Fonts not on computer (proprietary or not) from Adobe and others Thread poster: Philippe Locquet
|
|---|
Hi all,
I was looking into this topic today and it seems there is nothing in the forums about this. If you have some input on this topic please add it!
If when translating you’re dealing only with xliff this will probably not be an issue to you.
But if you translate source files like idml etc. you may want to open the translated file to see how it looks or fix some issues if you’re dealing with the final client. If the fonts used to create the source file are not on ... See more Hi all,
I was looking into this topic today and it seems there is nothing in the forums about this. If you have some input on this topic please add it!
If when translating you’re dealing only with xliff this will probably not be an issue to you.
But if you translate source files like idml etc. you may want to open the translated file to see how it looks or fix some issues if you’re dealing with the final client. If the fonts used to create the source file are not on your computer, you will have to use a different font to open the document. Since fonts can use more or less space you may end up looking at text that fits well when with the original font it won’t and vice-versa.
There is a zillion fonts available out there, many are free. If you know good free sites for fonts, please add them. Here’s one: https://www.dafont.com/pt/
About proprietary fonts:
These off-course are not free. Looking at the Adobe Creative Cloud ecosystem, I realized that many fonts are actually third-party fonts. I tested that with a font called “Jupiter” found on the Abobe CC. Getting more informations about that font I found that it’s been created by “Buro Destruct” (BD). They have their own website where they sell these but it’s also sold on a different font marketplace too: https://www.fontshop.com/ and I’m sure there are more places like this to get fonts, please share which ones you know!
Having to toil to get these fonts handpicking them for our needs can take some time, and fonts don’t come cheap. For those having active subscriptions to creator’s software suites, that’s included in the package. But, even this way, these fonts are a “rental”: unless I’m mistaken, to get Adobe fonts on your computer, you need to install the CC app and start syncing the fonts you want to use. Since they are synced, the day you stop your subscriptions, said fonts will go away.
Not easy…
If you have useful tips/website correspondence list between proprietary and free fonts (for the space they occupy) etc. please share!
My bests to all 😊 ▲ Collapse
| | | | John Fossey 
Canada
Local time: 11:10
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
This comes up from time to time, most recently a week ago. I was missing 2 fonts on my computer. I googled the font names and found one of them available free, I forget which website, but google will know. Double clicking the font file, after saving to my computer, installed the font.
The other font missing was an Adobe proprietary font, for which they wanted something like $50, so I ignored it. I couldn't tell any difference in the final file with the missing font.
| | | | Endre Both
Germany
Local time: 17:10
English to German
| The client needs to provide you with licensed fonts | Nov 20, 2021 |
Philippe Locquet wrote:
you need to install the CC app and start syncing the fonts you want to use. Since they are synced, the day you stop your subscriptions, said fonts will go away
To edit InDesign files, you'll need a CC subscription anyway, no? And if a client wants you to use fonts that are not available to you (via CC or otherwise), the onus is on them to provide you with a (temporary) license.
| | | | Multiverse Solutions s.r.o. (X)
Local time: 17:10
Polish to English
+ ...
| Fonts are never identical | Nov 20, 2021 |
Each font has its own characteristics, including spacing between letters, distance between to next line text, itc. These all have sometimes fancy industry names. One of the most important is kerning, or alignment / adjustments of the neighbouring characters - which sometimes is tricky and may be rather impossible to duplicate.
Plus the font as a set of characters has a specific character size. 12 pt Times differs from 12 pt Calibri or 12 pt Arial in height.
Freeware designers ... See more Each font has its own characteristics, including spacing between letters, distance between to next line text, itc. These all have sometimes fancy industry names. One of the most important is kerning, or alignment / adjustments of the neighbouring characters - which sometimes is tricky and may be rather impossible to duplicate.
Plus the font as a set of characters has a specific character size. 12 pt Times differs from 12 pt Calibri or 12 pt Arial in height.
Freeware designers do not necessarily follow industry guidelines, so so called replacements may make a mess instead of faithful reproduction.
There are too many factors to verify on the spot, so the "it looks kinda similar" approach is not what you want for InDesign publications (whether for online use of, the more so, for print).
Also, same-name fonts (Garamond, Times, ...) from different producers have different design properties and ARE different.
Thus, if the client values professional work, you will always need the original fonts that were used to generate the file.
If translator's work is only for review purposes, any font may be used as a temporary substitute because, most probably, your translation will be sent back to the designers of the original file. ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:10
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| Miraculous CaeTran behaviour | Nov 21, 2021 |
I don't know if this applies to all CAT tools, but one of the miracles of CafeTran is that when I drag and drop a .docx file on to the application and translate it, the exported file is in the same font as the original document ***even if I don't have that font on my computer***.
I don't know how this happens but it's one of the many positive things I have to say about CafeTran. Does the same thing happen with other CAT tools?
[Edited at 2021-11-21 09:38 GMT]
| | | | Philippe Locquet
Portugal
Local time: 16:10
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Not CAT specific | Nov 21, 2021 |
Tom in London wrote:
I don't know if this applies to all CAT tools, but one of the miracles of CafeTran is that when I drag and drop a .docx file on to the application and translate it, the exported file is in the same font as the original document ***even if I don't have that font on my computer***.
I don't know how this happens but it's one of the many positive things I have to say about CafeTran. Does the same thing happen with other CAT tools?
[Edited at 2021-11-21 09:38 GMT]
All the information from the original file is stored in CATs (in the xliff) in order to reconstruct the target file the exact same way it was as a source file.
A simple example to test that is:
_You get a source idml and open it on your computer, you get the message listing the missing fonts by name, take note of these.
_translate the file and get the target file
_open the translated idml, you should get a message listing the exact same missing fonts
The only situation where this does not happen is when your target language is CJK etc. where the fonts in source and target can't be the same for obvious reasons.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:10
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 17:10
German to Swedish
+ ...
| Don't approximate | Nov 21, 2021 |
(Professional designer speaking here:)
Indesign files should be "packaged", so that fonts and linked images are included. Then you can open them locally in Indesign and things will look right. Translation agencies and their customers usually don't bother with this.
If you don't have EXACTLY the same fonts, you can't trust what you see onscreen.
Don't EVER touch ANYTHING in an Indesign file that you expect to deliver to a customer, unless you know what you're doi... See more (Professional designer speaking here:)
Indesign files should be "packaged", so that fonts and linked images are included. Then you can open them locally in Indesign and things will look right. Translation agencies and their customers usually don't bother with this.
If you don't have EXACTLY the same fonts, you can't trust what you see onscreen.
Don't EVER touch ANYTHING in an Indesign file that you expect to deliver to a customer, unless you know what you're doing.
Don't spend time trying to find substitute fonts. Professionally designed documents often use commercial fonts costing hundreds of dollars which aren't readily available in pirated versions. Sometimes designers make their own custom versions of commercial fonts with special characters or kerning. NEVER change the fonts to "looks OK, doesn't it" substitutes and then deliver the file (or expect things to look as they do on your own screen).
It's common for high-end publications to use fonts from small foundries. There's no one font service that will give access to "all" fonts (even if it was affordable). ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
| All CafeTran or any other CAT can do is preserve what there is | Nov 24, 2021 |
Tom, I'm afraid that the success you've had with CafeTran in that respect is mostly due to your language pair. CafeTran may do the best job preserving the fonts for you, but it can't do anything about stuff that is not in the file being translated and not on your PC, like the Cyrillic part of the font (which may not even exist). For Russian, the font situation really sucks. I did a handful of jobs that required messing with fonts but now avoid them.
Tom in London wrote:
I don't know if this applies to all CAT tools, but one of the miracles of CafeTran is that when I drag and drop a .docx file on to the application and translate it, the exported file is in the same font as the original document ***even if I don't have that font on my computer***.
I don't know how this happens but it's one of the many positive things I have to say about CafeTran. Does the same thing happen with other CAT tools?
[Edited at 2021-11-21 09:38 GMT]
[Edited at 2021-11-24 21:38 GMT]
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Fonts not on computer (proprietary or not) from Adobe and others | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
| | TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
