Adobe Type and type technology resources

Find information about Adobe Type and Adobe font technologies

On this page you will find general information about Adobe's in-house type foundry, Adobe Type, as well as general information about fonts and font technologies.

Basics

Adobe's highly trained staff analyzes and tests every character as it is created. It assures that original typefaces are expertly crafted, and typefaces converted from world-renowned libraries remain true to the foundry design. Adobe type is the standard used by  professional graphic designers and printing service bureaus to measure and prefer type quality.

Adobe type offers the following benefits:

  • Highest quality: Careful attention to detail of font outlines allows the finer points of each character to be imaged as sharply and accurately as possible. This betters the resolution of your monitor, printer, image setter, or film recorder. 
  • Great selection: The Adobe Type Library offers more than 2,750 typefaces, one of the largest selections of high-quality typefaces. Award-winning contemporary type designers have created the Adobe Originals designs, while many others are licensed from the oldest and most respected type foundries in the world.
  • Typographic refinements: Many Adobe typefaces offer companion expert sets, old style figures, small caps, ligatures, and other variations required for professional typography. Also, Adobe invented the expert set, a standard character set, and encoding for many supplementary characters. With OpenType, Adobe is packing in more characters into the base font. The refinement allows OpenType-savvy applications such as Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop 6.0 to automatically access the characters using simple formatting.
  • Technological leadership: Adobe Systems are the leader in the field of digital typographic production and design for good reason. The engineers and designers at Adobe Systems constantly strive to improve the technology that gave birth to high-quality digital type with the Type 1 format. With Microsoft, Adobe has now developed OpenType to end the TrueType versus PostScript Type 1 font wars. , introducing advanced new typographic features.

Adobe® PostScript® 3™ is the worldwide printing and imaging standard. The PostScript programming language is originally developed by Adobe Systems to communicate complex graphic printing instructions to digital printers. It is now built into many laser printers for high-quality rendering of both raster and vector graphics.

An important feature of the PostScript language is that it is device independent. Therefore, it produces good-looking images regardless of the resolution or color rendering method of the output device. Also, it takes full advantage of the capabilities built in to the device. The Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) is a more structured, compact subset of the PostScript language. Almost anything that can be done in PostScript can be done in PDF.

Type 1 fonts are a specialized form of PostScript program and are the original file format used for type display on all PostScript printers. The PostScript language was later extended to support the later TrueType and OpenType® font standards. Any new Adobe PostScript language device made today supports all three font standards.

Adobe PostScript Type 1 is a worldwide standard for digital type fonts (International Standards Organization outline font standard, ISO 9541). Adobe Systems was a pioneer for Type 1 for use in PostScript printers. Adobe has set the standards for the design and manufacturing of the Type 1 software. Hundreds of companies around the world followed suit, designing and releasing more than 30,000 fonts in the Type 1 format.

The Type 1 font format is recognized on every computer platform, from microcomputers to mainframes. It prints on every printer, either directly through built-in PostScript language interpreting, or through add-on utilities, such as Adobe Type Manager® (ATM®). ATM technology is integrated into Microsoft® Windows® 2000 and Mac OS X operating system. For more than a decade, Type 1 has been the preferred format for the graphic arts and publishing industries.

TrueType is a standard for digital type fonts that was developed by Apple Computer, and later licensed to Microsoft Corporation. Each company has made independent extensions to TrueType, which is used in both Windows and Macintosh operating systems. Like Type 1, the TrueType format is available for development of new fonts.

OpenType is a new standard for digital type fonts, developed jointly by Adobe and Microsoft. OpenType supersedes Microsoft's TrueType Open extensions to the TrueType format. OpenType fonts can contain either PostScript or TrueType outlines in a common wrapper. An OpenType font is a single file, which can be used on Macintosh and Windows platforms without conversion. OpenType fonts have many advantages over previous font formats because they contain more glyphs, support more languages (OpenType uses the Unicode standard for character encoding). OpenType fonts also support rich typographic features such as small caps, old style figures, and ligatures, all in a single font.

Beginning with Adobe InDesign® and Adobe Photoshop® 6.0, applications have begun to support OpenType layout features. OpenType layout allows you to access features such as old style figures or true small caps by simply applying formatting to text. In most applications that do not support such features, OpenType fonts work just like other fonts. Although, the OpenType layout features are not accessible.

OpenType with PostScript outlines is supported by the latest versions of Adobe Type Manager, and is natively supported in Windows 2000. Apple has also announced its intent to support OpenType, and supplies Japanese system fonts for Mac OS X in OpenType form with PostScript outlines.

Adobe western and Japanese fonts contain various character sets that support different languages around the world. Below are the most common character sets found in Adobe Fonts. If more than one-character set is listed, the font supports all possible languages covered by each character set. 

 
Adobe Western 2 Fonts with an Adobe Western 2 character set support most western languages including: Afrikaans, Basque, Breton, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Gaelic, German, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Sami, Spanish, Swahili, and Swedish. Adobe Western 2 also adds 17 more symbol characters: euro, liter, estimated, omega, pi, partialdiff, delta, product, summation, radical, infinity, integral, approxequal, notequal, lessequal, greater equal, and lozenge. Adobe Western 2 is the new minimum character set standard implemented in OpenType fonts from Adobe.
ISO-Adobe Fonts with an ISO-Adobe character set support most western languages including: Afrikaans, Basque, Breton, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Gaelic, German, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Sami, Spanish, Swahili, and Swedish. This is the standard character set in most PostScript Type 1 fonts from Adobe.
Adobe CE Fonts with an Adobe CE character set also include the characters necessary to support the following central European languages: Croatian, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Serbian (Latin), Slovak, Slovenian, and Turkish.
Greek The Greek alphabet is one of the oldest known writing systems, having been adapted from the Phoenician alphabet about 3,000 years ago. Fonts with a Greek character set include the characters and punctuation required to support the modern Greek language.
Polytonic Greek Fonts that support Polytonic Greek include additional archaic Greek characters that are useful when setting historical or Biblical texts in Greek language.
Cyrillic The Cyrillic alphabet was reformed by Peter the Great in Russia in the early eighteenth century. Fonts that include a Cyrillic character set support the following languages: Balkar, Belarusian (Cyrillic), Bulgarian, Erzya, Karachay, Kumyk, Macedonian, Moksha, Nanai, Nivkh, Nogai, Russian, Rusyn, Selkup, Serbian (Cyrillic), and Ukrainian.
Cyrillic Extended Fonts with Cyrillic Extended character set include characters necessary to support all of the languages listed for Cyrillic and the following languages: Abaza, Adyghe, Agul, Avar, Buryat, Chechen, Crimean Tatar (Cyrillic), Dargin, Dungan, Ingush, Kabardian, Kalmyk, Karakalpak, Kazakh, Khinalugh, Kyrgyz (Cyrillic), Lak, Lezgian, Mongolian (Cyrillic), Rutul, Tabasaran, Tajik, Tat, Tatar, Turkmen, Tuvan, and Uzbek (Cyrillic).
Latin Extended Fonts with a Latin Extended character set include additional Latin characters beyond the combined Adobe Western 2 and Adobe CE character sets to support languages like Welsh, archaic Danish, and Esperanto.
Symbol/Pi Certain fonts contain additional non-alphabetic characters not in standard character sets, such as bullets, ornaments, symbols, flourishes, icons, and border elements.
Customized These fonts may contain a subset of the entire standard Adobe Western 2 character range and may support a limited number of languages. For example, certain supplemental expert set fonts may only contain specific glyphs such as small capitals, swashes or alternate letter forms, while certain display fonts may omit a few accented characters.
Chinese Simplified Simplified Chinese is the form of ideograph used in Mainland China. These fonts support the GB 18030 national standard and Tōngyòng Guīfàn Hànzìbiǎo (通用规范汉字表).
Chinese Traditional Traditional Chinese is the form of ideograph used in Taiwan, Macao, and Hong Kong SAR. These fonts support the Big Five and Hong Kong SCS standards.
Adobe Japan 1-4 The Adobe-Japan 1-4 character collection contains 15,444 glyphs and is a super set of the Adobe-Japan 1-3 character collection. Adobe-Japan 1-4 contains thousands of kanji and kana variants to provide rich typographic support. A detailed description of the Adobe-Japan 1-4 character collection is included in Adobe Tech Note #5078.
Adobe Japan 1-3 The Adobe-Japan 1-3 character collection contains 9,354 glyphs, including some glyph variants. It provides complete JIS X 0208 support, along with JIS78 (JIS C 6226-1978) variants and IBM Selected Kanji. A detailed description of the Adobe-Japan 1-3 character collection is included in Adobe Tech Note #5078.
Kana Kana fonts contain a subset of the Adobe-Japan 1-3 character collection and include a set of 471 hiragana and katakana glyphs.
Pr6N Japanese These fonts are based on the Adobe-Japan 1-6 character collection (23,058 glyphs), which includes many glyph variants. Fonts based on this character collection provide complete support for all of the latest JIS Standards and the default glyphs are those that correspond to JIS X 0213:2004 (aka, JIS2004).
Vietnamese Fonts with Vietnamese character set include another characters required to write the common form of Vietnamese language.
Adobe-Korea 1-2 Fonts based on the Adobe-Korea 1-2 character collection support Korean and contain 18,352 glyphs. All 11,172 hangul, 4,620 hanja (Chinese characters) and a complete set of symbols and punctuation are included. The KS X 1001:1992 standard is supported in its entirety.
PlusN PlusN fonts are based on Adobe-Japan 1-3 character collection (9,354 glyphs), but also include 144 extra glyphs from Adobe-Japan 1-6 regions. The coverage of the JIS x 0208 character set in these fonts is JIS2004-savvy.
Gujarati Fonts with Gujarati character set include the characters required to write the common form of the Gujarati script.
Tamil Fonts with Tamil character set include the characters required to write the common form of the Tamil script.
alignment
The positioning of text within the page margins. Alignment can be flush left, flush right, justified, or centered. Flush left and flush right are sometimes referred to as left justified and right justified.
ascender
The part of lowercase letters (such as k, b, and d) that ascends above the x-height of the other lowercase letters in a face.
baseline
The imaginary line on which the majority of the characters in a typeface rest.
body text
The paragraphs in a document that make up the bulk of its content. The body text should be set in an appropriate and easy-to-read face, typically at 10- or 12-point size.
boldface
A typeface that has been enhanced by rendering it in darker, thicker strokes so that it will stand out on the page. Headlines that need emphasis should be boldface. Italics are preferable for emphasis in body text.
bullet
A dot or other special character placed at the left of items in a list to show that they are individual, but related, points.
cap height
The height from the baseline to the top of the uppercase letters in a font. This may or may not be the same as the height of ascenders. Cap height is used in some systems to measure the type size.
centered
Text placed at an equal distance from the left and right margins. Headlines are often centered. It is generally not good to mix centered text with flush left or flush right text.
character, character code

The word character is used differently in different contexts. In the context of modern computer operating systems, it is often defined as a code with a meaning attached to it. For example, the decimal character code 97 represents the letter a. In most operating systems today, character codes are represented by an 8-bit unit of data known as a byte.

    Also see character encoding, glyph, keyboard layout.

character mapping
See character encoding.
character encoding

Character encoding is a table in a font or a computer operating system that maps character codes to glyphs in a font. Most operating systems today represent character codes with an 8-bit unit of data known as a byte. Thus, character encoding tables today are restricted to at most 256 character codes. Not all operating system manufacturers use the same character encoding. For example, the Macintosh platform uses the standard Macintosh character set as defined by Apple Computer, Inc., while the Windows operating system uses another encoding entirely, as defined by Microsoft. Fortunately, OpenType fonts (and standard Type 1 fonts) contain all the glyphs needed for both these encodings, so they work correctly not only with these two systems, but others as well.

Not all operating system manufacturers use the same character encoding. For example, the Macintosh platform uses the standard Macintosh character set as defined by Apple Computer, Inc., while the Windows operating system uses another encoding entirely, as defined by Microsoft. Fortunately, standard Type 1 fonts contain all the glyphs needed for both these encodings, so they work correctly not only with these two systems, but others as well.

Also see character, glyph, keyboard layout.

color
See typographic color.
condensed
A narrower version of a font, used to get a maximum number of glyphs into a given space.
contrast
A subjective feeling that graphic elements (such as fonts) are different but work together well. This gives a feeling of variety without losing harmony. Within a particular font, contrast also refers to the variety of stroke thicknesses that make up the characters. Helvetica has low contrast and Bodoni has high contrast.
copyfitting
The process of adjusting the size and spacing of type to make it fit within a defined area of the page.
descender
The part of lowercase letters (such as y, p, and q) that descends below the baseline of the other lowercase letters in a font face. In some typefaces, the uppercase J and Q also descend below the baseline.
dingbats
Typefaces that consist of symbol characters such as decorations, arrows and bullets. 
display font
A font that has been designed to look good at large point sizes, often for use in headlines. Typically such a font is not as readable at smaller sizes for large amounts of text. If a serif font with optical sizes, it will likely have lighter weight main stems and much lighter weight serifs and crossbars than a text-size version of the same typeface.
dpi
An abbreviation for dots per inch. Refers to the resolution at which a device, such as a monitor or printer, can display text and graphics. Monitors are usually 100 dpi or less, and laser printers are 300 dpi or higher. An image printed on a laser printer looks sharper than the same image on a monitor.
drop cap
A design style in which the first capital letter of a paragraph is set in a larger point size and aligned with the top of the first line. This method is used to indicate the start of a new section of text, such as a chapter.
ellipsis
A punctuation character consisting of three dots, or periods, in a row. It indicates that a word or phrase has been omitted.
em, em space, em quad
A common unit of measurement in typography. Em is traditionally defined as the width of the uppercase M in the current face and point size. It is more properly defined as simply the current point size. For example, in 12-point type, em is a distance of 12 points.
em dash
A dash the length of an em is used to indicate a break in a sentence.
en, en space, en quad
A common unit of measurement in typography. En is traditionally defined as the width of the uppercase N in the current face and the current point size. It is more properly defined as half the width of an em.
en dash
A dash the length of an en is used to indicate a range of values.
encoding
See character encoding.
face
One of the styles of a family of faces. For example, the italic style of the Garamond family is a face.
family
Also known as a font family. A collection of faces that were designed and intended to be used together. For example, the Garamond family consists of roman and italic styles, as well as regular, semi-bold, and bold weights. Each of the style and weight combinations is called a face.
flush left
Text that is aligned on the left margin is said to be set flush left. If the same text is not aligned on the right margin, it is said to be set flush left, ragged right. The term ragged right is sometimes used alone to mean the same thing.
flush right
Text which is aligned on the right margin is said to be set flush right. If the same text is not aligned on the left margin, it is said to be set flush right, ragged left. The term ragged left is sometimes used alone to mean the same thing.
font
One weight, width, and style of a typeface. Before scalable type, there was little distinction between the terms font, face, and family. Font and face still tend to be used interchangeably, although the term face is usually more correct.
font family
Also known as family. The collection of faces that were designed together and intended to be used together. For example, the Garamond font family consists of roman and italic styles, as well as regular, semi-bold, and bold weights. Each of the style and weight combinations is called a face.
glyph
The word glyph is used differently in different contexts. In the context of modern computer operating systems, it is often defined as a shape in a font that is used to represent a character code on screen or paper. The most common example of a glyph is a letter, but the symbols and shapes in a font like ITC Zapf Dingbats are also glyphs.

Also see character, character encoding, keyboard layout.
hanging indent
A document style in which the first line of a paragraph is aligned with the left margin, and the remaining lines are all indented an equal amount. This is sometimes referred to as outdenting. This is an effective style for displaying lists of information.
headline
The short lines of emphasized text that introduce detail information in the body text that follows. Also the category of faces that are designed to work best in headline text.
hints
The mathematical instructions added to digital fonts to make them sharp at all sizes and on display devices of different resolutions.
italic
A slanting or script-like version of a face. The upright faces are often referred to as roman.
justified
A block of text that has been spaced so that the text aligns on both the left and right margins. Justified text has a more formal appearance, but may be harder to read.
kerning

The adjustment of horizontal space between individual characters in a line of text. Adjustments in kerning are especially important in large display and headline text lines. Without kerning adjustments, many letter combinations can look awkward. The objective of kerning is to create visually equal spaces between all letters so that the eye can move smoothly along the text.

Kerning may be applied automatically by the desktop publishing program based on tables of values. Some programs also allow manual kerning to make fine adjustments.

keyboard layout, keyboard mapping
Sometimes known as a character mapping, a keyboard layout or mapping is a table used by a computer operating system to govern which character code is generated when a key or key combination is pressed.

Also see character, character encoding, glyph.
leading (pronounced: ledding)
The amount of space added between lines of text to make the document legible. The term originally referred to the thin lead spacers that printers used to physically increase space between lines of metal type. Most applications automatically apply standard leading based on the point size of the font. Closer leading fits more text on the page, but decreases legibility. Looser leading spreads text out to fill a page and makes the document easier to read. Leading can also be negative, in which case the lines of text are so close that they overlap or touch.
letterspacing
Adjusting the average distance between letters in a block of text to fit more or less text into the given space or to improve legibility. Kerning allows adjustments between individual letters; letterspacing is applied to a block of text as a whole. Letterspacing is sometimes referred to as tracking or track kerning.
ligature
Two or more letters tied together into a single letter. In some typefaces, character combinations such as fi and fl overlap, resulting in an unsightly shape. The fi and fl ligatures were designed to improve the appearance of these characters. Letter combinations such as ff, ffl and ffi are available in all Adobe OpenType Pro fonts and selected Adobe OpenType Standard fonts.
margin
The white spaces around text blocks. Margins typically need to be created on the edges of a page, since most printers can't print to the very edge. White space also makes a document look better and easier to read.
oblique
A slanting version of a face. Oblique is similar to italic, but without the script quality of a true italic. The upright faces are usually referred to as roman.
OpenType
The OpenType™ format is a superset of the earlier TrueType and Adobe® PostScript® Type 1 font formats. As jointly defined by Microsoft and Adobe Systems, it is technically an extension of Microsoft's TrueType Open format, which can contain either PostScript font outlines or TrueType font outlines in a single font file that can be used on both Macintosh and Windows platforms. It can also include an expanded character set based on the Unicode encoding standard plus advanced typographic intelligence for glyph positioning and glyph substitution that allow for the inclusion of numerous alternate glyphs in one font file.
paragraph rules
Graphic lines associated with a paragraph that separate blocks of text. Rules are commonly used to separate columns and isolate graphics on a page. Some desktop publishing programs allow paragraph styles to be created that include paragraph rules above and/or below the paragraph.
pica
A unit of measure that is approximately 1/6th of an inch. A pica is equal to 12 points. The traditional British and American pica is 0.166 inches. In PostScript printers, a pica is exactly 1/6th of an inch.
point
A unit of measure in typography. There are approximately 72 points to the inch. A pica is 12 points.
point size
The common method of measuring type. The distance from the top of the highest ascender to the bottom of the lowest descender in points. In Europe, type is often measured by the cap-height in millimeters.
raised cap
A design style in which the first capital letter of a paragraph is set in a large point size and aligned with the baseline of the first line of text. Compare to a drop cap.
reverse
The technique of printing white or light-colored text on a black or dark background for emphasis. This technique greatly reduces legibility, especially with small type.
roman
Commonly refers to the upright version of a face within a font family, as compared to the italic version.
rule
A solid or dashed graphic line in documents used to separate the elements of a page. Rules and other graphic devices should be used sparingly, and only for clarifying the function of other elements on the page.
sans serif
A type face that does not have serifs. Generally a low-contrast design. Sans serif faces lend a clean, simple appearance to documents.
serif
Small decorative strokes that are added to the end of a letter's main strokes. Serifs improve readability by leading the eye along the line of type.
set solid
Leading that is equal to the point size of the font in use. Generally used only with larger display sizes.
style
One of the variations in appearance, such as italic and bold, that make up the faces in a type family.
symbol
A category of type in which the characters are special symbols rather than alphanumeric characters.
tabular figures
Numerals that all have the same width. This makes it easier to set tabular matter.
tracking
The average space between characters in a block of text. Sometimes also referred to as letterspacing.
TrueType
A scalable type technology which, along with OpenType, is built into both Windows and Mac OS.
Type 1
The original international type standard for scalable type, invented by Adobe Systems. Type 1 is one of the most commonly available digital type formats and is often used by professional digital graphic designers. It is being superceded by OpenType.
typeface
The letters, numbers, and symbols that make up a design of type. A typeface is often part of a type family of coordinated designs. The individual typefaces are named after the family and are also specified with a designation, such as italic, bold or condensed.
typeface family
Also known as family. The collection of faces that were designed together and intended to be used together. For example, the Garamond font family consists of roman and italic styles, as well as regular, semibold, and bold weights. Each of the style and weight combinations is called a face.
typographic color
The apparent blackness of a block of text. Color is a function of the relative thickness of the strokes that make up the characters in a font, as well as the width, point size, and leading used for setting the text block.
unjustified
Depending on alignment, this term refers to text which is set flush left, flush right, or centered.
weight
The relative darkness of the characters in the various typefaces within a type family. Weight is indicated by relative terms such as thin, light, bold, extra-bold, and black.
white space
The blank areas on a page where text and illustrations are not printed. White space should be considered an important graphic element in page design.
width
One of the possible variations of a typeface within a type family, such as condensed or extended.
word spacing
Adjusting the average distance between words to improve legibility or to fit a block of text into a given amount of space.
WYSIWYG
An acronym for What You See Is What You Get. Macintosh, Windows, and some UNIX environments provide a WYSIWYG screen display. What you see on the screen is what you will get on printed output, as accurately as the screen can render it.
x-height
Traditionally, x-height is the height of the lowercase letter x. It is also the height of the body of lowercase letters in a font, excluding the ascenders and descenders. Some lower-case letters that do not have ascenders or descenders still extend a little bit above or below the x-height as part of their design. The x-height can vary greatly from typeface to typeface at the same point size.

OpenType Fonts

The OpenType format is a superset of the existing TrueType and Adobe® PostScript® Type 1 font formats. It enables improved cross-platform document portability, rich linguistic support, powerful typographic capabilities, and simplified font management requirements.

OpenType is technically an extension of Microsoft's TrueType Open format, which can contain either PostScript font outlines (.otf) or TrueType font outlines (.ttf). OpenType.otf fonts are recognized and rendered onscreen by a PostScript rasterizer, like Adobe Type Manager® (ATM®), which is either installed as an add-on system software component or built directly into the operating system. Macintosh Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows® 2000, Windows XP, and all later Windows operating systems that have built in support for OpenType and Type 1 fonts. OpenType fonts peacefully co-exist with current font formats and used in the same document alongside Type 1 and TrueType fonts.

OpenType is known for:

  • A single, cross-platform font file that can be used on both Macintosh and Windows platforms.
  • A nearly unlimited character set based on the international Unicode encoding standard for rich linguistic support.
  • Advanced typographic capabilities related to glyph positioning and glyph substitution that allow for the inclusion of numerous alternate glyphs — such as old-style figures, small capitals, and swashes — in one font file.
  • A compact font outline data structure for smaller font file sizes.
  • Natively supported in Windows 2000, Windows  XP and Windows operating systems and the Macintosh OS X operating system.
  • Advanced typographic features are supported in all versions of Adobe InDesign CS, Adobe Illustrator CS, Adobe Photoshop CS, and many non-Adobe applications.

All OpenType fonts with PostScript outlines (.otf) use Compact Font Format (CFF, or Type 2) for considerable size reduction. Although CFF is not strictly compression, since the outlines do not have to be decompressed to be rendered, the result is still more compact than Type 1. Adobe’s OpenType fonts also use subroutinization for more size reduction. OpenType fonts with TrueType outlines (.ttf) have the option of using compression technology licensed by Microsoft.

The OpenType format is the result of merging two existing formats — Type 1 and TrueType fonts- so it is important to retain the advantages of both.

Starting with Windows 2000 and Windows XP, Microsoft operating systems include a built-in Adobe PostScript font rasterizer. These operating systems provide native support for OpenType (with either PostScript or TrueType outlines), Type 1, and TrueType.

You can continue working as you always have. OpenType works seamlessly alongside both TrueType and Type 1 fonts. OpenType fonts simply provide more power, since they offer extended language support and advanced typographic features on platforms and applications that support extended OpenType capabilities.

OpenType support consists of three types: basic OpenType support (the fonts work like any other fonts); Unicode support (access to extended language character sets); and OpenType layout support (support for advanced typographic features). Some operating systems (or operating system extensions) can support for one or more of these, but support for Unicode and layout features requires that an application be programmed to provide this functionality. Adobe InDesign (all versions), Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop 6.0and later support OpenType advanced typographic features.

No. OpenType is based on the Unicode encoding standard, which can support virtually any or all world languages. Adobe has released several Japanese OpenType fonts, as well OpenType fonts that support Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Devanagari, Greek, Gurmukhi, Hebrew, Korean, and Thai.

Several developer resources are available on the Adobe Solutions Network, including the OpenType section in the Type Technology Forum and the OpenType specification. Font developers interested in tools can also contact us.

The decision to work together came from a desire to provide the best solution for customers, and to provide an environment for future joint innovations. Both companies agree that merging the Type 1 and TrueType formats is the best solution for customers. The two font standards can now be supported seamlessly on both Windows and Macintosh platforms.

Both companies have licensed their respective font rasterizers, font production tools, and conversion software. One direct result is native support for Type 1 and OpenType fonts in Windows 2000.

Yes. Virtually all font developers release fonts in OpenType as their default today.

The application is designed to create simulated glyphs for non-OpenType fonts. Either the application doesn't support OpenType layout and substitution features, or it doesn't support the particular feature you're trying to use. Contact the application vendor to let the company know you want this feature to be supported in a future version.

Extended language support can be present in the fonts, but it depends on Unicode support within the operating system and/or application.

Yes. As long as your computer is set up to use OpenType fonts, and the server is accessible to your computer, you can use them over a network as well. In addition, the same OpenType fonts can be used on both Macintosh and Windows systems that are connected to the network. However, you should check the terms of your font license agreement to make sure that you are licensed to use the fonts over a network. Be sure you are not exceeding the number of users permitted by the license.

First released in 1992, the multiple master font format was an incredible advance in type technology. In 2000, Adobe unveiled the next great leap forward: Opentype. Developed in conjunction with Microsoft, OpenType uses the same cross-platform font file on both the Macintosh and Windows platforms, providing more reliable document portability. This one font file can also contain an expanded glyph set that allows for extended language support and integrated access to advanced typographic features.

Below is a list of the multiple master fonts formerly available from Adobe and their corresponding OpenType packages.

Legacy MM Family Corresponding OpenType Family(ies)
ITC Avant Garde MM ITC Avant Garde Std 1
  ITC Avant Garde Std 2
  ITC Avant Garde Std Condensed 1
  ITC Avant Garde Std Condensed 2
Bickham Script MM Bickham Script Pro
Briem Akademi MM Briem Akademi Std
  Briem Akademi Std Compressed
  Briem Akademi Std Condensed
Briem Script MM Briem Script Std
Caflisch Script MM Caflisch Script Pro
Chaparral MM Chaparral Pro
Chaparral Expert MM Chaparral Pro Opticals
Conga Brava MM Conga Brava Std
Cronos MM Cronos Pro
Cronos Expert MM Cronos Pro Opticals
Ex Ponto MM Ex Ponto Pro
ITC Garamond MM ITC Garamond Std
  ITC Garamond Std Condensed
  ITC Garamond Std Narrow
Graphite MM Graphite Std
Adobe Jenson MM Adobe Jenson Pro
Adobe Jenson Expert MM Adobe Jenson Pro Opticals
Jimbo MM Jimbo Std
Kepler MM Kepler Std
Kepler Expert MM Kepler Std SemiCondensed
  Kepler Std Extended
  Kepler Std Opticals
  Kepler Std SemiCondensed Opticals
  Kepler Std Condensed Opticals
  Kepler Std Extended Opticals
Kinesis MM Kinesis Std
Kinesis Expert MM  
Mezz MM Mezz Std
Minion MM Minion Pro
Minion Expert MM Minion Pro Condensed
  Minion Std Black
  Minion Pro Opticals
  Minion Pro Condensed Opticals
Motter Corpus MM Motter Corpus Std
Myriad MM Myriad Pro
  Myriad Pro SemiCondensed
  Myriad Pro Condensed
  Myriad Pro SemiExtended
Nueva MM Nueva Std
  Nueva Std Condensed
  Nueva Std Extended
Ocean Sans MM Ocean Sans Std
  Ocean Sans Std Extended
  Ocean Sans Std SemiExtended
Penumbra MM Penumbra Flare Std
  Penumbra HalfSerif Std
  Penumbra Sans Std
  Penumbra Serif Std
Reliq MM Reliq Std Calm
  Reliq Std Active
  Reliq Std Extra Active
Sanvito MM Sanvito Pro
  Sanvito Pro Opticals
Tekton MM Tekton Pro
  Tekton Pro Condensed & Extended
Verve MM Verve Std
Viva MM Viva Std
WatersTitling MM WatersTitling Pro

OpenType Font issues

A cross-platform font file format jointly developed by Adobe and Microsoft, OpenType is an extension of the TrueType sfnt format that can now support OpenType CFF font data and new typographic features. OpenType fonts containing OpenType CFF outlines have an .otf file name suffix, while those with TrueType outlines may have a .otf, .ttf or .ttc file name suffix. OpenType fonts with OpenType CFF outlines use the “Compact Font Format” or CFF to store those outlines. In Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, one can double-click on an OpenType font to get a sample sheet that indicates what kind of outlines the font file has.

In general, both "flavors" of OpenType are equally supported in Adobe applications and in the PostScript language. Because both flavors share the same structures for multi-lingual support and advanced OpenType layout features, it is usually easy for applications and operating systems to support both flavors equally well. This document is primarily about technical issues around installing and using OpenType CFF fonts.

Although OpenType fonts from Adobe are compatible with virtually all recent applications, operating systems, and output devices, Adobe’s symbol or “pi” fonts in OpenType format use code points in Unicode that are not part of the basic, standard Windows and Mac character sets. (Unicode is a platform-independent character encoding standard that maps each character in a font to a unique value that is used to access that character.) As a result, the pi and symbol characters in OpenType fonts are not accessible in most applications from normal keyboards. For more information on these issues consult the pi font info PDF.

Inconsistent Fractions in OpenType-savvy applications:

  1. Basic
  2. Numerators/denominators (often with extensive prebuilt fractions)
  3. Arbitrary fractions

Fonts in the first category generally have only the 1/2, 1/4 and 3/4 fractions. For these fonts, using the OpenType fraction layout feature can help access these fractions but no others.

Fonts in the second category tend to have thirds and eighths fractions as well as the basic three. For these fonts, one can use the OpenType numerator and denominator features to access the numerators and denominators, and either feature will turn a slash character into a fraction bar.

Later in the development of OpenType, somebody figured out how to do "arbitrary" fractions, creating the third category. Using the same set of glyphs as fonts in category 2, simply turning on the OT "fractions" can make any fraction at all, even things like 1,023.2/14,077.

When Adobe has had occasion to revise existing "category 2" fonts, we have updated them to "category 3" to support arbitrary fractions. As of mid-2008, we believe we have updated all such fonts. Note that newer OpenType fonts such as Garamond Premier Pro, Arno Pro, and Hypatia Sans Pro include additional punctuation glyphs (period, comma, space, left and right parens) in their fraction feature to accommodate languages that use different numerical delimiters.

Note that turning on fraction formatting in category 3 fonts can also affect numbers and punctuation that aren't fractions, so one needs to be careful to apply fraction formatting to only the fractions themselves. Even when using fonts where this is not a problem, one might later change fonts, or use a newer version of a font; therefore Adobe strongly recommends that users adhere to this practice even when using fonts for which globally applying fractions formatting does not cause immediate problems.

Some OpenType Pro fonts from Adobe such as Minion Pro, Garamond Premier Pro, Arno Pro, and Hypatia Sans Pro contain a full set of polytonic (ancient) Greek glyphs. The expected behavior in both OpenType and non-OpenType savvy applications is as follows:

  • Marking forms of UpperCase are the default.
  • In an all cap setting, in an all small caps setting, and in cap/small cap settings, all glyphs lose their marks, except Iota (and Iota SC) with a dieresis and Upsilon (and Upsilon SC) with a dieresis. This means that Iotadieresistonos, Iotadieresisacute, Iotadieresistilde, and Iotadieresisgrave lose every mark but the dieresis; the same is true for Upsilon.
  • Non-marking Caps and Small Caps can be overridden in some fonts (Garamond Premier Pro and Arno Pro) by a Stylistic Set which will make all marks visible. Both Garamond Premier Pro and Arno Pro are based on old designs and for those we have historical references of periods when Greek UpperCase and Small Cap settings were marked.

The initial release of Garamond Premier Pro has non-marking UpperCase forms as the default behavior in non-OpenType savvy applications. Also, versions of Minion Pro up to 2.015 do not contain the more complex marking/non-marking behavior present in Garamond Premier Pro and Arno Pro (all forms are marking only). This behavior may be added in a future release.

If you are using the latest version of ATM Light, or an operating system, such as Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Mac OS X (with native applications) which has native OpenType support, OpenType CFF fonts should work with virtually all your existing applications. However, some applications which perform some or all of the font-handling normally done by the operating system may need to be updated in order to recognize and render OpenType CFF fonts.

AutoCAD (Windows)
Only supports TrueType fonts and does not show OpenType CFF or Type 1 fonts in its font menu listings.
CorelDraw 9, 10, 11, & X3 (Windows)
For some OpenType CFF font families, CorelDraw 9, 10, 11 & X3 for Windows fail to show certain weights in the font menu. Typically, a base font and its style-linked bold are handled correctly, while additional weights which should appear separately in the CorelDraw font menu do not appear at all. For example, if the regular and the bold are style-linked, the semibold fonts might not appear in CorelDraw's font menu.
Corel Ventura 8 (Windows)
For some OpenType CFF font families, Corel Ventura 8 for Windows fails to print certain weights. These appear to be the same cases listed for CorelDraw above.
Corel WordPerfect 9 (Windows)
For some OpenType CFF font families, Corel WordPerfect 9 for Windows displays the fonts with extremely irregular spacing. Depending on the printer and driver, this may or may not affect printed output. These may be the same cases listed for CorelDraw above.
FrameMaker® 6.0 (Windows)
If the menu name of an OpenType font contains accented characters, (for example Orgánica GMM Semiserif) FrameMaker 6.0 for Windows does not correctly recognize these characters and may display the font name incorrectly in the menu. Note that the font still works correctly. FrameMaker for Windows will also show an error message when opening a Macintosh FrameMaker document using such a font, but the font will display and print correctly.
Freehand 10 (Mac OS X)

Freehand 10 fails to print on OS X when a OpenType CFF font contains a large number of glyphs (approximately 1100+). Workaround: use Freehand 8 or 9, or run Freehand 10 under OS 9.

For many style-linked fonts, if they are accessed directly on the font menu in Freehand 10, they may look correct on screen, but they will not print correctly. This applies only to fonts that are also accessible via a bold or italic style link. Workaround: pick any base-style face from the font menu, but pick any italic or bold styled face using the style popup on the text menu in order to get the correct font in print.

Freehand 8 (Windows)
Freehand 8 prints OpenType CFF fonts as Courier to PostScript printers, but prints correctly to non PostScript printers. This occurs only with the Windows version.
Microsoft Excel 2000 & Excel XP (Windows 2000 and Windows XP)
When using the Windows Character Map accessory to copy/paste many common math or Greek characters, Excel 2000 will substitute generic versions of these characters. Excel 97, Word 97, Word 2000, Office 2003 and Office 2007 do not have this problem.
Microsoft Visio (Windows)
Only supports TrueType fonts and does not show OpenType CFF or Type 1 fonts in its font menu listings.
Microsoft Windows Character Map (Windows 2000/XP/Vista)

The Windows Character Map shows blank spaces or bullets for all undefined characters in an OpenType CFF font, instead of just omitting them and additionally displays glyphs for a number of Eastern and Indic languages that are not present in the fonts. This can make it more difficult to identify what characters a font supports, because considerable scrolling through the character map may be required.

Additionally, although almost all characters may be selected from the character map and pasted correctly into Unicode applications (such as Microsoft Office), the f ligatures at FB00-FB04 may only display in TrueType fonts. Even though an OpenType CFF font is selected, the ligature may display in the closest available TrueType or OpenType .ttf font instead. This appears to be no longer the case in Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista and Office 2003/2007 (i.e. the correct glyphs paste).

Microsoft Word® 2000 & XP (Windows NT/2000/XP)
Microsoft Word® 2000 & XP (Windows NT/2000/XP)
Microsoft Word X (Mac OS X)
Microsoft Word X may not save OpenType OTF fonts in style definitions. If you define a style using an OpenType font, the font defined in the style may revert to Times when you save the style. This is fixed in the 10.1.2 and later updates to Word X.
Microsoft Word X (Mac OS X)

Some OpenType Pro fonts may not type into a Word document correctly. This is occurring most noticeably with Pro fonts that have CE glyphs and sort at the bottom of Word's type menu. When you place the text cursor into the middle of a word or at the end of a line that is already formatted as an OpenType Pro font, the formatting of the word changes to the default MS Word font. When you place the cursor at the end of a line of text and begin typing, all subsequent text will be formatted in the default MS Word font.

Workaround: this can often be fixed by going into Word's Preferences, under Edit options and deselecting "Match Font with Keyboard".

PageMaker 7.x (Windows)
PageMaker 7.x prints some recent OpenType CFF fonts (Arno Pro and Hypatia Sans Pro) as Courier to PostScript printers, but prints correctly to non PostScript printers.
QuarkXPress 6.x (Mac OS X)
Users of QuarkXPress® 6.x may receive an error message with some OpenType fonts when printing, that the font "may be corrupt and may be substituted with Courier"; simply click OK and proceed. Generally, the font still outputs correctly. One possible workaround to avoid the warning is provided by Quark at http://www.quark.com/service/desktop/downloads/details.jsp?idx=545
Quark Xpress 6.5 (Mac OS X 10.4.x)
Users of Quark Xpress 6.5 in Mac OS X 10.4.x may notice that at certain zoom levels, onscreen spacing of OpenType fonts appears erratic. Zoom levels that are increments of 10 (100%, 110%, 120%, etc.) appear correctly, but other values that are not increments of 10 (162%, 123%, etc.) may display uneven or erratic letterspacing. This does not affect printed output.
Suitcase 10 (Mac OS)
Extensis Suitcase 10 can only activate OpenType fonts when running under Mac OS X, and only for carbon or native applications (not Classic applications). If running under Mac OS 8 or 9 (not Classic), use ATM Deluxe instead of Suitcase.

A family of fonts appears to be installed. Some of the installed fonts from the family, but not all, appear in the font menu. Specifically, some of the weights are missing, and all of the italic fonts. The problem typically occurs in some applications (e.g. Microsoft Word, Adobe PageMaker, QuarkXPress) but not others (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign).

Workaround:

The other "missing" fonts are accessible by using the bold and italic style buttons in each application. There are two ways to tell which fonts are linked to which.

  1. Use the Adobe Web site. Go to http://www.adobe.com/type, and navigate to the font package that contains the fonts in question. Click on the specific font in the package to get to the Web page that shows the full character set for that font. Click the "More Info" tab. Towards the bottom of the column, the "Windows/PC Menu Name" is listed. This shows both how the font is listed in the menu of Windows applications, and which additional style buttons are needed to access the font.
  2. Navigate to where the "missing" fonts are installed on your computer, and double-click on each. The sample window that comes up has the name of the font in large letters at the top. Two lines below this is an entry that says "Typeface name"; this is the name that shows in the font menu.

More information:

Style-linking is used with fonts of all formats in standard Windows applications. Most Windows applications only show the "base font" of any style-linked group in their font menus. The additional style-linked fonts won't show up separately in the font menu of these applications.

 

Being able to directly pick the style-linked fonts (the bold and italic) is possible in only a few Windows applications, specifically ones that bypass the operating system for their font-handling (including Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign). In typical Windows applications, there is no way other than the style link to access the style-linked fonts. They don't show up in the menu on their own. If you want to get to the fonts that can be accessed by the bold and italic buttons in these applications, the only way to access them is by use of these "stylings"; there is no alternative.

 

People who are used to the Mac OS (or applications which allow direct access to style-linked fonts) often incorrectly: (1) expect that you can always "directly pick" even a style-linked bold or italic font from a font menu in any application; and (2) believe there is something wrong or inferior with using fonts via style links.

 

Using style links does have the limitation that in most applications, if no actual style-linked font exists, the Windows OS will provide a simulated approximation, with no warning that your "base font" is simply being slanted or double-struck to approximate italics or bold. Without close inspection (by zooming in or printing out), it can be difficult to tell the difference on screen. As long as there is a style link, and the linked font is available, the real, style-linked font will be used in the document and in print.

Opmerking:

This issue applies equally to OpenType, PostScript Type 1 and TrueType fonts on Windows.

When documents are created in some Mac OS applications are opened in the Windows version of the application, incorrect fonts are displayed. Even though the same fonts are installed on Windows, the Windows version of the application doesn't recognize that the same font is installed. The problem occurs in common Windows applications such as Microsoft Word, Adobe PageMaker and QuarkXPress (but not Illustrator, Photoshop or InDesign).

Workaround:

This is another aspect of the style linking issue described above. To avoid the problem, whenever possible the Mac OS user must select the base font and use the style links to access style-linked fonts, rather than selecting the style-linked fonts (bold or italic) directly from the font menu.

Background:
Most of the information in the style linking section applies for the user on the Mac OS as well, it's just Mac users also have the option of directly selecting the fonts. However, for certain applications, if someone is creating Mac documents that will also be used on Windows, they must use the style links when available, or the Windows version of the application will not be able to correctly identify the font used.

Opmerking:

This issue applies equally to OpenType, PostScript Type 1 and TrueType fonts on Windows.

Under certain conditions, OpenType fonts may lose their distinctive icon. In most circumstances, this does not cause problems with the functioning of the fonts. However, one known issue is that fonts put in an Adobe application's own fonts folder or the fonts folder at Applications Support: Adobe may not be recognized by Adobe applications that normally support use of such folders.

Mac OS X:
Rebuild the Launch Services preference files. Note that doing this may cause you to lose customized changes you have previously made (for example, in the Show Info window).

  1. Drag the files LSApplications, LSClaimedTypes and LSSchemes to your desktop from the /Library/Preferences folder of your Home directory.
  2. Restart the computer. The Mac OS should recreate the three files.

Additional Information:

Adobe packages its OpenType fonts so that they will get the correct icon when unpacked. In OS 8 and 9, the file Type and Creator codes are used in conjunction with the Mac OS Desktop DB file to assign correct icons to files. If the Type and Creator codes are incorrect or missing, or the Desktop DB is corrupt or damaged, icons may not display properly. Additionally, moving OpenType fonts from other operating systems, such as Windows or Unix, may damage or eliminate the Mac OS resource fork, which contains the Type and Creator codes, and custom icons. The standard OpenType icon is seen from the Type "sfnt" and the Creator "ATMC".

Mac OS X can use either Type and Creator codes, or file extensions, to determine file types and icons to use. This information is stored in the LS (Launch Services) preference files.

Kerning in ATSUI applications:
Applications that use the Apple Type Services for Unicode Imaging (ATSUI) engine (e.g. Keynote and Pages) fail to use the kerning values in many OpenType fonts. Adobe is working with Apple to try to address this.

Kerning in cocoa applications:
In Mac OS X up to (at least) 10.2.4, the native support in Mac OS X does not include support for kerning information in OpenType CFF and Type 1 fonts. This means that OS X cocoa applications which rely on the OS to provide kerning information (rather than directly reading the OpenType font) see the font as having no kerning pairs.

Optical variants in OS X Font Palette:
Some Mac OS X applications use the new "Font Palette" to choose fonts, as an alternative to traditional font menus. In such applications, with families which offer variant fonts of different optical sizes, such as Display, Subhead and Caption, the "Regular" font may not appear in the Font Palette. This occurs in Mac OS X up to 10.2.8. It has been fixed in Mac OS X 10.3 and above.

Style-linking in carbon/native applications:
As noted below, this problem was originally fixed in 10.2.3, but apparently re-appeared in 10.4. This issue is fixed in Mac OS X 10.4.9.

Mac OS X, issues fixed in 10.2.3, 10.4.9:
Style-linking in carbon/native applications:
The native OpenType OTF support in Mac OS X did not initially include support for style links between OTF fonts. This means that OS X native or carbon applications which relied on the OS to provide style linking information will treat the fonts as having no style links. Therefore bold and italic style buttons will either not work or will create synthesized styles (smeared or slanted) instead of accessing the correct font. This can have side effects: opening or importing a document authored on an earlier OS with OpenType OTF fonts using style links may result in the correct font not being found. Workaround: For applications using Adobe's common font engine, such as InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator, one can work around this problem by putting the fonts in the application's fonts folder or in the application support:Adobe:Fonts folder. This issue was fixed in Mac OS X 10.2.3 to 10.3.9, reappeared in 10.4.0 and is again fixed in 10.4.9. Mac OS X 10.2.2 supports style links, but they may yield incorrect/unexpected results.

Mac OS X, issues fixed in 10.2:

Kerning in carbon/native applications:
In Mac OS X 10.0 and 10.1, the native OpenType OTF support in Mac OS X did not include support for kerning information in the font. This meant that OS X native or carbon applications which rely on the OS to provide kerning information (rather than directly reading the OpenType font) would see the font as having no kerning pairs. This issue did not affect any Adobe applications using Adobe's common font engine, such as InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Also unaffected were any applications which are not yet carbonized, such as PageMaker and FrameMaker. This issue is fixed in Mac OS X 10.2.

Non-ASCII characters in carbon QuickDraw applications:
In Mac OS X 10.0 and 10.1, the native OpenType OTF support in Mac OS X had incorrect on-screen display of some non-ASCII characters in carbonized QuickDraw applications. Non-ASCII characters are those encoded at 128-255 in MacRoman encoding, accessed via option or option-shift key combinations. In applications which are carbonized, and still use QuickDraw for on-screen display (rather than ATSUI or Adobe's common font engine), some of these characters display as different characters or as undefined. Despite the display problem, the characters do print correctly, to both PostScript and non PostScript devices. This issue is fixed in Mac OS X 10.2.

TrueType flavored OpenType fonts (.ttf) are generally not supported prior to Mac OS X. Some select Adobe applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign can use these fonts if they are placed in a "Fonts" folder located inside the main application folder. All applications running on OS X (outside of the Classic environment) can use the fonts.

Font Permissions

All fonts in the Adobe Type Library can be embedded in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files, and other types of electronic documents. Many can also be modified for internal use. To view a list of the specific permissions for all fonts in the Adobe Type Library refer to the Additional License Rights page.

Licensed users of the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite enjoy extended embedding rights for a select portion of the Adobe Type Library. Have you directly licensed from Adobe any of the 800+ Adobe Fonts listed on the Additional License Rights page that are identified as "available for licensed DPS users"?  If yes, you may embed copies of the font software into your DPS content without any additional license extensions or per-use costs. These extended embedding rights are limited to distribution of such embedded fonts solely as part of your content distributed in Adobe's proprietary file format for DPS (".folio file") that is made available to end users for viewing purposes only as part of the Customer Viewer.

Font Embedding

OpenType® fonts contain information in the actual font file that reinforces what is specified in the Adobe EULA. The agreement defines how these fonts may be embedded in electronic documents. According to the OpenType specification, four possible permission settings can be included in an OpenType font (from most restrictive to least restrictive).

No Embedding

This permission signals that the font or any portion of the font may not be embedded in any electronic document. While there are no fonts in the Adobe Type Library with this permission, some third-party font foundries may set their fonts to “no embedding” or prohibit embedding through their end-user license agreement.

Preview and Print

A font with an embedding permission of Preview and Print allows the font, either fully or as a subset, to be embedded in an electronic document solely for viewing that document on screen and/or printing that document. While a font with a Preview and Print embedding permission (either through data in the font file or the font’s license agreement) may be embedded in an electronic document, the embedded font may not be used to further edit the document it is contained in or to edit or create other documents. Most fonts in the Adobe Type Library are set for Preview and Print embedding.

Editable

Fonts with an editable embedding permission can be embedded in electronic documents and the embedded font can then be used by the recipient of the electronic document to view, print and further edit or modify the text and structure of the document in which it is embedded. These changes or edits can then be saved in the original document. Several fonts in the Adobe Type Library, including all Adobe Originals typefaces, other Adobe-owned typefaces, and certain third-party font foundry typefaces, allow for editable embedding.

For many years, Adobe's font End-user License Agreement (EULA) permitted customers to modify any font licensed from the Adobe Type Library (ATL). However, many fonts in the ATL are sublicensed to us by other companies and we have recently had to stop offering modification rights for some fonts. If you purchased fonts from Adobe prior to 08 August 2011, then you still have the modification rights granted by the EULA that came with your font. However, there is a new EULA for fonts purchased after that date. Please refer to the table below to determine the modification rights permitted for any ATL font.

Understanding Font Permissions

To see an explanation of Font Embedding Permissions view Adobe’s Font Embedding Permission.

Font Permissions Table

Key:

  1. Licensed for print and preview embedding.
  2. Licensed for editable embedding.
  3. Licensed for modification.
  4. Licensed for users who directly license DPS.
  5. Licensed open-source fonts.

A G O
Acumin Pro 1 2 3 4 Galahad 1 2 3 Ocean Sans 1
Aachen 1 ITC Galliard 1 OCR-A 1 2 3 4
Adobe Arabic 1 2 34 Game Pi 1 OCR-B 1 2 3 4
Adobe Devanagari 1 2 3 4 ITC Adobe Garamond 1 Octavian 1
Adobe Fangsong 1 2 3 4 Garamond 3 1 ITC Officina Sans 1
Adobe FanHeiti 1 2 3 4 Adobe Garamond 1 2 3 4 ITC Officina Serif 1
Adobe Gothic 1 2 3 4 ITC Garamond Handtooled 1 Old Claude 1 3
Adobe Gujarati 1 2 3 4 Garamond Premier 1 2 3 4 Old Style 7 1
Adobe Gurmukhi 1 2 3 4 Simoncini Garamond 1 2 Monotype Old Style 1
Adobe Hebrew 1 2 3 4 Stempel Garamond 1 Olympian 1
Adobe Heiti 1 2 3 4 Garth Graphic 1 Omnia 1
Adobe Kaiti 1 2 3 4 Gazette 1 Ondine 1
Adobe Ming 1 2 3 4 Giddyup 1 2 3 4 Onyx 1
Adobe Myungjo 1 2 3 4 Gill Floriated Capitals 1 Optima 1
Adobe Naskh 1 2 3 4 Gill Sans 1 Orator 1 2 3 4
Adobe Song 1 2 3 4 ITC Giovanni 1 Orgánica GMM 1 3
Adobe Tamil 1 2 3 4 Glypha 1 Origami 1
Adobe Text 1 2 3 4 Gothic 13 1 Ouch! 1 2 3 4
Adobe Thai 1 2 3 4 Goudy 1 Oxford 1
Albertus 1 Monotype Goudy Modern 1 ITC Ozwald 1
Aldus 1 ITC Goudy Sans 1  
Alexa 1 2 3 4 Goudy Text 1 P
ITC American Typewriter 1 Granjon 1 Palace Script 1
Americana 1 Graphite 1 4 Palatino 1
Amigo 1 MVB Greymantle 1 3 Parisian 1
Andreas 1 2 3 Monotype Grotesque 1 Park Avenue 1
ITC Anna 1 Guardi 1 Peignot 1
Antique Olive 1   Pelican 1
Apollo 1   Penumbra Flare 1 2 3
Arcadia 1   Penumbra Half Serif 1 2 3
Arcana 1 3 H Penumbra Sans 1 2 3
Ariadne 1 Hadriano 1 Penumbra Serif 1 2 3
Arno 1 2 3 4 Hardwood 1 3 Pepita 1
Arnold Böcklin 1 Heisei Kaku Gothic 1 2 3 4 Pepperwood 1 2 3 4
Ashley Script 1 Heisei Maru Gothic 1 2 3 4 Perpetua 1
Astrology Pi 1 Heisei Mincho 1 2 3 4 Phoreus Cherokee1 2
Audio Pi 1 Helvetica 1 Photina 1
Auriol 1 Helvetica Inserat 1 Plantin 1
ITC Avant Garde Gothic 1 Helvetica Neue 1 Poetica 1 2 3 4
Avenir 1 Helvetica Rounded 1 Pompeia 1
  Herculanum 1 Pompeijana 1
B ITC Highlander 1 Ponderosa 1 2 3 4
Baker Signet 1 Hiroshige 1 3 Poplar 1 2 3 4
Balzano 1 2 3 4 Hobo 1 2 3 4 Postino 1 2 3 4
Banco 1 Holiday Pi 1 Present 1
Banshee 1 2 3 4 Horley Old Style 1 Prestige Elite 1 4
Baskerville Cyrillic 1 HY GungSo 1
Bauer Bodoni 1 2 HY Kak Headline 1 Q
ITC Bauhaus 1 HY Rounded Gothic 1 Quake 1 2 3 4
ITC Beesknees 1 Hypatia Sans 1 2 3 4 ITC Quorum 1
Bell Centennial 1 2 3 4    
Bell Gothic 1 I R
Bell 1 Immi 505 1 2 3 4 Rad 1 2 3 4
Belwe 1 Impact 1 Raleigh 1
Bembo 1 Impressum 1 2. Raphael 1
ITC Benguiat 1 Industria 1 Reliq 1 2 3
ITC Benguiat Gothic 1 Inflex 1 Reporter 1
ITC Berkeley Oldstyle 1 Insignia 1 Revue 1
Berling 1 Ironwood 1 2 3 4 Rockwell 1
Bermuda 1 3 Isabella 1 Romic 1
Bernhard 1 ITC Isadora 1 Rosewood 1 2 3 4
Bernhard Modern 1 Italia 1 Rotation 1
Bickham Script 1 2 3 4 Monotype Italian Old Style 1 Rotis Sans Serif 1
Biffo 1   Rotis Semi Sans 1
Birch 1 2 3 4 J Rotis Semi Serif 1
Blackoak 1 2 3 4 Janson Text 1 Rotis Serif 1
Blue Island 1 2 3 Adobe Jenson 1 2 3 4 Ruling Script 1
Bodoni 1 Jimbo 1 2 3 Runic 1
ITC Bookman 1 Joanna 1 Russell Oblique 1
Border Pi 1 Juniper 1 2 3 4 Russell Square 1
MVB Bossa Nova 1 3   Rusticana 1
Briem Akademi 1 3 K Ruzicka Freehand 1
Briem Script 1 3 Kabel 1 Ryo Display PlusN 1 2 3 4
Brioso 1 2 3 4 ITC Kabel 1 Ryo Gothic PlusN 1 2 3 4
Bruno 1 3 Kaufmann 1 Ryo Text PlusN 1 2 3 4
Brush Script 1 2 3 4 Kazuraki SP2N 1 2 3 4  
Bulmer 1 Kepler 1 2 3 4 S
Bundesbahn Pi 1 Khaki 1 Sabon 1
  Kigali 1 3 San Marco 1
C Kinesis 1 2 3 Sanvito 1 2 3 4
PMN Caecilia 1 Kino 1 Sassafras 1
Caflisch Script 1 2 3 4 Klang 1 Sava 1 2 3
Calcite 1 2 3 Koch Antiqua 1 Stempel Schneidler 1 2
Caliban 1 2 3 4 Kolo 1 3 Monotype Scotch Roman 1
Calvert 1 Kompakt 1 Monotype Script 1
Candida 12. ITC Korinna 1 ITC Serif Gothic 1
Cantoria 1 Kozuka Gothic 1 2 3 4 Serifa 1 2
Caravan Borders 1 Kozuka Mincho 1 2 3 4 Serlio 1
Carolina 1 Künstler Script 1 Serpentine 1
Carta 1 2 3   Shannon 1
Cascade Script 1 L Shelley 1
Adobe Caslon 1 2 3 4 Latin 1 Sho 1
ITC Caslon 224 1 Leander Script 1 2 3 4 Shuriken Boy 1 2 3 4
Caslon 3 1 ITC Leawood 1 Silentium 1 2 3
Caslon 540 1 ITC Legacy Sans 1 ITC Slimbach 1
Caslon Open Face 1 ITC Legacy Serif 1 Smaragd 1
Castellar 1 Legault 1 3 SMGothic 1
Caxton 1 Letter Gothic 1 2 3 4 SMMyungjo 1
MVB Celestia Antiqua 1 3 Life 1 Snell Roundhand 1
Centaur 1 LinoLetter 1 Sonata 1 2 3
Linotype Centennial 1 Linoscript 1 Source Code 1 2 3 4 5
ITC Century 1 Linotext 1 Source Han Sans 1 2 3 4 5
Century Expanded 1 Lithos 1 2 3 4 Source Sans 1 2 3 4 5
ITC Century Handtooled 1 LogoArl 1 Source Serif 1 2 3 4 5
Century Old Style 1 2 3 4 LogoCut 1 ITC Souvenir 1
ITC Cerigo 1 LogoLine 1 Spartan 1
Chaparral 1 2 3 4 ITC Lubalin Graph 1 Spectrum 1
Charlemagne 1 2 3 4 Lucida 1 Spring 1 3
Charme 1 2 Lucida Math 1 Spumoni 1 3
ITC Cheltenham 1 Lucida Sans Typewriter 1 Stencil 1 2 3 4
ITC Cheltenham Handtooled 1 Lucida Typewriter 1 ITC Stone Informal 1
Cheq 1 2 3   ITC Stone Sans 1
Clairvaux 1 M ITC Stone Serif 1
Clarendon 1 ITC Machine 1 Strayhorn 1
ITC Clearface 1 Madrone 1 2 3 4 Strumpf 1 2 3 4
Clearface Gothic 1 MVB Magnesium 1 3 Studz 1 2 3
Cloister 1 MVB Magnolia 1 3 Symbol 1 2 3 4
Club Type 1 3 Manito 1 3 ITC Symbol 1
Cochin 1 Marigold 1 Syntax 1
Conga Brava 1 2 3 Mathematical Pi 1  
Conga Brava Stencil 1 2 3 Matura 1 T
Cooper Black 1 2 3 4 Maximus 1 Tekton 1 2 3 4
Copal 1 2 3 4 Medici Script 1 Tempo 1
Copperplate Gothic 1 Melior 1 ITC Tiepolo 1
Coriander 1 2 3 4 Memphis 1 ITC Tiffany1
Corona 1 ITC Mendoza Roman 1 Times 1
Coronet 1 Mercurius 1 Times Europa 1
Cottonwood 1 2 3 4 Meridien 1 Times New Roman 1
Courier 1 2 3 4 Mesquite 1 2 3 4 Times Ten 1
Critter 1 2 3 Mezz 1 2 3 Toolbox 1 2 3 4
Cronos 1 2 3 4 MICR 1 4 Trade Gothic 1
ITC Cushing 1 Minion 1 2 3 4 Trajan 1 2 3 4
Cutout 1 2 3 4 Minister 1 Trajan Sans 1 2 3 4
  Mistral 1 Trump Mediäval 1
D Mojo 1 2 3  
Dante 1 ITC Mona Lisa 1 U
Decoration Pi 1 Monoline Script 1 Umbra 1
Delphin 1 Monotype Modern 1 Univers 1
Linotype Didot 1 Montara 1 2 3 Universal 1
DIN Schriften 1 Moonglow 1 2 3 University 1
Diotima 1 ITC Motter Corpus 1 ITC Usherwood 1
Diskus 1 Myriad 1 2 3 4 Utopia 1 2 3 4
Dom Casual 1 Myriad Arabic 1 2 3 4  
Dorchester Script 1 Myriad Hebrew 1 2 3 4 V
Doric 1 Myriad Hebrew Cursive 1 2 3 4 VAG Rounded 1
Duc de Berry 1 Mythos 1 2 3 4  Vectora 1
    ITC Veljovic 1
E N Versailles 1
Eccentric 1 National Codes Pi 1 Verve 1 3
Egyptienne F 1 Neue Hammer Unziale 1 Visigoth 1
Ehrhardt 1 Neuland 1 Viva 1 2 3 4
Electra 1 Neuzeit S 1 Voluta Script 1 2 3 4
Ellington 1 New Aster 1
Else NPL 1 ITC New Baskerville 1 W
MVB Emmascript 1 3 New Berolina 1 Warning Pi 1
Engravers 1 New Caledonia 1 Warnock 1 2 3 4
ITC Eras 1 New Century Schoolbook 1 Waters Titling 1 2 3
ITC Esprit 1 News Gothic 1 2 3 4 ITC Weidemann 1
European Pi 1 Notre Dame 1 Weiss 1
Eurostile 1 ITC Novarese 1 Wendy 1 2 3
Ex Ponto 1 2 3 Nueva 1 2 3 4 Wiesbaden Swing 1
Excelsior 1 Nuptial Script 1 Wilhelm Klingspor Gotisch 1
  Nyx 1 2 3 Wilke 1
F   Willow 1 2 3 4
Fairfield 1   Wittenberger Fraktur 1
Falstaff 1   Adobe Wood Type 1 2 3 4
ITC Fenice 1   ITC Zapf Chancery 1
Fette Fraktur 1   ITC Zapf Dingbats 1
Flood 1 2 3 4   Zebrawood 1 2 3 4
ITC Flora 1   Zipty Do 1
Fairfield 1   Wittenberger Fraktur 1
Falstaff 1   Adobe Wood Type 1 2 3 4
ITC Fenice 1   ITC Zapf Chancery 1
Fette Fraktur 1   ITC Zapf Dingbats 1
Flood 1 2 3 4   Zebrawood 1 2 3 4
ITC Flora 1   Zipty Do 1
Florens 1 3    
Flyer 1    
Folio 12.    
Forte 1    
Fournier 1    
Franklin Gothic 1    
ITC Franklin Gothic 1    
Freestyle Script 1    
Friz Quadrata 1    
Frutiger 1    
Fusaka 1 2 3 4    
Futura 1 2

Open-Source Fonts

Some fonts distributed by Adobe are open-source fonts with license terms that provide you unrestricted usage rights and greater creative freedom.

You may find few Restricted Fonts included with Adobe software products. Restricted Fonts can be used for the exclusive use of the software itself – such as for menu display, interfaces, or document processing. Such fonts are not licensed for use in your own documents.

Many of these fonts are also available with a perpetual desktop license purchase or via Typekit font sync. If you have a separate End User License Agreement (EULA) for a font which allows you to use it in desktop software, you may continue to use it. Be sure to read the EULA carefully to understand what use is allowed.

Does EULA limit your use of certain fonts to the operation of only Adobe Software? The following is a list of fonts governed by those limiting EULA terms.

ADMUI2.fon AdobeCleanUI-Regular.otf AdobeThai-Regular.otf

ADMUI3.fon

AdobeCleanUI-Bold.otf

CourierStd.otf

AdobeArabic-Bold.otf

AdobeCleanUI-Italic.otf

CourierStd-Bold.otf

AdobeArabic-BoldItalic.otf

AdobeCleanUI-BoldItalic.otf

CourierStd-BoldOblique.otf

AdobeArabic-Italic.otf

AdobeHebrew-Bold.otf

CourierStd-Oblique.otf

AdobeArabic-Regular.otf

AdobeHebrew-BoldItalic.otf

Kenten Generic.otf

AdobeClean-Light.otf

AdobeHebrew-Italic.otf

KozGoPr6N-Medium.otf

AdobeClean-Regular.otf

AdobeHebrew-Regular.otf

KozMinPr6N-Regular.otf

AdobeClean-Bold.otf

AdobeHeitiStd-Regular.otf

MinionPro-Bold.otf

AdobeClean-ExtraBold.otf

AdobeInvisibleFont

MinionPro-BoldIt.otf

AdobeClean-Black.otf

AdobeMingStd-Light.otf

MinionPro-It.otf

AdobeClean-SemiCn.otf

AdobeMyungjoStd-Medium.otf

MyriadCAD.otf

AdobeClean-BoldSemiCn.otf

AdobePiStd.otf

MinionPro-Regular.otf

AdobeClean-LightIt.otf

AdobeSansMM (Type 1 font)

MyriadPro-Bold.otf

AdobeClean-It.otf

AdobeSerifMM (Type 1 font) MyriadPro-BoldIt.otf

AdobeClean-BoldIt.otf

AdobeSongStd-Light.otf

MyriadPro-It.otf

AdobeClean-ExtraBoldIt.otf

AdobeThai-Bold.otf MyriadPro-Regular.otf

AdobeClean-BlackIt.otf

AdobeThai-BoldItalic.otf

Premiere.fon

AdobeClean-SemiCnIt.otf

AdobeThai-Italic.otf Symbol(Type 1 font)

AdobeClean-BoldSemiCnIt.otf

   

 

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