![\"Open](\"https:\/\/www.yourscrappingcafe.com\/home\/d19521157\/public_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/OpenTypeFeaturessmaller.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWay back in March of 2023, my \u201cReady To Add Words<\/a><\/strong>\u201d post covered a lot of information about fonts. I talked about the differences between OTF (Open Type) and TTF (True Type).<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you read that post you know the big difference between the two are the \u201cextra features\u201d we get with an Open Type font.<\/p>\n\n\n\n OTF was designed to enable more functions than TTF. An example being that OTF has a format capable of storing as much as 65,000 characters. The ability to keep extra characters besides the usual ones (A-Z, 0-9, punctuations, and symbols) gave designers a platform to add more character to OTF, such as: Ligatures, Glyphs, Small caps, Alternate characters, & Old-style figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what exactly is a glyph? I actually touched on them very lightly in my \u201cWhat\u2019s That Font<\/a><\/strong>\u201d post on May 9, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A glyph is the basic element of the font, occupying a \u201cslot\u201d in the font. A glyph can be a default typographic representation of a character (if it has a Unicode codepoint assigned), or a variant typographic representation of one or more characters, as the curly swashes you see in the image above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes a glyph is a combined form of two or more glyphs (then they\u2019re accessed via typographic features or composites). Note that all glyphs are unique, even if they represent different forms of the same character. For instance, in a handwriting font, each variant of the character A would be a distinct glyph:<\/p>\n\n\n Glyphs are identified in several different ways. Every glyph in a font has a Glyph ID or index, which is the physical numbering of the glyphs in the font (starting at zero, so if there are 27 glyphs in a font, they have Glyph IDs 0\u201326). Glyphs in most fonts also have glyph names, which are brief ASCII text labels without spaces (for example, the glyph name for \u201c&\u201d is \u201campersand\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, many or all glyphs in a font are encoded, which means that the glyph is the default for a given Unicode character or codepoint. For example, the default ampersand should have the Unicode codepoint U+0026. Some glyphs in a font may have no Unicode codepoint but every glyph must have a unique name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay\u2026you\u2019re either yawning or your eyes have rolled back in your head after all the \u201cscientific\u201d stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bottom line is glyphs make our text look fancy! That is if we can find them\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The font above is the one I purchased: Amoresa Font<\/a><\/strong> family from MyFonts<\/a><\/strong>. This font contained 487 glyphs and boy was I excited about that. I mean seriously look at those gorgeous curls and swashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Silly me!!! I had no idea what I was going to miss out on. You see I have a font manager so I thought I\u2019d have a field day with those 487 glyphs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back on March 14, 2023 in my \u201cWhat Is A Font Manager<\/a><\/strong>\u201d post I talked about how they make it easier to access all the glyphs that come with a font. My apologies\u2026turns out that\u2019s not necessarily true. And that goes the same for the Microsoft Character Map that most of us use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I’ve recently learned, only certain applications allow full access to ALL<\/em> the glyphs. And that gorgeous Amoresa font included OpenType variants some of which were only accessible via OpenType-aware applications. Did I realize that before I purchased it\u2026no. It was kind of one of those \u201cfine print\u201d things we generally don\u2019t see\/read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what the heck is an OpenType-aware application?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adobe software such as Illustrator, InDesign & Photoshop (CC2015 & above) should<\/em> allow access to all of the glyphs. Some search sites will tell you that Microsoft (MS) Word allows you to access glyphs from the Advanced tab for a given font. After copious attempts to access the glyphs for my new font, I can tell you without hesitation that I cannot see ALL of the associated glyphs in MS Word!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once again THANKS<\/em> Adobe for short-changing all of us Photoshop Elements (PSE) users!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom line\u2026don\u2019t take it for granted that you will be able to see all the glyphs you think you\u2019re getting with any given font. And lesson learned\u2026ALWAYS think twice before purchasing a font simply because you love<\/em> all the fancy glyphs!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Never assume you will be able to see all the fancy features a font \u201cad\u201d may display. Unless you use an OpenType-aware application, they may not be accessible to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even using one of the most highly touted Font Managers \u201cMainType<\/a><\/strong>\u201d for Windows won\u2019t get you access to all the glyphs!<\/p>\n\n\n\n ALWAYS look for the fine print about a font\u2019s glyphs before you purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other than that…be grateful for the glyphs you can access via a font manager or a character map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks for reading this week\u2019s Tuesday Tip. Remember, if you have any suggestions or questions please don\u2019t hesitate to “Message Me<\/a><\/strong>“. Check back next week with another tip about masks! Click \u201cFollow Me<\/a><\/strong>\u201d to stay in touch. I hope you have a wonderful week!<\/p>\n\n\nWhat The Glyph?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n
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