OpenType® User Guide A

for Adobe® Fonts A

October 2003

A
What is OpenType?
Minimum System Requirements for PostScript flavored OpenType Fonts
Additional Software Installation
a
Installing PostScript flavored OpenType Fonts
Removing PostScript flavored OpenType Fonts
OpenType and Font Management Utilities
a
Accessing Foreign Language Characters
Application Support for Advanced OpenType Features
OpenType and Adobe Applications
š
www.adobe.com/type/opentype
ţ
sp
ffi
Th
Θ
λ
Ж
⅝
€

bc
r
b
2 OpenType User Guide

What is OpenType? characters, including the euro currency symbol (€),

“estimated” (℮), and litre (ℓ). Adobe’s “Pro” fonts add a
OpenType is a new cross-platform font file format
full range of accented characters to support central and
developed by Adobe and Microsoft. OpenType is an
eastern European languages, such as Turkish and Polish.
extension of the TrueType sfnt format that can now
Many of the Pro fonts also contain Cyrillic and Greek
support PostScript® font data and new typographic fea-
character extensions in the same font.
tures. OpenType fonts containing PostScript outlines
have an .otf file name suffix, while those with TrueType Advanced Typography with OpenType Pro fonts
outlines may have a .otf, .ttf or .ttc file name suffix. This
user guide deals primarily with the installation and use OpenType fonts may also contain more than 65,000
of PostScript flavored OpenType fonts. glyphs, unleashing exciting typographic capabilities.
Many non-standard glyphs, such as oldstyle figures, true
OpenType fonts may include an expanded character small capitals, fractions, swashes, superiors, inferiors,
set and layout features to provide richer linguistic sup- ornaments, titling letters, contextual and stylistic alter-
port and advanced typographic control. OpenType nates, beginning and ending letterforms and a full range
fonts from Adobe with support for central European of ligatures may also be included in a single font. In the
(CE) languages can be distinguished by the word “Pro,” past, a typical Western PostScript font was limited to
which is part of the font name and appears in applica- 256 glyphs, forcing users to install and manage two or
tion font menus. OpenType fonts that do not contain more style-related fonts in order to access “expert” or
central European language support are labeled “Stan- other supplemental characters. OpenType significantly
dard,” and are designated by an “Std” suffix in the fonts’ simplifies font management and the publishing work-
menu names. flow by ensuring that all of the required glyphs for a
All OpenType fonts can also be installed and used document are contained in one cross-platform font file
alongside PostScript Type 1 and TrueType fonts. throughout the workflow.

One Cross-Platform Font File

All OpenType fonts use a single font file for all of their
outline, metric, and bitmap data (if any), making file
management simpler. The file names for OpenType
fonts from Adobe are clearly descriptive. In addition,
the same font file works on Macintosh and Windows
computers, improving cross-platform portability for
documents.
Macintosh Windows

Historically, some of the highest-quality typefaces have

had different designs for different print sizes. Called
“opticals,” these variations have been optimized for use at
specific point sizes. A number of OpenType fonts from
Adobe include four optical size variations. Although
the exact intended sizes vary by family, the typical size
ranges include: caption (6–8 point), regular (9–3 point),
subhead (4-24 point) and display (25–72 point). If pres-
ent, a size intended for even larger use (>72 point) is
called “poster.”
Better Language Support
Based on Unicode, an international multi-byte char-
Unbelievable Caption

acter encoding that covers virtually all of the world’s

languages, OpenType fonts can make multilingual Unbelievable Regular (Text)

typography easier by including multiple language char-

acter sets in one font. All OpenType fonts from Adobe Unbelievable Subhead

include the standard range of Latin characters used

throughout the western world, and several international Unbelievable Display
 OpenType User Guide 3

Overall, OpenType provides richer support for the flavored OpenType fonts to both PostScript and non
world’s languages, more powerful typographic capa- PostScript printers.
bilities, better cross-platform compatibility, as well as
Note: Windows 2000 and Windows XP do not require
simplified font management. For more information on
ATM Light. Mac OS X only needs ATM Light to pro-
OpenType, please refer to the Adobe web site at
vide support for “Classic” applications, not for Carbon or
http://www.adobe.com/type/opentype.
native applications.

Minimum System Requirements To download ATM Light, go to:

http://www.adobe.com/products/atmlight/main.html.
for PostScript flavored OpenType Fonts
If using AdobePS 8.8 or later, you should also update
Macintosh ATM to 4.6.1a/4.6.2a. The update is available at: http:
• Macintosh with PowerPC® processor //www.adobe.com/support/downloads
• Mac OS 8.6 to 9.2 or Mac OS X
Note: Adobe recommends that once you install ATM
• ATM® Light or Deluxe, version 4.6 or later
Light, you increase the utility’s character cache setting (the
(not required for Mac OS X native)
amount of memory allocated for storing font information
• AdobePS printer driver 8.6 or later recommended
and drawing it to your computer screen) to at least 512K
if using a PostScript printer with Mac OS 8.6 to 9.2
in Windows 98/ME (newer versions of Windows do not
• ATM updater to 4.6.1a/4.6.2a,
have a character cache setting), and to at least 1MB in
if using AdobePS 8.8 or later
the Macintosh version. To increase this setting in the Win-
• 16 MB of RAM
dows version, select the “Settings” tab in the ATM window.
Windows On the Macintosh, it is in the main control panel for ATM
• PC using a Pentium® or compatible processor Light; in ATM Deluxe, select the “Preferences…” com-
• Microsoft Windows® 95, 98, Millennium Edition (ME), mand in the File menu.
Windows NT® 4 (SP 4), Windows 2000 or Windows XP
• ATM Light or Deluxe 4.1 or later
(not required for Windows 2000/Windows XP)
• AdobePS printer driver 4.3 or later, if using
Windows 95/98/ME with a PostScript printer
• AdobePS printer driver 5.1.2 or later, if using
Windows NT 4 with a PostScript printer
• 16 MB of RAM
Note: Mac OS X, Windows 2000 and Windows XP
(Home and Professional) provide native support for
PostScript flavored OpenType fonts (as well as PostScript
Type 1 fonts) and do not require ATM Light or the Ado-
bePS printer driver.

Additional Software Installation

AdobePS Printer Driver
Before using your PostScript flavored OpenType fonts,
If you are printing to a PostScript printer or
users of older operating systems may need to install the
creating PostScript print files (perhaps for
latest versions of the Adobe Type Manager Light soft-
Adobe Acrobat Distiller), the AdobePS printer driver
ware and the AdobePS printer driver, which are both
replaces your standard Mac or Windows printer driver
available as free downloads from the adobe.com website.
and offers several improvements. Installation of this
Adobe Type Manager (ATM) Light driver requires a PostScript Printer Description (PPD)
file for your printer, which allows the driver to con-
Adobe® Type Manager® (ATM®) Light is a
trol all of your printer’s features, such as optional paper
system software component that automati-
trays, enhanced imaging modes, and duplex (two-sided)
cally generates high-quality screen font bitmaps from
printing. More instructions are included in the Read Me
PostScript® Type 1 or PostScript flavored OpenType
file that comes with the AdobePS software.
outline font data. With ATM, you can use Type 1 and
OpenType fonts at any size, and you can also enable To download the latest AdobePS printer driver
“font smoothing,” (anti-aliasing) which further improves for the Macintosh, point your browser to http://
the appearance of your fonts on-screen. ATM Light also www.adobe.com/support/downloads/pdrvmac.htm
allows you to print your PostScript Type  or PostScript
4 OpenType User Guide

To download the latest AdobePS printer driver for Win- operating system altogether, so that the normal system
dows, point your browser to http://www.adobe.com/ requirements no longer apply.
support/downloads/pdrvwin.htm
Installing on Mac OS
Note: Mac OS X, Windows 2000 and Windows XP
Using your fonts on Mac OS 8.6 to 9.2 or Mac OS X
include a native PostScript printer driver that supports
“Classic” requires the presence of ATM Light 4.6 or later
PostScript flavored OpenType fonts.
(4.6.2 for Mac OS X Classic). Mac OS X has built-in
support for OpenType fonts with carbon or native appli-
OpenType & Font Management cations, and only requires ATM Light for “classic” apps.
Utilities
If you are running Mac OS X, decide if you want to
Because PostScript flavored OpenType fonts are a newer install fonts into both the Classic environment and the
format, you need to check that the version of the font OS X native environment, or only for carbon/native
management application you are using supports them. applications. If you want your fonts to be accessible to
If you are using ATM Deluxe to manage your fonts, both Classic and carbon/native applications, install into
version 4.1 or higher for Windows and version 4.6 or the Classic environment. If the fonts only need to be
higher for Macintosh support the activation and man- accessible to carbon/native applications, install into the
agement of OpenType fonts. Note that font managers on Mac OS X “native” environment.
Mac OS X can only activate fonts for carbon and cocoa
applications (not Classic applications). Mac OS 8.6 to 9.2, or Mac OS X “Classic”
For further instructions on how to install OpenType 1 Before installing your OpenType fonts, quit all active
fonts with ATM Deluxe or any other font management applications.
application, please refer to your font management appli- 2 Locate the folder that contains the OpenType fonts
cation’s documentation. you want to install.
Windows Font Managers Supporting OpenType If you have purchased OpenType fonts from Adobe
Adobe Type Manager (ATM) Deluxe 4. online, they will have been decompressed to a folder
Font Navigator—not supported (as of version 4) on your hard drive. If you have purchased multiple
Font Reserve 2.6.5 and higher font packages, each will have its own folder.
Font Reserve Server .6 and higher 3 Copy or move all the OpenType font files from
Suitcase 9.2 and higher (with Windows 2000/XP only) their individual font folders into the System Folder
> Fonts folder. They must be loose inside this folder,
Mac OS Font Managers Supporting OpenType
not in a sub-folder.
Adobe Type Manager (ATM) Deluxe 4.6
(only for Mac OS 8/9/Classic)
Font Agent Pro—all versions
Font Reserve 3. and higher (OS X only)
Font Reserve Server .6 and higher (OS X clients only)
Master Juggler—not yet supported
Suitcase 0 and higher (OS X only)

Installing PostScript flavored

OpenType Fonts Without a Font Manager
All the information required for OpenType fonts is con- The fonts are now installed and will appear in the font
tained in a single file with an “.otf ” suffix at the end of menus of your applications. OpenType fonts installed in
the filename. This font file is a cross-platform file, and Mac OS X Classic will also appear in the font menus of
can be installed on both the Macintosh and Windows native and Carbon applications
platforms.
Mac OS X native
Note that for both Mac OS and Windows, if you only
need to use the fonts in select Adobe applications (such Mac OS X has built-in support for PostScript flavored
as InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop), you may OpenType fonts. You do not need to install ATM Light
place the fonts in the applications’ font folder, or in the to use fonts in the Mac OS X native environment, only
Adobe common font folder. This approach bypasses the for the Classic environment.
 OpenType User Guide 5

Fonts installed under the Mac OS X native environment

will only by available to carbon and native applications
running in OS X (not Classic applications). Depending
on how they are installed, they can be accessed by (a)
any user or (b) just by an individual user.

1 Before installing your OpenType fonts, quit all active

applications.
2 Locate the folder that contains the OpenType fonts
you want to install.
If you have purchased your fonts online, they will
have been decompressed to a folder on your hard
drive. If you have purchased multiple font packages,
each will have its own folder.
3 Copy or move all the OpenType font files from their
individual font folders into either of the following
locations.
(a) <Volume>/Library/Fonts/
Note: you must be logged on as an “Administrator”
to place fonts in this location. Fonts in this location 6 Press the “Add” button to install the fonts.
can be used by any user.
7 Exit ATM.
(b) <Volume>/Users/<username>/Library/Fonts/
Note: fonts in this location can be used only by the The fonts are now installed and will appear in the
specified user. font menus of your applications.
The fonts are now installed and will appear in the font Windows 2000 and Windows XP
menus of Carbonized or native applications. Windows 2000 and Windows XP (Home and Profes-
sional) have built-in support for PostScript Type 1 and
Installing on Windows
OpenType fonts (both .otf and .ttf). Unless you wish to
Installing your fonts on Windows 95/98, ME or NT 4 use multiple master fonts, ATM Light is not required
requires ATM Light 4.1 or later. Windows 2000 and XP on these OSes (however, the font management features
have native support for OpenType fonts; you can use of ATM Deluxe may still be helpful). Use the Win-
the operating system’s Fonts control panel to install or dows Fonts control panel to install all PostScript Type 1,
remove new OpenType fonts. TrueType, and OpenType fonts.
Windows 95/98/ME or NT 4 with ATM Light 1 Double-click on “My Computer.” Then double-click
1 Choose Start > Programs > Adobe > Adobe Type on the “Control Panels” icon, and then the “Fonts”
Manager. icon.

2 In the ATM window, click the “Fonts” tab. 2 In the Fonts window, select the File menu, and
choose “Install New Font.”
3 Choose “Browse For Fonts” from the Source pop-up
menu. 3 Navigate to the folder that contains the fonts you
want to install.
4 Navigate to the folder that contains the fonts you
want to install. The fonts located in a folder will OpenType fonts from Adobe purchased online will
appear below the folder’s name. be in the location where you decompressed them.

OpenType fonts purchased online from Adobe will 4 Select the fonts you want to install. You can click to
be in the location where you decompressed them. select one font, Control-click to select several fonts,
or Shift-click to select a contiguous group of fonts.
5 Select the fonts you want to install. You can click to
select one font, Control-click to select several fonts,
or Shift-click to select a contiguous group of fonts.
6 OpenType User Guide

group of fonts. You may also elect to copy the fonts

to another location before deleting them.

3 Close the Fonts control panel when you are finished.

Unicode and Access to Foreign

Language Characters & Symbols
Unicode and non-Unicode environments
Applications and operating systems that make use of
the Unicode standard for text processing can provide
easy access to the wide range of accented characters and
special symbols in OpenType fonts, greatly simplifying
multilingual typesetting. Generally, both the applica-
tion and the operating system must support Unicode to
access the full range of language characters and sym-
5 Press the “OK” button to install the fonts. bols in a font. Operating systems that support Unicode
include Windows NT 4, 2000, XP and Mac OS X.
6 Close the Fonts control panel when you are finished.
When the operating system and ATM combination, or
The fonts are now installed and will appear in the
the application, does not fully support Unicode (such as
font menus of your applications.
Windows 95/98/ME or Mac OS 8 and 9), applications
will be limited in their ability to access all the characters
Removing PostScript flavored of an OpenType font.
OpenType Fonts without a font manager
In such cases, generally the application can only access
Mac OS (all versions) and print the basic 256 characters of western lan-
1 Open the folder you installed the fonts into. guages—the Win-ANSI (codepage 252) or MacRoman
range—even though the fonts themselves may support
2 Drag the OpenType font files that you want to additional languages.
remove out of the folder and into a non-system
folder or into the Trash. The exceptions are applications which provide their own
font and Unicode support independently of the oper-
Windows 95/98/ME or NT 4 ating systems, such as Adobe InDesign (all versions),
1 Choose Start > Programs > Adobe > Adobe Type Photoshop (6, 7, CS) and Illustrator (CS). In these cases,
Manager. it does not matter whether the system supports Unicode.

2 In the ATM window, click the Fonts tab. OpenType fonts which are strictly “pi” or symbolic fonts
may not have any characters in the Win-ANSI or Mac-
3 Select the fonts you want to remove. You can click to Roman range. With such a pi font, if an application does
select one font, Control-click to select several fonts, not support Unicode, then none of the characters of the
or Shift-click to select a contiguous group of fonts. font would be accessible in the application.
You may also elect to copy the fonts to another loca-
tion before deleting them. Character access from the OS & applications
4 Press the “Delete” button to remove the fonts. All the Unicode-encoded glyphs in an OpenType font
will show up in the Windows NT 4, Windows 2000 and
5 Exit ATM. Windows XP Character Map accessory, allowing direct
Windows 2000 or Windows XP copying and pasting of any OpenType glyphs into any
application that supports Unicode.
1 Double-click on “My Computer.” Then double-click
on the “Control Panels” icon, and then the “Fonts” On Mac OS X, the Character Palette performs a similar
icon. function. OS X users can also install and select a Uni-
code keyboard that allows direct access to any Unicode
2 In the Fonts window, select the Fonts you want to character, within most applications that support Uni-
remove, and choose “Delete” from the file menu. You code. Note: the Character Palette may not work consis-
can click to select one font, Control-click to select tently with Adobe applications prior to the CS series.
several fonts, or Shift-click to select a contiguous
 OpenType User Guide 7

Switching between the character sets of the differ-

ent languages supported by OpenType fonts can be as
simple as changing the current keyboard language set-
ting (if also supported by the application). This kind
of “on-the-fly” keyboard switching with OpenType is
supported by Windows NT 4, Windows 2000, Windows
XP and Mac OS X. Additionally, the Windows NT, Win-
dows 2000, and Windows XP “Character Map” acces-
sory is Unicode-aware, and allows you to directly access
any encoded character in an OpenType font.

Language switching in Adobe applications

In some current-generation Adobe applications, Uni-
code and language support are handled independently
of the operating system. InDesign, Illustrator and
Photoshop, for example, support direct keyboard input
of a wide range of languages beyond the usual western
European set, including Greek, Cyrillic, and central and
eastern European languages.

Platform-specific Mac and Windows Characters

in applications
Applications with Unicode support in both their Mac
and Windows versions, can access any standard char-
acter on any platform, With these applications, you
can create a file using any character on either platform,
and continue to view and edit the same characters on
the other platform. Similarly, Adobe Acrobat can view
any characters embedded in a PDF file, regardless of
platform.
However, many widely used applications are not as
savvy, and can only access the standard single-byte
character set for the current operating system. In some
Some applications offer additional options for getting
cases, such as Microsoft Office, the Windows version of
Unicode characters into the application. For example,
an application uses Unicode fully, but the Mac version
all versions of InDesign support import of Unicode text
does not.
files and Microsoft Word for Windows files containing
Unicode characters. Additionally, as described at more
length below, InDesign and Illustrator’s Glyph Pal-
ette allows access to any glyph in the font, even glyphs
that are unencoded and not accessible in the Windows
Character Map.
8 OpenType User Guide

With these applications, this means that even though an OpenType layout features
OpenType font may have all the standard characters for To access alternate glyphs or apply alternate positioning
both operating systems, the applications cannot access with an OpenType font, an application must understand
the Mac-specific characters when on Windows, or the OpenType layout features and present a user interface
Windows-specific characters when on the Macintosh. that allows end users to select and apply different layout
Therefore, you are advised against using platform-spe- features to text.
cific characters in such applications, if the document
might need to be viewed or worked on on a different OpenType and Adobe Applications
platform.
Current versions of InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop
Note: The most common Mac-specific characters are all provide OpenType layout feature support. With these
the fi and fl ligatures, and some mathematical symbols, OpenType savvy applications, you can turn on Open-
particularly those commonly substituted from the Type layout features that automatically substitute alter-
“Symbol” font. The most common Windows-specific nate glyphs in an OpenType font, such as automatic
characters are the ¼, ½ and ¾ fractions, and the superi- ligatures, small capitals and proportional oldstyle figures.
ors ¹, ² and ³.
This support simplifies the use of professional typo-
Application Support for graphic features once considered cumbersome, and pro-
Advanced OpenType Features viding exciting new typographic capabilities.
Those layout features that have some effect even on non
Characters and Glyphs
OpenType fonts (such as all caps, small caps, and liga-
The distinction between characters and glyphs is central tures) are on the main flyout from the InDesign charac-
to a discussion of advanced OpenType layout feature ter palette. However most OpenType layout features are
support. Characters are the code points assigned by the accessed either by the OpenType sub-menu of the char-
Unicode standard, which represent the smallest seman- acter palette flyout (for InDesign) or from the Open-
tic units of language, such as letters. Glyphs are the spe- Type Palette (for Illustrator CS). The many OpenType
cific forms or shapes that those characters can take in a formatting options are discussed in detail below.
font.

a➔a
To gain a better understanding of the features supported
A key point is that one character may be represented by in each OpenType font, in InDesign or Illustrator CS

a➔A
any of several different glyphs. For example, lowercase you can use the Glyph Palette to view the glyphs avail-
“a,” small cap “a” and an alternate swash lowercase “a” are able for each feature (see section below). Remember that

a➔a
all the same character—namely the lowercase “a”—but not all fonts have all OpenType layout features, and that
they are three separate glyphs. some features work only on certain characters.
Additionally, although the relationship between glyphs There are three features which have an effect on non-
and characters is often one-to-one, it may be many- OpenType fonts, but do more with OpenType fonts
to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many. For example, that have relevant layout features. These features—liga-
sometimes several characters may be represented by tures (which are on by default), all capitals, and small
one glyph, as in the case of the “ffi” ligature, which cor- capitals—are directly accessible from the main flyout
responds to a sequence of three characters: f, f and i. of the InDesign character palette. (Photoshop 6 and
Alternately, one character may be represented by several InDesign .x have no OpenType sub-menu, and also put
glyphs. For example, “é” is often considered a single proportional oldstyle figures on the main menu.)
character, but might be assembled on the fly from sepa-
rate glyphs for the base character and the accent. In InDesign 2.0, these typographic features are included
on the main pop-up menu because they can sometimes
OpenType layout features can be used to position or be used with non-OpenType fonts. See the individual
substitute glyphs. For any character, there is a default feature descriptions for details.
glyph and positioning behavior. Applying layout fea-
tures to one or more characters may change that default Note: In Adobe applications, selecting the Super-
positioning or substitute a different glyph. For example, script and Subscript options on the Character palette’s
the application of the “small capitals” feature to the “a” main flyout will create these glyphs by scaling full-size
would substitute the small cap “a” glyph for the usual numbers, even if the selected font contains designed
lowercase “a” glyph. superscript/subscript glyphs. To access designed glyphs
contained in an OpenType font, you should instead use
the “Superscript/Superior” and “Subscript/Inferior” fea-
 OpenType User Guide 9

tures on the OpenType flyout menu or palette. See the menu that lists possible formatting options. Select a
OpenType layout features glossary below for details. formatting item on the main flyout that may activate
OpenType features, such as All Caps or Small Caps.
To apply OpenType layout features in
InDesign or Photoshop A check mark will appear next to a feature that is
turned on. If the OpenType font has the desired fea-
1 Insert your cursor in a text box to apply the feature ture and glyphs, it will be applied.
to new text, or select existing text you wish to format.
OR
2 Select an OpenType font from the Character palette
or via the Type > Font menu. 3b Use the OpenType Palette (which can be found
grouped with the character and paragraph palettes)
3 In the Character palette, click on the triangle in the to select desired features.
top right corner of the palette to open the flyout
menu that lists possible formatting options. Figure Type: Figure Position
4 Either select a formatting item on the main flyout Default Default
that may activate OpenType features, or (in InDesign Tabular Lining Superscript/Superior
only) select the OpenType sub-menu, and a format- Proportional Lining Subscript/Inferior
ting option on that sub-menu. Proportional Oldstyle Numerator
Tabular Oldstyle Denominator

A check mark will appear next to a feature that is

turned on. If the OpenType font has the desired fea-
ture and glyphs, it will be applied. Remember that Fractions
not all fonts have all OpenType layout features, and Ordinals
that some features work only on certain characters. Titling Alternates
Stylistic Alternate (#1)
For example, text with the “Discretionary Ligatures” Swash
feature turned on might automatically replace cer- Discretionary Ligatures
tain character combinations such as “ct” or “st” with Contextual Alternates
a ligature such as “ct” or “st.” Standard ligatures
If an OpenType layout feature appears in brackets
[like this], then the currently selected font does not Features may be turned on with the selection boxes
support that particular feature. (for figure type and position) and the icons (for all
other features). The selection boxes show the current
A dash next to an advanced OpenType layout feature
state of the figure type and position. Features that
means that you have selected a block of text that has
have icons and are turned on are highlighted in the
an OpenType layout feature applied to some of the
palette. Icons cannot be selected when they are not
text. A check mark will appear next to a feature that
supported in the currently selected font; the cursor
is turned on for all the selected text.
will turn into a “no entry” symbol when placed over
To apply OpenType layout features in Illustrator CS such an icon.
1 Insert your cursor in a text box to apply the feature
to new text, or select existing text you wish to format.
2 Select an OpenType font from the Character palette
or via the Type > Font menu.
3a In the Character palette, click on the triangle in the
top right corner of the palette to open the flyout
10 OpenType User Guide

OpenType layout features glossary many fonts, this is only the fi and fl ligatures, though
InDesign may also recognize the ff, ffi and ffl ligatures if
Below are descriptions of the OpenType layout features
they are present.
supported by Adobe applications, and guidance on how
and when to use these features. Many Adobe Pro fonts include a large set of standard
ligatures, such as fi, fl, ffi, ffl, ff, fj, ffj, Th, and others.
To see at a glance which features are supported by
Most other OpenType fonts from Adobe have at least fi
which Adobe applications, see the reference chart in the
and fl, and some have fi, fl, ff, ffi and ffl.
appendix at the end of this user guide.
Some effects similar, but inferior, to OpenType layout without ligatures This office fjord halfb
features can be created synthetically by scaling regu-
lar-size glyphs. Because these effects do not use real,
with ligatures This office fjord halfb
designed glyphs, these are referred to as “faux” effects Discretionary Ligatures: In supporting Adobe applica-
(faux is a French word meaning “false”). Layout features tions, this activates discretionary and historical liga-
which may have faux equivalents include small caps, tures, both of which should be used sparingly for special
fractions, ordinals, superscript/superior, subscript/infe- effects. These ligatures may include ct, sp, st, and sev-
rior, numerators and denominators. For the best results, eral historical “long s” ligatures such as ſh. Only select
whenever possible you should access real designed OpenType fonts have discretionary and historical liga-
glyphs via OpenType layout features. tures.
All Caps: With both OpenType and other fonts, this for-
mats the text in uppercase. With OpenType fonts, it also without disc. lig. Most eſſential effects
applies OpenType layout features for alternate upper-
case positioning of punctuation, and spacing designed
with disc. lig. Most eſſential effects
for all-cap use. Fractions: Turns on fractions. Some OpenType fonts
from Adobe only have three basic pre-built fractions
typed uppercase ¿QUE? ‹ROMA-PARIS› (I) (½, ¼, ¾), while others have a larger set, often including
formatted all caps ¿QUE? ‹ROMA-PARIS› (I) ⅛, ⅜, ⅝, ⅞, ⅓ and ⅔. The extent of pre-built fractions
may vary between fonts. Select OpenType fonts can also
Small Caps: With both OpenType and other fonts, this support any arbitrary fraction such as 11⁄12 or 7,402⁄12,597.
formats lowercase text as small caps. (Note: compare In all these cases, these designed fractions match the
with “All Small Caps” feature below.) If the font has weight of the rest of the font better than fractions which
OpenType small caps, these will be used. If the font has are fauxed by scaling regular-size numbers.
a companion Expert Set font, InDesign may be able to
Note: You should only apply the fraction feature to the
tell that the font is associated with the base font, and
specific text you want to turn into a fraction. Apply-
use the small caps from the Expert font. For other fonts,
ing the fraction feature to other numbers may result in
either small caps will not work, or the application will
unexpected effects—either initially, or later if the text is
synthesize small caps from capital letters. Observe how
switched to a different font with a different implementa-
these “faux” small caps look light and spindly next to
tion of fractions.
the capitals, while the designed small caps match the
appearance of their full-size siblings. faux fractions 11⁄8 31⁄2 22⁄7 511⁄12 81,234⁄4,567
faux small caps LIFE IS BUT A POOR PLAYER real fractions 1⅛ 3½ 22⁄7 511⁄12 81,234 ⁄4,567
real small caps Life Is But A Poor Pla Ordinals: Switches regular glyphs to designed super-
scripted glyphs, such as the “st”’ in 1st, “nd” in 2ⁿd, and
Ligatures: This activates any standard ligatures in an
so on. Virtually all Adobe fonts have the masculine
OpenType font (ligatures that the type designer sug-
and feminine ordinals required for Spanish segunda/
gests should be customarily used). In an OpenType
segundo (2ª, 2º), but not all have the full set of super-
font, these can be any ligatures the type designer chose
scripted glyphs needed for English ordinals. In Open-
to create. The major reason for standard ligatures is to
Type fonts from Adobe, the № (number) character and
avoid awkward collisions between letters, creating more
the “h” required for ordinals such as “4th” are generally
elegant text (see example below). Standard ligatures are
present only in Pro fonts. Some Adobe Pro fonts also
on by default in Adobe applications that support them.
have the superior “g” and “é.”
In non-OpenType fonts, InDesign (only) will still acti-
Some applications, such as word processors, can auto-
vate any of the basic f-ligatures that are in the font. In
matically synthesize ordinals by scaling regular let-
 OpenType User Guide 11

ters. As always, real designed ordinal glyphs are a better tain acronyms and abbreviations such as USA, UNICEF,
match for the full-size numbers than the faux ordinals FBI, GDP or MADD. (See also “Small Caps,” previous.)
created by simple scaling.
Stylistic Alternates: Substitutes the first stylistic alter-
nate (if there is one) for the selected glyph(s). Stylistic
faux ordinals 1 2 3 4 2 2
st nd rd th a o
alternates is a feature for stylistic variations that are not
real ordinals 1st 2ⁿd 3rd 4th 2ª 2º covered by other features, and do not affect the entire
font. Although it is possible to have more than one sty-
Note: Like fractions, the ordinal feature should not be
listic alternate for a given character in a font, Adobe’s
applied globally, but only where needed. Some fonts may
current approach accesses only the first one. The exam-
use contextual rules to implement ordinals, while others
ple below shows stylistic alternates from several differ-
will turn them on for all selected text. Also, ordinals
ent fonts.
work best with lining figures, rather than oldstyle figures,
because of the constant vertical position of the ordinals.
without & aEGMR βθφπκ
Swash: Substitutes swash glyphs (stylized letterforms
with extended strokes; see below). Even if this feature is
with stylistic alts & aEGMR ϐϑϕϖϰ
globally turned on, it may only apply swashes in certain
cases, such as when a character is at the end of a word. Superscript/Superior: Substitutes designed super-
Swashes should be used sparingly for special effect. scripted glyphs. These designed glyphs match the weight
Only select OpenType families contain swash glyphs, of the regular letters and numbers better than synthe-
and in families which do contain swash glyphs, they are sized (faux) superscript glyphs. Note that the select
often present only in the italic faces within the family. OpenType fonts from Adobe which support this feature
do not have all characters available in superscript form.
without swash Aidan Sue Veronica Instead, they generally have the letters “abdeilmⁿorst,” plus
a full set of numbers and basic punctuation. Pro fonts
with swash Aidan Sue Veronica generally add the “h” as well. This subset of the alpha-
Titling Alternates: Substitutes specially-designed bet represents all the characters needed for ordinals and
glyphs to be used for large-size settings such as titles, common superscripting needs in western languages.
usually all in capitals. Only select OpenType fonts from
Adobe have titling alternates. faux superscript x14y37 πr2 4a
real superscript x¹⁴y³⁷ πr² 4a
without titling FINESSE BEAUTY
with titling FINESSE BEAUTY Subscript/Inferior: Much like superscript (above), but
for subscripted characters. However, the select Adobe
Contextual Alternates: In supporting Adobe applica- fonts which support subscripts generally have only
tions, this substitutes both alternate glyphs and ligatures numbers and punctuation, with no letters.
that only occur depending on what letters are nearby.
This feature is on by default in InDesign and Illustrator. faux subscript H2O CH4 n37
Contextual forms can have striking effect in those select
OpenType fonts that make use of them. For example,
real subscript H₂O CH₄ n₃₇
Caflisch Script Pro (below) uses contextual forms to Numerator: Substitutes designed numerator glyphs (the
create variety and a realistic calligraphic handwriting top part of a fraction) for numbers. Those OpenType
appearance. fonts from Adobe that support this feature generally
have a full set of digits and basic punctuation in numer-
without contextual new azaleas bloom where ator form. However, it is generally more convenient to
with contextual new azaleas bloom ere simply apply the fraction feature.

All Small Caps: Unlike the traditional small caps fea- Denominator: Just like numerators, but for denomina-
ture, which turns only lowercase into small caps, this tors (the bottom part of a fraction).
substitutes small capitals for all characters typed or Figure (number) Types: Tabular figures are all of equal
selected—both uppercase and lowercase letters. width. They are only needed when the figures must all
“All small caps” should be used instead of “small caps” line up from one line to the next, as in a table. Propor-
whenever the underlying text is uppercase, as with cer- tional figures have varying widths, just like most let-
ters; each number has a width appropriate to its design.
12 OpenType User Guide

Unless there is a special need for tabular figures, you 3 Select a font in the font selection field. Select the
should use proportional figures. appropriate font weight or style in the style selec-
tion field. All of the possible glyphs in the font will
Lining figures are all the same height, usually similar to
appear.
that of capital letters. They are needed only for use with
all-capital settings, or when a particularly modern look You can also click on the size icons to increase or
is desired. Oldstyle figures are of varying height. They decrease the point size of the glyph samples in the
are appropriate for use with lowercase or mixed-case window.
text, and especially if a classic or refined look is desired.
If there are alternate forms of a glyph available via an
OpenType layout feature, a small triangle will appear
lining oldstyle
in the lower right corner of the glyph cell. Clicking
tabular 0123456789 0123456789 and holding on such a glyph cell will activate a flyout
proportional 0123456789 023456789 showing all the alternate glyphs.
4 Double click on a glyph cell, or if there is a flyout,
Default figures are whichever type are encoded as the
click-hold and select the desired alternate glyph. The
standard figures in the font. For historical reasons, these
glyph will then be inserted in your document wher-
will usually be tabular lining figures, though the deci-
ever your text cursor was positioned.
sion is up to each font manufacturer. Because tabular
lining figures are rarely the best choice for a document, You can filter the glyphs displayed in the dialog by using
we recommend actively choosing figure types for each the OpenType layout features pop-up menu. This pop-
particular usage. up menu will display all of the substitution features sup-
ported by the currently selected OpenType font. After
The Glyph Palette choosing an OpenType font in the font selection field,
While OpenType layout features are primarily accessed select a layout feature, such as discretionary ligatures
via the OpenType menu, Adobe InDesign (all versions) or swash, from the pop-up menu and the dialog will
and Adobe Illustrator CS also allow you to view and display only those glyphs that are available through that
access all of the possible glyphs and layout features in layout feature.
an OpenType font through a single window, the Glyph
Palette.

1 Insert your cursor in a text box.

2 Select Type > Insert Glyphs… The Glyph Palette will
appear.

Show OpenType layout features Alternate glyph

indicator

You can view only the alternate glyphs available for a

single selected glyph in your InDesign document by
selecting “Alternates for Selection” from the “Show” pop-
up menu of the Glyph Palette. (If more than one glyph
is selected, the Glyph Palette will show no alternates.)
Adobe applications remember the last OpenType layout
feature you used the next time you activate the Glyph
Palette. To return to a view of all the glyphs in the font,
Font selection field Style selection field select Entire Font from the pop-up menu.
Glyph selection flyout Change display size For more information about the Glyph Palette, please
refer to the Illustrator or InDesign User Guide, as
appropriate.
 OpenType User Guide 13

Appendix: OpenType Layout Feature Support by Application

Photoshop CS
InDesign 2/CS
Illustrator CS

Photoshop 6
Photoshop 7
InDesign 1.x
OpenType layout
User Interface feature codes
oldstyle
pnum + onum • • • • • •
(proportional oldstyle)
ligatures liga • • • • • •
discretionary
dlig + hlig • • • •
ligatures
all caps case, cpsp • • • • • •
small caps smcp • • • • • •
all small caps smcp + c2sc •
all alternates
aalt • • •
(via glyph palette)
most other features
glyph palette • • •
(by applying filters)
tabular lining tnum + lnum • •
proportional lining pnum + lnum • •
tabular oldstyle tnum + onum • •
fractions frac • • •
ordinals ordn • • •
titling alternates titl • •
swash swsh + cswh • • •
contextual alternates calt + clig • • •
superscript/superior sups • •
subscript/inferior sinf • •
numerator numr • •
denominator dnom • •
ornaments ornm •
stylistic alternates salt (first alt only) • •

© 2000–2003 Adobe Systems Incorporated and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Created in Adobe InDesign with OpenType fonts from Adobe.
Adobe OpenType User Guide v27, 9 August 2003 United States and/or other countries. Apple, Macintosh, Mac OS, Power Macintosh,
This manual, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may and TrueType are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other
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