Variable fonts support

[Teal_B]

On 3/28/2024 at 3:09 PM, walt.farrell said:

If you want to use that font in Designer you'll need to uninstall the Variable version and install the Static version that Google Fonts also provides in the download file.

I am using a variety of different axes in my design, so instantiating versions is not an option (much less the pre-rendered static versions that cover only the slnt and wght axes...).

[walt.farrell]

3 hours ago, Teal_B said:

I am using a variety of different axes in my design, so instantiating versions is not an option (much less the pre-rendered static versions that cover only the slnt and wght axes...).

Then you'll need to use a different application, not one of the Affinity ones. Variable fonts are not supported in any Affinity application.

[Teal_B]

40 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Then you'll need to use a different application, not one of the Affinity ones. Variable fonts are not supported in any Affinity application.

... which is exactly why I'm posting to ask for that feature to be added?

[garrettm30]

2 hours ago, Teal_B said:

which is exactly why I'm posting to ask for that feature to be added?

You’re right: that is the purpose of these forums.

At this point, I believe the message has been received by Serif/Canva. I’m not sure if you noticed the post a few above your first in this thread, but it appears Serif does have in mind to add variable font support, as they recently said in their second email concerning the Canva acquisition:

Quote

In fact, we’re committed to using our shared resources to continue expanding Affinity’s products through further investment in Affinity as a standalone product suite. We’re looking forward to accelerating the rollout of highly requested features such as variable font support, blend and width tools, auto object selection, multi-page spreads, ePub export and much more.

 

As a related matter, I noticed the tag “rmap-26” added to this and many other threads related to variable font support. Is that new? I ave just been overlooking it until now, but this is the first I realized it is there. What is “rmap”? Could it be some indication that Serif is publicly acknowledging something of a road map again?

[walt.farrell]

4 hours ago, Teal_B said:

... which is exactly why I'm posting to ask for that feature to be added?

Yes; sorry. I missed where this discussion is located.

[Affinityconfusesme]

@garrettm30 rmap is roadmap which means it may come in 2.5!!

[Alfred]

5 hours ago, tzvi20 said:

@garrettm30 rmap is roadmap which means it may come in 2.5!!

Or it may not! We don’t even know whether it’s a 2.x roadmap, let alone 2.5: it could be a roadmap for version 3.

[Affinityconfusesme]

While not guaranteed, I did see a comment from @Dan C that they wanted to implement as soon as possible. Also, they add these tags right before features go into beta.

[Dan C]

My post above includes a quote from the Affinity and Canva pledge, which uses the wording "over the coming year" - this is all we have to share at this moment

[Affinityconfusesme]

@Dan C What does the Rmap tag on the threads about this mean?

[Patrick Connor]

2 hours ago, tzvi20 said:

What does the RMAP tag on the threads about this mean?

These tags are simply used by our team to track certain conversations about features / feature requests - they do not indicate that a feature will be added to the apps, or indicate any specific timescale for features once added to a thread.
They are purely an internal tool for our teams metrics and information gathering therefore I would not recommend paying them mind as a user.

Once we have information to share about new and upcoming features, these will almost always be posted first in the New Features beta section of the Forums

[Mordi]

+1 from me. Variable font support would be great. I see a lot of fonts on Google Fonts are variable.

[qwz]

It would be great, though.

One of my favourit typeface designers have been prepared only variable fonts (and I bought some) recenly .

[Bobby Henderson]

Nearly all the commercial typefaces I've bought in the past few years have included variable versions. I just wish the introductory pricing specials at sites like MyFonts were still as good as they were before Monotype bought up everything.

[MikeTO]

Variable fonts are coming soon to the 2.5 beta:

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/202284-variable-font-support-coming-soon-to-25-beta/

[Ash]

Hi All,

I'm pleased to let you know we have now added support for Variable Fonts to the Affinity Suite on all platforms - available to try now in the 2.5 beta...

 

[DR34MER]

Amazing! Thank you for working towards adding variable fonts support! Ii would also be amazing if we can work towards adding support for SVG color fonts.

 

I have an idea for helping to further build and anccelerate the advancement of Affinity’s capabilities. What if we can fund commonly requested features through donations? I’d be happy to help by putting money into a fund for the development of SVG color fonts support. Other funds can also be created for commonly requested tools and features like vector tracing, manual curve smoothing, basic 3D editor and constructor for mockups creation…etc.

[wonderings]

1 hour ago, DR34MER said:

Amazing! Thank you for working towards adding variable fonts support! Ii would also be amazing if we can work towards adding support for SVG color fonts.

 

I have an idea for helping to further build and anccelerate the advancement of Affinity’s capabilities. What if we can fund commonly requested features through donations? I’d be happy to help by putting money into a fund for the development of SVG color fonts support. Other funds can also be created for commonly requested tools and features like vector tracing, manual curve smoothing, basic 3D editor and constructor for mockups creation…etc.

Do other companies do that sort of thing? Let users donate and develop based on that? It sounds like a real nightmare on the back end. You have 10 people donate for X feature, so the company starts developing, then you have 15 people donate for Z feature, does the company stop and switch gears based on donations? Do they pout out options for people to bid on and in that time frame which ever one gets the most is the one that goes into development? The only good I see from this type of idea is it is an easy way to be disruptive and create chaos to ones business. 

[Pšenda]

1 hour ago, DR34MER said:

fund for the development

These ideas have been here many times, for example:

 

[Affinityconfusesme]

I think I will start paying attention to Rmap tags again🤣

 

[Guedes]

We did it!

[Luca2024]

very good! go on to the next top requests now!

[SallijaneG]

On 5/25/2024 at 2:14 PM, Luca2024 said:

very good! go on to the next top requests now!

Excellent!  First footnotes, now variable fonts—next up, accessible PDFs, please?  Or maybe e-books?

[BunnyD]

Just updated to v2.5 on MacOS and can't figure out how to get Font Variation to work.  The tool is always grayed out, no matter what font type I select. I've tried it in both Design and Publisher with the same grayed-out tool.  

What am I missing?

[Alfred]

3 minutes ago, BunnyD said:

Just updated to v2.5 on MacOS and can't figure out how to get Font Variation to work.  The tool is always grayed out, no matter what font type I select. I've tried it in both Design and Publisher with the same grayed-out tool.  

What am I missing?

Please explain what you mean by ‘font type’ in this context.

What fonts have you tried to work with? Are you sure you’ve installed variable versions of those fonts, not static versions? (If you’ve previously installed static fonts and you now want to work with their variable counterparts, you should uninstall the static versions to avoid potential conflicts.)