Variable Font Support

[Pauls]

could you pop a test document up please @MikeTO

[Patrick Connor]

5 minutes ago, Pauls said:

could you pop a test document up please @MikeTO

It may be that earlier beta documents aren't correctly stored/saved and the correct axes won't show. We'll investigate with your file

[Pauls]

we may be excluding the hidden axes from the comparison - does font manager show the font as missing 

[Affinity-Inspiration]

Now here's something I didn't spot before. All this talk of Variable Fonts - and how do you spot them in your font list?

I finally stumbled on it. Probably been there for years, but I know I'm not the only one because I've seen the question asked before.

On the Mac at least, and on Windows, but NOT on the iPad in Affinity Photo, it looks like this.

Variable fonts are marked with a V inside a C, and ttf with a T, and non variable Otf with a bit O. 

Most allow you to Favourite them with the heart - some don't. I've no idea why that is.

Cool.

 

[MikeTO]

15 minutes ago, Pauls said:

could you pop a test document up please @MikeTO

ytlc.afpub

Here you go

[MikeTO]

1 minute ago, Affinity-Inspiration said:

Now here's something I didn't spot before. All this talk of Variable Fonts - and how do you spot them in your font list?

I finally stumbled on it. Probably been there for years, but I know I'm not the only one because I've seen the question asked before.

I believe that was added in today's beta.

[MikeTO]

40 minutes ago, MikeTO said:

If you open the variations popup for text that is formatted with a hidden axis (because you imported text that was formatted as such, or in this case, formatted it with the previous beta), some of the regular axes disappear. On the left is Roboto Flex Regular and on the right is text formatted with YTLC - the order of three axes is changed while Grade and Slant are missing entirely.

 

Oops, I was being stupid. Left is Roboto, right is Nunito Sans. Excuse me while I take another look at this.

[Affinity-Inspiration]

1 minute ago, MikeTO said:

I believe that was added in today's beta.

Well I'll be... that's pretty cool then. I do hope it makes it into the iPad. That would be really useful.

 

[Hangman]

3 minutes ago, Affinity-Inspiration said:

Now here's something I didn't spot before. All this talk of Variable Fonts - and how do you spot them in your font list?

I finally stumbled on it. Probably been there for years, but I know I'm not the only one because I've seen the question asked before

This is indeed new to this Beta, note also the additions at the top of the font dropdown menu which now allow you to filter by True Type, Open Type and Variable Fonts which is an excellent addition...

[Alfred]

4 minutes ago, Affinity-Inspiration said:

Variable fonts are marked with a V inside a C

I thinking you’ll find that it’s actually a V overlaid on an O.

 

[MikeTO]

2 minutes ago, MikeTO said:

Oops, I was being stupid. Left is Roboto, right is Nunito Sans. Excuse me while I take another look at this.

There's no problem here, sorry for the confusion. If text is formatted with a hidden axis then all hidden axes appear. Here's an example doc.

hidden axis.afpub

[Affinity-Inspiration]

1 minute ago, Hangman said:

This is indeed new to this Beta, note also the additions at the top of the font dropdown menu which now allow you to filter by True Type, Open Type and Variable Fonts which is an excellent addition...

Bonus. I love it. No more scrolling around in the dark hoping for the best.

[MikeTO]

1 minute ago, Alfred said:

I thinking you’ll find that it’s actually a V overlaid on an O.

The OpenType O/V icon would make for an elegant Font Variations icon.

[Affinity-Inspiration]

2 minutes ago, Alfred said:

I thinking you’ll find that it’s actually a V overlaid on an O.

 

picky picky 🙂

 

[Alfred]

6 minutes ago, Affinity-Inspiration said:

On the Mac at least, and on Windows, but NOT on the iPad in Affinity Photo, it looks like this.

 

3 minutes ago, Affinity-Inspiration said:

Well I'll be... that's pretty cool then. I do hope it makes it into the iPad. That would be really useful.

 

2 minutes ago, Hangman said:

This is indeed new to this Beta, note also the additions at the top of the font dropdown menu which now allow you to filter by True Type, Open Type and Variable Fonts which is an excellent addition...

Add me to this list of those who are keen to see the iPad apps brought up to date.

[Hangman]

11 minutes ago, MikeTO said:

Oops, I was being stupid. Left is Roboto, right is Nunito Sans. Excuse me while I take another look at this.

The sliders are correct and as expected for both fonts...

[Affinity-Inspiration]

6 minutes ago, Alfred said:

 

 

Add me to this list of those who are keen to see the iPad apps brought up to date.

I was just looking at how to request this myself, but I'm starting to see double... been here too long today.

[R C-R]

So am I still the only one to always see all 13 axes in Roboto Flex?

[R C-R]

I'm no longer sure where I should be reporting/following bug reports related to variable fonts, but I just checked in the new 2430 beta & the crash still occurs if a Font Book collection includes variable fonts & that is selected in the Character panel.

[Affinity-Inspiration]

1 minute ago, R C-R said:

So am I still the only one to always see all 13 axes in Roboto Flex?

I've got 5. Always just had 5. on Mac. and 5 on Windows 11, and 10. And the Same on the iPad.

[Pauls]

does it still happen if you start from scratch with a new document?

[Hangman]

Feature Request...

Would it be possible to add a similar feature to filter by True Type, Open Type and Variable Fonts to the Text Style Editor via the adjacent dropdown, i.e., add 'Variable' to the list which already includes 'Recent' and 'Favourite' and ideally add the same filter option now available in the Context toolbar to the font dropdown in the Character panel... 

[Hangman]

9 minutes ago, R C-R said:

So am I still the only one to always see all 13 axes in Roboto Flex?

I believe on Mac, yes but I still see all 13 on Windows in the Text Style Editor but I don't believe that was an expected fix for this release...

[garrettm30]

1 minute ago, Hangman said:

Would it be possible to add a similar feature to filter by True Type, Open Type and Variable Fonts to the Text Style Editor via the adjacent dropdown, i.e., add 'Variable' to the list which already includes 'Recent' and 'Favourite' and ideally add the same filter option now available in the Context toolbar to the font dropdown in the Character panel... 

Yes, as well as the new icon about font type that just got added to the main font dropdown. Please also add that to the font selection in the Text Style Editor. That’s where I pick fonts most often, and currently there is no way to tell the difference.

[Hangman]

Could anyone on Mac confirm whether they still see this issue in the latest Beta... I don't believe it's been logged yet so curious to know if the issue is resolved...