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Font style names all the same


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Hi, I've just hit this issue with a client supplied custom font:

image.png.68d8576b3eafb4b300bb3ce759d64943.png

I've seen this before in the forums but no solutions. My only workaround at the moment is to use other software and export as outlines but that is going to get a bit tedious.

This is what the Windows preview shows:

image.png.411adad8f5f068b3daec15d34a56e879.png

 

There are 12 variations.

Any thoughts or suggestions as to how I can get past this?

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36 minutes ago, Paul Mc said:

I've seen this before in the forums but no solutions.

The solution is to avoid using Variable fonts; only Static fonts are supported in the Affinity applications.

Your client will need to provide a statis version of that font, or you will need to use a different application.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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Thanks @walt.farrell, obtaining a static version is unlikely to happen. I'm now investigating font conversion tools. Part of the problem is that all the preparation was using out of date guidelines (which included static fonts) and now that we know the correct font to use everyone is expecting that to be a quick mod - which it isn't going to be!

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You're welcome. 

As the guidelines called for static fonts, they were actually correct as far as Affinity goes. Good luck with the conversion, assuming licensing terms allow that.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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I think I have found a work around. If I can get the end-to-end working as required then I will post the process on here. So far I have the font imported but not exporting correctly to print-ready PDF.

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4 minutes ago, Paul Mc said:

but not exporting correctly to print-ready PDF.

That's part of the issue with Variable fonts:  they're not supported in PDF files. Instead, the application needs to generate Static versions of the fonts to embed in the PDF file, and Affinity doesn't do that.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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Google Fonts fonttools instancer works well (Python).

FontLab - open variable font, check the box to export named instances as fonts, push the button.

You may want to do some renaming to prevent name conflicts with the variable font. So they can both be installed at the same time.

The user in the discussion below used fonttools.

 

Or PM me the font - it would take about 15 minutes with name fixes. 

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Thanks very much, @kenmcd I will investigate these. ATM the client is pressuring me to finish the job and get to print so I'm using InkScape to create the outlines which I then import into Designer. It has all worked fine if a little more tedious and time consuming than I would have liked. I've asked for static fonts and received a "what are those??" so solving it myself should there be future work along these lines would be good.

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Found the On Air Bold and Light static fonts.
So they do exist (as would be expected).
They even have an O₂ standard ligature (ooo2).

The copyright is Fontsmith, but the foundry is Monotype.
Monotype acquired Fontsmith in January 2020.
And the date on the fonts is August 2020.
So not sure how that works.

On_Air_Bold_and.Light.thumb.png.c2e707710ce4e1749acd8e31df1b3aa2.png

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Hi @kenmcd I had assumed that these were there somewhere - it's probably a case of contacting the right people who know about it. Good to know these exist in static form. I managed to complete the work today and send it off to print using InkScape as a go-between to obtain the curves. Not an exercise I'd want to do again though as it was a lot slower that I would have liked and the client got a bit fidgety when asking for a few "edits" that took longer than a few minutes. I'm going to take a look at fonttool and get informed about this in case there is a next time. I'm not sure about the licensing of these copies of On Air though. I'd prefer to "transform" my copy which I know is correct and legal and includes a few custom tweaks for O2. Thanks again for your input.

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My main point is that these appear to be real original fonts.
Not some hacked versions.
Thus proving that the real static fonts do exist, and that it is highly likely that somebody at the company has them - and they should get them to you.

Failing that - yes, exporting from the VF is the best option.

 

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I appreciate the point you are making and I am absolutely sure there is somebody somewhere in O2 that has these font files. Sadly, the only one available via my contact was the variable one. I think the assumption was that I was using Illustrator to do the work, which, if true, would have caused me a lot less pain as I understand it's not a problem for that application. I consider it a lesson learned (or nearly learned as I've yet to figure out the conversion route) and hopefully will be less likely to catch me out in the future. As an aside, from an experience point of view, this was a rare instance of where the end-client could supply the correct font to use. Very often I get some scrap of a sample graphic and then asked to use the same font in a new design without ever knowing the name or source of the font.

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Just in case anyone is following this thread and curious about how things turned out.

To recap: for the original project I used InkScape and built a page with all the text strings I needed on it in the specified font and weight. I output that as a PDF with text-to-curves set in the export. This then imports nicely into Designer. I then selected the sets of curves, group & name them ready for insertion into the existing project to replace the original text in the old font. It all worked fine. I should probably point out that InkScape didn't handle every instance correctly and for some strings created duplicates where there should have been some variation. 

For the future, and to protect me from the panic this caused, I want a solution that is more direct. I now know (thanks @kenmcd) to ask directly for the static font equivalents in the weights, width etc., of the variable font being offered. This would be the best approach until Serif add full support for variable fonts.

Failing that I can use this software https://github.com/jonpalmisc/vfit to create static instances of a variable font if I know the weights etc. that are required. I used this today and it worked very well creating a collection of individual weight and widths of the variable font. Now I'm well prepared for any future work on this project.

In case anyone is curious here's a web page that appears to have checked the status of recent applications that can and cannot handle variable fonts: https://v-fonts.com/support/ I can't vouch for the accuracy but the handful I've checked appear to be correct.

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  • 1 month later...
  • Staff

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...

 

Managing Director

Help make our apps better by joining our beta program!


MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021) / Apple M1 Max / 64GB / macOS 12.0.1

iPad Pro 11-inch 3rd Gen / iPadOS 16.2

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