artemesia66 Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 How do I access the extended character set in some of the newer Opentype fonts that have alternate swash caps, etc.? Illustrator has a glyphs panel, which I don't think AD has yet, but is there another way to do this, eg. keyboard shortcut or another utility? Thanks. Isaque Mizael 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Harris Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Our OpenType features are accessed via Show Typography, in the Format or Text menu (depending which version of the program you are using). We don't have a proper Access All Alternates yet, but swatches, stylistic sets and I think pretty much everything else is in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artemesia66 Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 Hmm, I have the typography panel in the latest beta. It doesn't seem to show anything called swashes. I particularly need to access alternate characters, even if it means copying and pasting them for now. I assume that the plan is to have some way to access them in AD in the fullness of time. I just wondered if there was a way to do it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted March 8, 2015 Staff Share Posted March 8, 2015 Hi artemesia66, What appears on the Typography panel depends on the features supported by the font you have selected (check this video). Currently there's no glyphs viewer like in Illustrator. You have to use a third party utility or a font manager to be able to access them. Quote A Guide to Learning Affinity Software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Harris Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I'm not at a Mac to check our options myself. Which font are you using, and are you sure it has swashes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artemesia66 Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 Thanks for the video! Helpful to at least know what I was expecting. I was using Zapfino, because I know it has a load of alternates, but obviously it's not set up properly, because none of the opentype features show. Switched to Bickham Pro, and can see how many of the opentype features work for that, ( and very nicely, too). Still can't access some of the variations for that font though. I guess in the end a glyphs panel would be pretty helpful... Thanks for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted March 9, 2015 Staff Share Posted March 9, 2015 I see what you mean with Zapfino but note that this also depends on how those features were implemented in the font itself. Illustrator cannot access the Zapfino's alternates other than through the glyphs panel too. Their regular Character panel only gives us access to the same features displayed by Affinity Designer. Quote A Guide to Learning Affinity Software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artemesia66 Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 I think Zapfino's not built correctly--maybe it's not even opentype. I guess I'll have to wait patiently for you guys to implement a glyphs panel, and copy and paste from Font Book in the meantime. Since starting to work with Affinity Designer, I have removed Illustrator from my system :) . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postmadesign Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 I believe Zapfino on Mac is an AAT font, and the special features only work in Apples native apps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.