Default Kerning is off for Nunito Black font Affinity Designer

[shadanan]

Problem

Using the Nunito Black font, the default kerning looks off:

Notice how the "r" bleeds into the "l". If I type this text in to literally any other app, Google Docs, Pixelmator, Final Cut Pro, it looks like this:

This may be related to:

I added a comment there before I decided that I should maybe file my own bug since this one is on Mac and that one affects Windows.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install the Nunito Black font
   1. Download from Google Fonts
   2. Unzip Nunito.zip
   3. Double-click Nunito-VariableFont_wght.ttf
   4. Click Install in the Font Book app to install the font
2. Open Affinity Designer 2
3. Create a New Document of any kind - iPad 11" for example
4. Select the Artistic Text Tool [T]
5. Set the Font Family to Nunito
6. Set the Font Style to Black
7. Set the Font Size to 144
8. Create a text box
9. Type "Cipherly" without quotes
10. Observe that the kerning is off ("r" is bleeding into "l")
11. Use any other program of your choice (Google Docs for example) to observe what kerning should look like.

System

• Application: Affinity Designer
• Version: 2.4.2 (latest)
• Reproducible: Yes (steps above)
• Operating System: MacOS 14.4.1 - Apple M1 Max - 64 GB
• Hardware Acceleration: Enable Metal compute acceleration is enabled

 

cipherly.afdesign

[shadanan]

With the help of @kenmcd, I was able to solve the problem. Apparently, the Variable Fonts don't play well in Affinity Designer. The solution is to uninstall Nunito-VariableFont_wght.ttf and install Nunito-Black.ttf instead.

This is unfortunate, because I use the variable fonts in other apps. But at least I know the problem now. Thanks.

[kenmcd]

2 minutes ago, shadanan said:

This is unfortunate, because I use the variable fonts in other apps.

The v2.5 beta has added support for variable fonts.
So hopefully in the near future you can switch back to the variable fonts in Affinity.

 

[BC Holmes]

Thanks for documenting this. I'm having the same problem with the Google Font Big Shoulders Display (also a variable font). I'll try again when version 2.5 is available.