Font support in WIN

Glyphs
1

So, I got my font produced with Glyphs working flawlessly in suitable applications run in OS X 10.7 and up. The woff-version renders perfectly in current browsers (Blink-, Gecko- and WebKit-types). Now, I’d like to explore usability in Windows.

What I already know:

  • The GSUB feature (used extensively) is not supported in OpenOffice run under Win XP or Win7.

What I BELIEVE to know:

  • The GSUB-feature is supported in current Adobe applications under Win7 and up.

Any know-how the experienced members could share on that topic? What works what doesn’t? What’s the required environment, generally? Does conversion of the ‘PS-flavoured’ font to ‘TT-flavour’ improve support under WIN?

Best thanks in advance!

2

What do you mean by ‘the GSUB feature’? All GSUB features or a specific GSUB feature? If the former: no software supports all GSUB features (the case has been made that Firefox does, but it really doesn’t). If the latter, which feature?

For an overview of what browsers support, see: http://stateofwebtype.com

3

Thanks for digging deeper. It looks like my assumption that an app either generally supports gsub-features or it does not, is wrong. In the actual case it’s the liga feature.

As mentioned, browsers do well with my font, cross-platform. My enquiry is rather focused on text editors in Windows, therefore.

4

So your question is: ‘Which Windows applications support the OT Feature liga?’ Do I get this right?

5

Correct. :smile:

… and: With which version of the system?

6

You do understand that this is a practically unlimited question and impossible to answer, right? It makes more sense to narrow down your question, like which versions of MS Word support the feature, etc., and then look on Google for it.

Perhaps this helps you further: https://www.myfonts.com/info/opentype-support-in-applications/

7

That’s a vast field, indeed, and I’m aware that I’ll have to do a lot of testing myself. That’s why I thought I’d ask for the experiences of others, first.

I would not start with MS Word, anyway, which is, traditionally, a hopeless case in regard to ‘exotic scripts’ in Unicode (at least up to version 2007 in Win7).

I stumbled upon the page you linked to, earlier. Considered that it discusses Win 95 to XP - as well as Mac Os 8 and 9 :slight_smile: - I wouldn’t regard the informations provided as relevant in regard to current environments in 2016. Best thanks, anyway.

8

Thought to share my findings. May be, they’ll be of use to somebody with a similar project. The present scope is a Lepcha font produced with Glyphs 1.4.5. OT features are limited to mark (GPOS) and liga (GSUB).

Despite being co-developing partner and trademark owner of OpenType, Microsoft provides poor support for the font format in applications and Windows itself. Third-party software is required for proper input and display of Unicode Lepcha script.

First of all, one has to embrace Windows-logic :slight_smile: discarding the conception that a text ought to be produced with a text editor. And, frankly speaking, surveying plenty of applications for OpenType feature support evokes a feeling of attempting something terribly avant-garde …

Tested working solutions are

  • Tavultesoft Keyman Desktop versions 8 or 9 (for input) combined with either
  • Adobe InDesign versions CS3 to CS6 in Windows XP, versions CS3 to CC 2015 in Windows 7, 8 and 10, or
  • CorelDraw X6 to X8 in Windows 7 and 8 (broken in Windows 10)

I’ve been amazed at the broad compatibility of ID CS3 (the lowest version tried). On the other hand, the lacking support of OT features in OpenOffice and LibreOffice is a major disappointment. They’d require conversion to TTF and supplementary Graphite tables to handle the font. And finally, hard to believe, but true: QuarkXPress 2015 supports ligatures but no mark to base positioning at all!

Though Indian users usually ‘avoid payment’ of licence fees for software (recent investigations estimate a piracy rate of 60%), it did not feel good to only offer high-priced apps to the few indigenous users of the script. That’s why I’m happy my tedious search finally bore a

WINDOWS LOW-COST SOLUTION:

The text tool of GIMP 2.8 works perfectly with the OpenType features of the font and input with Keyman 9 (free). The GIMP file in .xcf format provides cross-platform interchangeability to a large extent. Almost every PC can run GIMP and virtually everybody can afford the app (it‘s free). The Lepcha text can be copied and pasted into any other document created with a suitable application.

Written on a canvas sized 595 x 842 pixels, for example, the file can be exported to a pdf-document in A4 format. The suitability for copy & paste is, however, broken with the pdf-version.

Works in Win7, Win8 and Win10.

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