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Using Open Type Fonts

Carl Shank • September 29, 2023

Using Open Type Fonts*

Most modern fonts are what we call "Open Type" fonts (See my Blog Post "More About Fonts"). The advantages of Open Type fonts are mainly fourfold — (1) they have a larger glyph limit (usually about 65,000 glyphs). This is an advance over the traditional 256 glyphs in a standard Type 1 or TrueType font. (2) They are cross platform fonts, thus able to be used in both Mac and Windows applications. (3) They offer support for both PostScript Type 1 and True Type outlines. (4) They support advanced typographic features. More on this later.


Open Type fonts can contain many thousands of characters and multiple alphabets, such as Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic; or kanji, kana, and romaji for Japanese use). OpenType fonts can also include typographic refinements such as true small caps, different styles of figures, and extensive sets of ligatures and alternates, as well as complete sets of accented characters and diacritical marks. Different applications have differing levels of support for all the OpenType features.However, not all programs can support all Open Type features, as shown by the Windows fraction 3/16 in Microsoft Word in the Windows font Book Antiqua Sample below.


Open Type options built into advanced programs, such as Adobe InDesign and Photoshop CC include several features, that can be turned on in the "Character" menu under InDesign (See Sample Below) —


Ligatures — Ligatures are typographic combinations of two or more letters into a single character (See Sample Below). There are three types of Ligatures, Standard, Discretionary and Historical. You are most likely familiar with Standard Ligatures, such as the combination of "f" plus "l" in fl or "f" plus "f" plus "i" in ffi. Discretionary ligatures are decorative in nature, adding a unique visual element to text that does not affect its readability nor functionality (See Sample Below). Historical Ligatures maintain old-fashioned letter combinations, used for centuries by typographers, such as the combination œ ("o" plus "e") seen in medieval manuscripts. Actually, this lexical ligature is called an "ethel" and typographically required for deliberate archaism and for academically correct quotation from older English sources, as well as in some French phrases, such as hors d'œuvre.


Contextual Alternates Contextual alternates are ligatures that are applied to individual characters based on the letters around them (their context). Contextual alternates can also be applied to entire words in certain contexts, for example, words frequently used in titles (such as "of" and "the"). When contextual alternates are enabled for a font, they are used instead of the standard ligatures in those contexts defined by the font designer. In Microsoft Word, contextual alternates can be found in the Open Type Features group, "Advanced" tab, on the "Font" dialogue.


Discretionary Ligatures — Discretionary ligatures are designed to be ornamental and not specifically designed for readability. They are not common in use. Texts usually borrow some of their elements as accents.


Swashes — (See Example Below) A swash is a typographical flourish, such as an exaggerated serif, terminal, tail, entry stroke, etc., on a glyph. The use of swash characters dates back to at least the 16th century, as they can be seen in Ludovico Vicentino degli Arrighi's La Operina, which is dated 1522.


Stylistic Alternates — Stylistic alternates, or simply "alternates,"  usually placed in one of the stylistic set features ( ss01 - ss20 ), are usually simple one-to-one substitutions (no context) and, of course off, by default. The user can enable them.


Titling Alternates — These are specially-designed capitals that are intended for display usage. Titling characters differ from their text counterparts in that their scale, proportion and design details have been altered to look best at larger sizes.


Ordinals — In common (rather than mathematical) usage, ordinals are superscripted letters following a number, such as in 1st, 2nd and 3rd. They are used in other languages as well, for example, the Spanish and Portuguese "a" and "o" ordinals. (See Sample Below)


Fractions — Fractions can be divided into three categories–basic, extended and arbitrary. Basic fractions are ¼, ½ and ¾, and are standard in many fonts in all formats. Extended fractions are found in many, but not all, OpenType fonts, and usually include 1/8, 3/8, 5/8, 7/8, and sometimes 1/3 and 2/3. Arbitrary fractions include anything and everything else, such as 18/256. (See Sample Below and my Blog on "About Well Defined Fractions")


Choosing Glyphs

A glyph is a single representation of a character. Every font has a Unicode character map that links (abstract) character IDs with how to display that character, using the default glyphs. A single character can have multiple glyphs (alternates), and a single glyph can represent multiple characters (ligatures). (See Sample Below)


Open Type in Microsoft Word

Those who use Microsoft Word will note that Word has limited Open Type support and uses. What are generally available, if the font in question has them, are Stylistic Alternates, Contextual Alternates and Standard and Discretionary Ligatures. Thus, the fl ligature, for example, can be accessed in Word (See Example Below). If the Open Type font has fractions that go beyond the normal fractional glyphs, they will also be available in Word documents. Most likely, however, fractions that are real typographic fractions are limited in Word usage.


To access these features in Word,  (1) Select your text and go to to Format > Font and select the Advanced tab. (2) For Stylistic Alternates, click on the dropdown menu under “Stylistic Sets” and choose one of the sets. Keep in mind that not all fonts will have 20 stylistic sets. (3) To enable contextual alternates, check the box toward the bottom. Ligatures — If you click on the dropdown beside Ligatures you’ll be able to choose from Standard ligatures, Historical and Discretionary, and so forth. (See Sample Below)


To access Open Type glyphs in other text programs, you have to use what is called PUA Unicode-mapping. Unicode has been around for several decades, but it didn’t come into the limelight until 2000 when Adobe and Microsoft jointly adopted Unicode for font encoding. Today, Unicode is the default character encoding for nearly all computer technologies.Unicode is a common character set that is supported on the Windows, Apple, and Unix platforms. It assigns a unique number (called a code point) to each character of the world’s major languages, plus mathematical symbols, common decorative symbols like checkboxes, diacritical marks, punctuation, and other characters. Unicode supports more than 900,000 code points which means it can handle more than 900,000 characters or glyphs. That’s a huge increase from legacy TrueType and PostScript fonts which had only 256 code points.


Consequently, using Unicode, a typist can access characters such as true prime (U 2032), double prime (U 2033) and true quotes. For Windows users,  (1) Open the Windows Character Map App; (2) Set the Font to the desired one in the list; (3)  At the bottom, check [ ] Advanced View; (4) Set “Group by:” to Unicode Subrange; (5) At the bottom of the list, select “Private Use Characters." You can also use a glyph finder app like "PopChar" (https://ergonis.com/popchar $29.99)


For Mac users, (1) Open the FontBook app;  (2) To copy characters, go to Preview / View > Repertoire; (3) Select and copy (CMD + C) the desired character; (4) You can then paste (CMD + V) the character(s) into the text field of your open program (such as Microsoft Word.) Or, you can use an app, like PopChar or Ultra Character Map (https://x04studios.com/ultracharactermap.html $9.99 for Mac)


The point is that Open Type has a myriad range of use and features open to the general and specialized user of open type fonts. Enjoy getting to know and use them in your documents!


(*Much of this article and the back splash for this blog are adapted from the Creative Market blog, https://support.creativemarket.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037478813-Using-Fonts-with-Special-Features-OpenType-#opentype) Swiss Army knife is from SkyVectors.








Successful Layout & Design

By Carl Shank October 24, 2024
Art in the Alphabet: What AI Cannot Give Us I am a student of typographic history. In fact, I have pulled together a book on this history ( Typography Through The Years: A Selected History ) available from most booksellers. This book is filled with digitized fonts from earlier years, many not generally available in the open printing and typography trades. They represent hours of careful labor redrawing or copying the pen written works of earlier typographers, like Lewis F. Day (See his Alphabets Old and New, London, 1910 or earlier). Does AI (artificial intelligence) help us or even substitute for us the work and beauty that goes into historic calligraphy and font histories? As with many people in many businesses and professions, I have used AI (especially ChatGPT and Claude) to access information files and reduce the time formerly spent in libraries or even online searches. That has been true even in my preaching and teaching as a theologian and retired pastor and consultant (See my extended BLOGs, “AI and the Ministry: The Uses and Abuses of Artificial Intelligence” and “AI and the Brethren in Christ: Hallucinations & Corrections” in www.carlshankconsulting.com ). Indeed, there are multiple copyright issues associated with AI generated feeds. In my BLOG on “Copyright Do’s and Don’t’s” Oct 23, 2023) I noted the following — “Right now, in the courts, there are lawsuits pending against big time AI players such as GitHub and Microsoft and Open AI seeking to see whether or not AI created materials are subject to copyright violations and piracy on a level not seen since the Napster violations in the 1990s. Getty Images have filed a suit against Stable Diffusion, an AI art developing tool, claiming that its images are too close to the real thing and thus violate copyright laws. This is far from "Fair Use" standards. The Clarkson Law Firm has two class action suits against OpenAI and Google claiming that AI "stole" copyrighted materials from their creators. Moreover, the U.S. Copyright office has ruled that AI cannot be considered an "author," since only a person can be an author. Additionally, Internet Archive ( https://archive.org/ ) has filed with the commission investigating AI and copyrights. They do not support any additional laws specifically targeting AI. They write — "Our high level view is that copyright law has been adapting to disruptive technologies since its earliest days and our existing copyright law is adequate to meet the disruptions of today. In particular, copyright’s flexible fair use provision deals well with the fact-specific nature of new technologies, and has already addressed earlier innovations in machine learning and text-and-data mining. So while Generative AI presents a host of policy challenges that may prompt different kinds of legislative reform, we do not see that new copyright laws are needed to respond to Generative AI today." More courts and Congress will have to argue it out. Suffice it to say at this juncture, that using AI to re-create an illustration or an entire book may involve copyright breaches. Be careful in using the technology to bypass coded laws. There are still many pitfalls, however, and many ways AI cannot help us. There are many who would agree with me in this “short-cutting” our way to beautiful and usable fonts and faces. My recent foray into AI revealed the following about developing historic early fonts, say from a craftsman like Lewis F. Day, by ChatGPT — “To create a typeface inspired by Lewis F. Day's decorative design style and the typography of sixteenth and seventeenth-century printing, we'd need to combine key elements from both sources. 1. Lewis F. Day's Influence: Ornamentation: Lewis F. Day was known for his intricate decorative designs, inspired by Gothic and Renaissance motifs. His work often emphasized geometric and nature-inspired patterns. Flourishes: Day's aesthetic would inspire flourishes around characters, especially in capital letters or title work, where borders or embellishments could be incorporated. Symmetry and Balance: His designs usually kept a strong sense of order and symmetry, meaning that the typeface could integrate balanced, stylized serifs or carefully positioned decorations. 2. Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century Printing Influences: Old Style Serifs: Early printing typefaces like Garamond or Caslon, which were common in this period, feature elegant, moderate contrast between thick and thin strokes, and serifs with soft, rounded edges. These fonts have a warm and timeless feel. Ligatures: In keeping with old typesetting practices, ligatures (like "fi", "fl", etc.) would be an essential feature. Hand-Pressed Imperfections: The text could have slight irregularities to evoke the hand-pressed, metal-type printing look of that era, with slight ink spread or irregular edges on the characters. Decorative Initials: Sixteenth and seventeenth-century printing often incorporated large, intricate drop capitals, which can be revisited with ornamentation similar to Lewis F. Day’s floral or geometric designs. Key Elements for Typeface: Character Design: Incorporate Old Style serif structure with moderate contrast in stroke weights. Slight ink spread effect for a hand-pressed look. Ornamentation: Incorporate Day's floral and geometric patterns as flourishes on capital letters. Consider decorative borders on certain initials or for titles. Ligatures & Swashes: Use swashes on certain letterforms, especially for f, g, h, k, and long descenders. Drop Caps: Design large, decorative drop caps that feature intricate floral or scroll designs, combining Day’s Victorian influence with sixteenth-century engravings. This typeface would feel both classic and ornamental, paying homage to the elegance of early print typography with the decorative touch that Lewis F. Day often brought to his work.” While a sample of Day’s work in generalized pre-Victorian and Victorian era times can be previewed (badly, I would say) on AI (through Claude.ai, for instance), an actual typeface and its construction eludes AI, at least for now. First, the description above makes little sense unless I have been immersed in viewing Lewis F. Day's samples and history. And then, secondly, the descriptors are too vague and undefined. There is not merely one typestyle either in Victorian England or in Day's works. Take a look at the uncials (alphabetic capitals) below for a wide variety of what AI has tried to describe. The penned and hand drawn letters represented by Day and digitized by CARE Typography cannot be reproduced by AI, no matter how precise the tool. Moreover, accurate letter spacing and hinting and all the features that make up even a hand drawn font are not AI reproducible, nor in the range of AI generated feeds. And, to do so, would probably violate image-drawn copyrightable feeds. Conclusions. What does all of this mean for the typographer or printer or publisher? Do the hard work! Type formation takes significant time and effort and drawing and re-drawing, tweaking until the letters and letter spacings and kerning and everything is right and readable. AI will not do such work for you. Seek permission for its use . This is always the best and most honorable course of action. You may have to contact the publisher, who then in turn may contact the writer. I did this for a study guide I wrote on a book from Oxford Press in England on the life and work of Jonathan Edwards, the great early American theologian in New England. While it was only a study guide with excerpts on which to comment, and for church study and use exclusively, the Press required a contractural engagement that lasted for one year with a limited number of copies that could be printed and made available, even for religious study and use. It would have cost me hundreds of dollars. I declined and went another route with some of the material. Use legitimate free sources for photos and images . I use dreamstime.com in their free portfolios for the background photos and images for a number of book covers I have crafted. There are other legitimate sources in iStock, for instance. Licensing uses and rules apply to most of these freebies. And give credit for where credit is due, even for the freebies. The Lewis F. Day’s Alphabets Old and New and its samples are in the public domain now. Use your own work and photos . I know this requires substantial time and effort, but it is usually the right thing to do. I put together a historical calendar of the Lancaster PA area using photos I personally took. Use the old "buyer beware" adage here . Are you willing to risk your site being taken down, or getting a cease and desist letter, a bill or actually being sued through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which can be very, very costly. People actually make a living on book royalties and selling or licensing their work. Poaching their work for pleasure or profit is unacceptable. Extensis has an entire section on font use and licensing (www.extensis.com). Conclusion #2. For all Christians and people of faith, we need to heed the apostle Paul’s admonition in the Bible that “Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible but not everything is constructive.” (1 Corinthians 10:23) Yes, Paul is talking about Christian liberty and eating of food that was devoted to idols of his day, but the principle remains. What we CAN do is not always what we SHOULD do. This involves the use of AI in our churches and ministries. Second, beware of the “Babel influence.” You do remember the construction of a tower built by early peoples to reach to heaven in Genesis 11 — “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” Christopher Watkin notes in his massive study, Biblical Critical Theory: How The Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture , “rather than playing a role in God’s story (filling the earth and subduing it), these people want God to play a supporting role in their story, as the heavenly antagonist who is ultimately beholden to, or vanquished through, their heroic self-aggrandizement.” (208-9) This is sinful autonomy. This is humankind globalization of power and wealth and achievement. This is what AI could promise if misused and misapplied. We need to always see the inherent temptation in AI drawing us away from God and dependence on God. Third, know the times and the promises and pitfalls of artificial intelligence. Get on ChatGPT 4 and Claude.ai and other AI tools. Find out how they work and can work for you. Use them biblically and intelligently and wisely. Be aware that your people are using AI all the time where they live and work, even if you don’t. In other words, be “smart” about AI and its growing use and influence — and keep the dependence on God strong and sure. Sources Lewis F. Day’s Alphabets Old and New , London, 1910 edition. Sara Hawkins, “Copyright Fair Use and How It Works for Online Images,” https://bit.ly/3YyNMCW Lucie Růžičková , "Ai and Copyright: The Legal Landscape," https://bit.ly/3Ao5zDw . Gibble, Kraybill & Hess, Attorneys in Lancaster, PA, https://gkh.com/protecting-copyrights-vs-protecting-trademarks/
By Carl Shank October 5, 2024
Lewis F. Day's Alphabetic Summary . This is the last post of Day's Alphabets Old and New (London, 1910), highlighting a summary picture of his alphabetic font offerings in the book. Other Blogs investigate the font backgrounds and development of Day's fonts. CARE Typography has meticulously digitized many of Day's typographic offerings. They are available, either individually, or as a set for a modest cost. Contact cshanktype@gmail.com for prices and ordering. Additionally, CARE Typography is offering a beautifully crafted printed summary in a font binder, along with their newest book, Typography Through the Years: A Selected History . This selection gives a carefully researched history of typography and an extensive sampling of historic faces, both old and new. Lewis Foreman Day (1845-1910) was an influential English designer, author, and lecturer who played a significant role in the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He became a prolific designer, working across various mediums including wallpaper, textiles, stained glass, pottery, and metalwork. Day advocated for the integration of form and function, emphasizing the importance of practicality in design alongside aesthetic considerations. His work and writings contributed significantly to the development of British design education and theory in the late Victorian era. His book, Alphabets Old and New , published in London, in 1910 gives sterling examples of his typography work. Day's approach to design, blending traditional craftsmanship with modern industrial techniques, helped shape the transition from Victorian aesthetics to more modern design principles. CARE Typography has digitized a number of the font faces in the book for modern use and aesthetic appeal. The typefaces below illustrate the beauty and craftsmanship of Day which can contribute to modern typography. These mostly pen drawn typefaces have been digitized by CARE Typography using Fontographer to make them available as usable fonts. Caps or Unicals are often used in display faces and advertising. Some of these classic faces can enliven your printing and advertising projects.
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