OpenType Info

Compatibility between PostScript®, TrueType® and OpenType®

Q: Will the new OpenType font be compatible to my old Type 1 or TrueType font?

A: No, although the design of the OT font may the same as the older Type 1 or TrueType there are many subtle changes to kerning, line spacing and naming of the OT font that don’t allow compatibility between the old and new fonts. The extension of the glyph set and much broader support for languages prohibit any type of backward compatibility between the old and new fonts.


Q: What does "Cross Platform Compatibility" mean?

A: For OpenType fonts used in the same OpenType savvy application you can use the same font file for both Macintosh as well as Windows.

Future support for older formats.

Q: Will I be able to use my Type 1 and TrueType fonts in an OpenType savvy application?

A: According to Microsoft, Apple, and Adobe the support for Type 1 and OpenType fonts will continue.

Application support

Q: When will applications support OpenType features?

A: Application support for OpenType still varies. While some applications provide a certain level of typographic feature support (for example Adobe InDesign or Adobe Photoshop 6.0) others support layout features for non-Latin scripts (Windows 2000). Please be sure to check with application developers periodically for current information on OpenType feature support.


Q: Can I use OpenType fonts in Quark Express?

A: Yes, the new version of QuarkXPress 7.x supports all types of OpenType fonts (otf and ttf).

OpenType CFF* Font-Embedding in Microsoft Office documents

Q: Is it possible to embed OpenType CFF Fonts in Microsoft Office documents?

A: As per statement of Microsoft OpenType CFF fonts are not embeddable in Microsoft Office documents up to Microsoft Office 2003. This does not concern OpenType Com fonts from Linotype.

Digital Signatures

Q: What is a digital signature?

A: OpenType fonts may contain digital signatures. Digital signatures allow operating systems and web browsers to validate the integrity and identify the source of files before using them.

Adobe Type Manager

Q: Do I need the Adobe Type Manger to install OpenType Fonts?

A: The Adobe Type Manager was discontinued by Adobe. It is not necessary when installing OpenType fonts on Mac OS 10. Mac OS 9 does not support OpenType.

How to download OpenType fonts:

If you enter the name of the desired typeface into the search field you will receive a list of all fitting fonts in all available formats.


* CFF=Compact Font Format (Adobe PostScript®). A compression technique used to reduce the size of PostScript outlines in OpenType fonts.