Ligatures from subset characters

Glyphs
1

I have a font with a subset (ss01). Now I want to make a ligature for a.ss01 followed by another a.ss01. I made a glyphs named a.ss01_a.ss01. In the dlig feature the rule is automatically generated:
sub a.ss01 a.ss01 by a.ss01_a.ss01;
But in InDesign (with otf-font installed in the Font map of Adobe InDesign) the two characters aren’t replaced by the ligature when I check ‘Stylistic Set 1’ and ‘Discretionary Ligatures’.
I tried if it helped when I renamed the ligature to a_a.ss01 and renamed the feature to
sub a.ss01 a.ss01 by a_a.ss01;
but that didn’t solve the problem.

The strange thing is that the feature worked well a year ago when I made a first version of this font with an earlier version of GlyphsApp. Do you have any idea how I can solve the problem?

1 Like
2

That depends on the feature order. If the liga feature comes before the ss01 feature, there is no a.ss01 yet. Move the ss01 feature above the liga feature.

3

Just as simple as that! Thanks a lot.

4

Hi there !
I have the same problem as @Sander , even if the order of the functions is right :
My typeface comes in 2 versions : one by default, and the second one as ss01 subset.
I have plenty of ligatures for the ss01 glyphs in a liga opentype function using this syntax :
sub t.ss01 t.ss01 by t_t.ss01;
My liga feature comes after the Stylistic Set feature in the Functions panel.
Despite all this, the function does not work… :smiling_face_with_tear:

Capture d’écran 2024-05-20 à 10.22.00
Capture d’écran 2024-05-20 à 10.22.00745×882 124 KB

(Sorry the capture is in french)

5

Can you send me the file?

6

I just did!
Thanks a lot!

7

Works fine for me in Indesign and FontGoggles. Where did you test?

And I wouldn’t use ligatures in this case but contextual alternates: Features, part 3: advanced contextual alternates | Glyphs

8

Thanks @GeorgSeifert
You are right, it works in InDesign, I hadn’t tried it yet.

But the ligatures don’t work in Photoshop & Illustrator ! :cold_sweat:

I’ve chosen ligatures instead of contextual alts because this is really how the font must show, these ligatures are not optional.

9

Contextual alternatives should be enabled by default in most settings, at least in those where ligatures are also enabled default. You might want to use rclt instead of calt to disallow disabling the feature. Or you could try placing the code in the liga feature regardless of whether it makes use of many-to-one substitutions (like ligatures commonly do) or contextual substitutions.

10

Thanks Florian.
My goal is that those ligatures are always visible. They are part of the project.
As far as I know, the online type testers of the marketplaces where I plan to sell the font usually show ligatures by default but not always other opentype features.

11

With the contextual feature, you also get alternates if there is another glyph in between.

12

Sorry I don’t understand what you mean…
But as I said, CALT feature is not enabled in most of marketplaces’ type testers… That’s why I’ve chosen Ligatures.
Do you understand why the ligatures do’nt show in Photoshop & Illustrator ?

13

I would still use the contextual code and maybe add the ligatures as fallback.

They do work form me.

14

How is that possible ? :sob:

15

Try in a new indesign document? Can you send me the .otf and .indd file that I can have a look?

16

I’ve found the problem ! :bulb:
And it has nothing to do with the software :

I’ve decided to affect my alternates to a TITL feature, as this option directly appears on type panels as a button. So it’s easy for the user to use the alternate version of the font by just clicking the button.
If i choose this titling feature for my font in any Adobe App, the alternate glyphs appear, but not the ligatures !
If I choose the Stylistic Set, the ligatures appear !

Is there a way to make those ligatures work even using the titling feature ?

17

Make sure that the titl feature comes before the liga feature in the features list.

18

WONDERFUL!
Thanks a lot, @GeorgSeifert !