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Authors:
Mike Rankin
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As Ilene Strizver wrote in a recent TypeTalk, you can use alternate characters in OpenType fonts to improve the look, personality, and effectiveness of your type. It's an awesome tip because alternate characters can improve your type in all kinds of ways. They can offer small changes like slightly longer (or shorter) descenders, or big changes like decorative swashes or characters that fit together via discretionary ligatures.
And OpenType alternates are easy to apply via the Glyphs panel in InDesign and Illustrator
but not Photoshop, which lacks a Glyphs panel.
Illustrator's Glyphs panel
You can apply some (but not all) alternates in Photoshop by opening the Character panel (Window > Character), selecting the glyphs you want to replace, and clicking on the Contextual Alternates button.
But when there are multiple alternates for a glyph, clicking the button will do nothing, since Photoshop has no idea which alternate you want.
So how can you choose and apply specific alternate OpenType characters into your Photoshop type designs? The answer is simple: copy and paste from Illustrator. Just add some type to an Illustrator document using the same font, color, size as you want to use in Photoshop.
Then copy it, and paste it into your Photoshop document.
Note that this same trick does not work if you try to copy and paste from InDesign. You have to use Illustrator as the source of the alternate character.
It's slightly annoying, though simple enough to get you by until the day comes when Photoshop has a Glyphs panel of its own.
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[TD="class: col-1 col-first"] [h=3]Get to Know InDesign's Glyphs Panel [/h]
Many people who use InDesign can't precisely define the word glyph. While we may be more confortable with imagery than with words, it's still good to understand the term and, most importantly, know... Read More
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Mike Rankin
Body:
As Ilene Strizver wrote in a recent TypeTalk, you can use alternate characters in OpenType fonts to improve the look, personality, and effectiveness of your type. It's an awesome tip because alternate characters can improve your type in all kinds of ways. They can offer small changes like slightly longer (or shorter) descenders, or big changes like decorative swashes or characters that fit together via discretionary ligatures.
Illustrator's Glyphs panelYou can apply some (but not all) alternates in Photoshop by opening the Character panel (Window > Character), selecting the glyphs you want to replace, and clicking on the Contextual Alternates button.
But when there are multiple alternates for a glyph, clicking the button will do nothing, since Photoshop has no idea which alternate you want.
So how can you choose and apply specific alternate OpenType characters into your Photoshop type designs? The answer is simple: copy and paste from Illustrator. Just add some type to an Illustrator document using the same font, color, size as you want to use in Photoshop.
Then copy it, and paste it into your Photoshop document.
Note that this same trick does not work if you try to copy and paste from InDesign. You have to use Illustrator as the source of the alternate character.
It's slightly annoying, though simple enough to get you by until the day comes when Photoshop has a Glyphs panel of its own.
Inserted Article Image(s):
Article Slider image:
[h=2]Liked This? Read These![/h] [TABLE="class: views-view-grid cols-2"]
[TR="class: row-1 row-first"]
[TD="class: col-1 col-first"] [h=3]Get to Know InDesign's Glyphs Panel [/h]
Many people who use InDesign can't precisely define the word glyph. While we may be more confortable with imagery than with words, it's still good to understand the term and, most importantly, know... Read More
[/TD]
[TD="class: col-2 col-last"] [h=3]Track Down Obscure Glyphs in InDesign[/h]
Excerpted from InDesign Magazine, April/May 2011 (issue 41). Subscribe now! Read More
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: row-2 row-last"]
[TD="class: col-1 col-first"] [h=3]Illustrator How-to: Why the Appearance Panel Rocks[/h]
Before Adobe introduced Effects, here's what you had to do to set a headline in Illustrator with a hard-edged drop shadow: Set the headline, copy the headline, paste in back, then with the back... Read More
[/TD]
[TD="class: col-2 col-last"] [h=3]Learn About Photoshop CC While You Use It With the New Features Panel[/h]
Panel offers access to new features and videos inside Photoshop CC. Read More
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Graphics
Graphics Image Editing
Type
Typography
More...
