Shortage of Fonts in LibreOffice 5.3.0.3

users
#1

I use OpenSUSE Tumbleweed.
In the new version of LibreOffice is a shortage of fonts. I can choose 104 fonts from the 171 available of my system fonts. So I missed - of course - my favorate Classical Garamond.
´the asked font is not available and will be replaced´ is the only message I get.

How to proceed?

Andre den Oudsten

#2

Download garamond .ttf from wherever.

See https://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php/454116-LibreOffice-fonts

You may have to logout and in again.

#3

you'll get better results if you correct the time and date on your
system, lots of people sort email by date.

Dave

#4

Hi.
Are the fonts you can't choose by chance postscript fonts.
steve

#5

Hi Andre,

I use OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. In the new version of LibreOffice is a
shortage of fonts. I can choose 104 fonts from the 171 available of
my system fonts. So I missed - of course - my favorate Classical
Garamond. ´the asked font is not available and will be replaced´ is
the only message I get.

Could you post other fonts here? Classical Garamond seems to be a font
where I have to pay for. I won't test this with a font I have to pay
for, because I don't need more fonts as the system (OpenSuSE)
installes by itself.

Regards

Robert
- --
Homepage: http://robert.familiegrosskopf.de
LibreOffice Community: http://robert.familiegrosskopf.de/map_3

#6

Hi Andre,

I use OpenSUSE Tumbleweed.
In the new version of LibreOffice is a shortage of fonts. I can choose
104 fonts from the 171 available of my system fonts. So I missed - of
course - my favorate Classical Garamond.
´the asked font is not available and will be replaced´ is the only
message I get.

If the fonts in question are PS Type1, then they are no longer supported
in LibreOffice 5.3 - support was dropped for Type1 postscript fonts in
this release.

Alex

#7

Blow. I have dozens of type 1 fonts.
Guessing I will try to convert with fontforge or something.
Steve

#8

If I understand what Alex is saying, see if one of the two listed below will work. (taken from Garamond Wikipedia)

#9

Hi Andre,

I use OpenSUSE Tumbleweed.
In the new version of LibreOffice is a shortage of fonts. I can choose
104 fonts from the 171 available of my system fonts. So I missed - of
course - my favorate Classical Garamond.
´the asked font is not available and will be replaced´ is the only
message I get.

If the fonts in question are PS Type1, then they are no longer supported
in LibreOffice 5.3 - support was dropped for Type1 postscript fonts in
this release.

Alex

Indeed they are Type1, from WordPerfect 8 for Linux.
Is there an argument for the decision to drop Type1. I use them in LibreOffice since it exists.
What/who can I approach to retract this decision?

André

#10

Well you could add a comment to the bug linked to below, but don't
expect anyone to take you up on it, as others have already tried :

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=104701

See comment 11 in particular.

The decision was made by the Engineering Steering Committee, in order to
allow for implementation of the new rendering framework code.

Alex

#11

A. den Oudsten wrote

...
Is there an argument for the decision to drop Type1. I use them in
LibreOffice since it exists.

Several, but at its core PS Type 1 fonts have been on borrowed time since
TrueType and OpenType were implemented.

Users should have replaced or converted their fonts. Of note, due to lack
of PS Type 1 support in DirectWrite/Direct2D layout Microsoft dropped Type 1
font use from Office 2013.

In moving LibreOffice forward with HarfBuzz based common layout, support for
PS Type 1 and bitmap fonts was dropped by design and ESC decision [1].

At 5.3 with the "new" HarfBuzz based common layout there is simply no
support for the glyph mappings used with Type 1 PS fonts. And at 5.4
(current master) the "old" framework has been completely stripped out.

What/who can I approach to retract this decision?

No one, the ESC decision was made and development proceeded accordingly.
Functionally it can not be reversed as there is no support for PS Type 1 or
Bitmap fonts in current HarfBuzz based common layout. The HarfBuzz
project would have to implement support for Type 1 and Bitmap fonts--and
there is not much interest in doing so.

A representative LibreOffice WONTFIX Bugzilla issue is tdf#104701 - PS Type
1 URW fonts missing in LibreOffice...
<https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=104701#c10> , and for
the related dropping support for old MS Bitmap fonts on Windows tdf#103514
-- MS bitmap fonts... not displayed with OpenGL rendering
<https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=103514#c10>

=-ref-=
http://nabble.documentfoundation.org/minutes-of-ESC-call-tc4198435.html

#12

Several, but at its core PS Type 1 fonts have been on borrowed time
since TrueType and OpenType were implemented.

The same argument could be used of TrueType fonts.

Users should have replaced or converted their fonts.

Why should they, when support for them remains?

Of note, due to
lack of PS Type 1 support in DirectWrite/Direct2D layout Microsoft
dropped Type 1 font use from Office 2013.

What about GIMP, Krita, Inkscape, and other free software, all of which
still support Type 1 fonts? These are applications that LibreOffice
users are likely to interact with.

Yes, Type 1 fonts are no longer state of the art. However, they remain
usable, and, if nothing else, are important for legacy documents. Many
designers have invested substantially in Type 1 fonts over the years,
and this decision leaves them stranded.

That said, anyone affected by this decision might be interested in the
chart of free font equivalents for proprietary fonts that I drew up
about a year ago:

http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/Blogs/Off-the-Beat-Bruce-Byfield-s-Blog/Free-equivalents-for-standard-proprietary-fonts

Any additions to this table would be welcome.

#13

STIXGeneral is a very good alternative for Classical Garamond

Andre

#14

This font thread has been interesting to me. As an end user, I don't
know diddly about font technology. However, I am quite obsessive about
fonts and making sure I get the right results.

I'm using LO 5.1.6.2 on Linux Mint 18. I also have an old Windows Vista
machine with the same version of LO.

I recently noticed a really nice font feature on the Linux side of
things. When using some fonts, I've found that LO automatically inserts
ligatures for "fi" "ff" and "fl." Some fonts really require such
ligatures in order to avoid having the "f" crash into the next letter.
I've noticed that LO does this with Linux Libertine O (without the need
for the Graphite engined Libertine "G"), OFL Sorts Mill Goudy, and the
TexGyre family of fonts. It does *not* do this with the URW fonts or the
Bitstream fonts included in my very old WordPerfect 7 CD. (For what it's
worth, I've also noticed that this automatic ligature insertion does
*not* happen on my Windows machine.)

At any rate, I really appreciate the automatic ligatures on these fonts,
and it encourages me to ensure that I'm using OpenType rather than Type
1 fonts.

Virgil

#15

The same argument could be used of TrueType fonts.

The days of TrueType fonts are numbered. However, OpenType support is
not yet universal. :frowning:

Why should they, when support for them remains?

Support for Type 1 is, at best, spotty.

designers have invested substantially in Type 1 fonts over the years,
and this decision leaves them stranded.

I fully sympathise with those that are using legacy typefaces,
especially because replacing them can be very expensive. (To quote an
email I received today for a typeface: MSRP US$500,000 on sale today for
only US$5,000. The included fonts are so ugly, that even if they were
gratis, one would be paying too much for them.)

chart of free font equivalents for proprietary fonts that I drew up about a year ago:

The difference between proprietary typefaces, and free typefaces, is
that the latter usually come in only one weight, whilst the latter
usually come with at least half a dozen weights.

jonathon

#16

Great discussion, I (followers of this list) have known for a long time type 1 would be dropped but this discussion kicked me into action.
I came across this information that covers converting my type 1 fonts that may be useful.
http://fontforge.github.io/en-US/documentation/scripting/
Steve

#17

Whilst that works for FLOSS fonts, the vast majority of Type 1 Fonts are
proprietary, and such conversion would be, at best, a license violation.

jonathon