Provide a Missing Font Notification on Each Layer

[pixelstuff]

In the Adobe apps like Photoshop when you open a file with missing fonts it will put a small notification on each font layer that is using the missing font. I think it would also bring up a dialog showing the font name and warning about substitution before you could edit that layer.

Furthermore Photoshop maintains the original appearance of font layers when opening a document even with fonts missing, until you attempt to edit them. I assume it uses embedded pixel layers or something. It would be really helpful to be able to open a document on any machine and see the original design.

Can we get something similar in the Affinity apps?

[Oufti]

On opening a file with missing fonts, you have a short notice that appears briefly, listing the missing fonts and offering you to open the Font Manager.

 

In this Font Manager (accessible at anytime via the menu Window), there is a button Locate. When you click on it, it selects next portion of text using this font (and thus, page and layer in which this text is).
Is it close to what you ask for?

[walt.farrell]

17 minutes ago, Oufti said:

and offering you to open the Font Manager.

That's only in Publisher, I think?

[Alfred]

1 minute ago, walt.farrell said:

That's only in Publisher, I think?

I believe so. In any case, the OP is asking for

1 hour ago, pixelstuff said:

a small notification on each font layer that is using the missing font

(which is not currently available in any of the Affinity apps, as far as I’m aware).

[Oufti]

11 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

29 minutes ago, Oufti said:

and offering you to open the Font Manager

That's only in Publisher, I think?

Ooops… You're right.

When opening an .afpub file in Designer, we only have the first notice, but no access to the Font Manager and its Locate button… 

(Publisher is my main software of the suite, which explains I forget sometimes it's not always the same in other softwares.)

[Oufti]

5 minutes ago, Alfred said:

1 hour ago, pixelstuff said:

a small notification on each font layer that is using the missing font

(which is not currently available in any of the Affinity apps, as far as I’m aware).

Not as such, but with Publisher and its Locate button, you can have quite the same result: find all the layers with a specific missing font. — The main difference is that you have to run through them sequentially. 

[Alfred]

2 minutes ago, Oufti said:

Not as such, but with Publisher and its Locate button, you can have quite the same result: find all the layers with a specific missing font. — The main difference is that you have to run through them sequentially. 

Thanks. That’s what I would do, but I inferred from the OP’s description that such a procedure was regarded as too cumbersome.

[pixelstuff]

1 hour ago, Oufti said:

On opening a file with missing fonts, you have a short notice that appears briefly, listing the missing fonts and offering you to open the Font Manager.

 

In this Font Manager (accessible at anytime via the menu Window), there is a button Locate. When you click on it, it selects next portion of text using this font (and thus, page and layer in which this text is).
Is it close to what you ask for?

Not quite the same.

In Photoshop for example upon trying to open a document you get a notification that you have to click [OK] before the document will finish opening.

Then once you do open the file, the layers with missing fonts provide notifications at the point of edit.

If you double click on one of those triangle notices you get this:

The reason I think missing fonts need to be more in your face about things is just the other day, while multitasking, I opened a document the customer sent, apparently missed the brief warning in the upper right corner, made a couple changes and exported the image and uploaded it to a website. I had no idea some of the fonts changed compared to what was in their own system. The customer wondered why I had changed fonts.

Another thing Photoshop does that Affinity doesn't seem to be doing is presenting a pixel layer image of the original font layer, even if the font isn't available on the system. So you can see what the original file is supposed to look like and if you do edit with a substitution font you see it change. In Affinity, I had no idea that layers I never touched had a cursive look and Affinity had automatically substituted Arial or something upon opening.

 

[walt.farrell]

39 minutes ago, pixelstuff said:

I had no idea some of the fonts changed compared to what was in their own system.

Preflight would have warned you of that, and it is active by default.

[loukash]

2 hours ago, Oufti said:

When opening an .afpub file in Designer, we only have the first notice, but no access to the Font Manager and its Locate button… 

In Designer and Photo you can at least look up the missing fonts later as well:

1. Character panel
2. open the popup menu that initially says All Fonts
3. choose Missing Fonts

Also, the Font Manager is just a sort of a "virtual" replacement. 
To replace missing fonts permanently, I'd go via Publisher's Find & Replace → Format → Font → Missing Fonts → Font Family.

[loukash]

1 hour ago, pixelstuff said:

Another thing Photoshop does that Affinity doesn't […]

… is that it costs more per year than what I have paid for all Affinity apps and upgrades since the first release of Designer in 2014.
As such, I'd definitely expect Photoshop to do quite something more for those big bucks!  

In other words:

If you'd like advanced typography features in Affinity Photo, then Publisher is your perfect "advanced typography plugin". It's always only a "File → Edit in Publisher" command away. And the last time I checked, it's a "plugin" that will still cost you less than many an advanced 3rd party filter plugin for Photoshop…

[loukash]

That all said…

4 hours ago, pixelstuff said:

put a small notification on each font layer that is using the missing font

I think this is a great suggestion.
+1 to this.

[pixelstuff]

7 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Preflight would have warned you of that, and it is active by default.

What do you mean active by default? I didn't turn off any preflight system that I know of.

1. I opened and changed a word in an image that someone else created,
2. didn't see any warnings,
3. assumed it behaved similarly to Photoshop in that it would preserve the look of a document unless otherwise warned
4. exported to JPEG
5. ended up with a vastly different image than the original designer wanted.

If preflight is a separate procedure, there was no good indication that I needed to run it.

Obviously I know now that the Affinity apps only give a 5 second warning instead of a persistent warning for missing fonts. That is why this is a feature request. A persistent and unobtrusive warning would be better.

[walt.farrell]

Sorry.  Preflight is only part of Publisher, and I don't think you've said which Affinity application you're using. I looked back and saw a Publisher font warning, but that was from another user.

If you're using Photo or Designer, you won't have that function available.