BUG: fonts not listed on font menu in Word for Mac 2008

[siggy]

I'm having problems with PostScript OpenType fonts made from FOG 5 not showing up in the font menu for Word for Mac 2008. This is not a problem if you generate the same font as a TrueType OpenType font. Also, Adobe PostScript OpenType fonts don't have this problem.

If Adobe PS/OT fonts can show on the font menu, then why not PS/OT fonts made from Fontographer 5? I've tried using both the auto name building tools and simply filling out the names manually.

Someone at Microsoft looked at the font files I made, also comparing them to an Adobe font file, and found that a "name table" field is blank in the PS/OT font made in FOG 5, but not blank if made as a TT/OT font, and also not blank in the Adobe PS/OT font.

The blank field in my PS/OT is the one that should list the "Regular" style of the font. Is there a reason this field is left blank when the PS/OT font is generated in FOG 5?

Thanks!
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SOLUTION >>>

I stumbled onto a work-around. I generated a bunch of PS/OT fonts, and then found that some of them were listed on the font menu, but other weren't. I checked the Fontographer files, and found that the fonts that showed on the menu had one name field left completely blank; the fonts that didn't show on the font menu, had that same field filled in. Totally backwards!

In the Font Information dialog box in Advanced mode, in the Names section, the 2nd line is called  "Typographic style name." This can be auto-filled by checking the Auto box at right, or it can be manually edited by un-checking the box.

Most of the fonts I generated had this line auto-filled as "Regular." These fonts did not show on the font menu in Word for Mac 2008. However, this same field was left blank on a few fonts, and those fonts showed up on the font menu with no problem.

The work-around? Leave this field blank! I generated both TT/OT and PS/OT fonts with this field blank, and they show on the font menu just fine.

Hey FontLab -- can you check into why this field causes problems in PS/OT fonts when it's filled in Fontographer, yet ends up blank in the name table of the generated font? Again, it's not a problem for TT/OT fonts. Many thanks!

[Arno Enslin]

There is one slight difference only with regard to the name table of TrueType and PostScript flavored OpenType fonts. From the OT spec (http://www.microsoft.com/typography/otspec/name.htm):

Full font name; this should be a combination of strings 1 and 2. Exception: if the font is “Regular” as indicated in string 2, then use only the family name contained in string 1.
An exception to the above definition of Full font name is for Windows platform strings for CFF OpenType fonts: in this case, the Full font name string must be identical to the PostScript FontName in the CFF Name INDEX.

Except from that the name tables should be identical.

But if you want to make out those differences in future, don’t ask Microsoft, but decompile the name table of the TT-OT and the PS-OT version of your font with the help of TTX and compare the tables: http://sourceforge.net/projects/fonttools/

[siggy]

Thanks, but I have a working relationship with Microsoft; I can consult with them if I want to. They were very helpful in diagnosing the problem as a name table issue -- which I wouldn't have figured out without them. I wouldn't even have known to look for it.

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