Guy

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Apr 9, 2003, 11:28:09 PM4/9/03

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dFonts, AAT, Opentype, PS Type 1, Type 3, GXFonts, True Type Fonts...

Glad this is getting simpler...

Thomas Phinney

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Apr 10, 2003, 3:51:56 PM4/10/03

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Signal29:

"I was using a Mac with Adobe OpenType fonts on it the other day and it had separated out files for Adobe Garamond (among others) that included separate OSF, Alt, and SC. Had they been that way at one point or did this guy manage to pirate early copies?"

You've guessed correctly. Those would have been *very* early test versions from the late 90s. Nothing like those ever shipped, and not many of them went out to external beta testers.

T

willmark

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Apr 10, 2003, 4:29:10 PM4/10/03

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Just_A_Mac_Guy

I couldn't agree MORE on that one!

Jim Birkenseer

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Apr 10, 2003, 8:21:47 PM4/10/03

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signal29,

AAT is short for Apple Advanced Typography. If you remember back in the QuickDraw GX days, there was the GX font format...well, that format has been redubbed AAT.

You can read a bit about it in an article at MyFonts.com <http://myfonts.com/Article510.html>. You can also find some information about GX fonts from links on this Apple web page <http://developer.apple.com/fonts/>.

I hope this helps!

-- Jim

signal29

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Apr 11, 2003, 12:42:13 PM4/11/03

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Funny, I could have sworn that at one point Zapfino's ligatures worked in InDesign...

Anyway. Thanks for all the info guys.