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jpt / barlow

Barlow: a straight-sided sans-serif superfamily
https://tribby.com/fonts/barlow
SIL Open Font License 1.1
728 stars 39 forks source link

German letters – bug? #63

Open CiceroAgentur opened 4 years ago

CiceroAgentur commented 4 years ago

Hi,

We're using this font for a project and have problems when we print documents with the font. I've found another topic here that deals with the same issue which could be resolved by simply using the OTF version of the font. Unfortunately this didn't solve the problem for us. Everything looks good on screen but when we print the dots over ö,ä and ü have moved to the left. It looks like this: ¨o, ¨a and ¨u. I've also tried uninstalling and installing again, downloading from different sites but the problem remains.

Do you have any idea what could be the problem?

Thank you

CiceroAgentur commented 4 years ago

IMG_6841

visuellemedien commented 4 years ago

I had this problem when I copy-pasted text straight from a PDF to HTML or InDesign: PDF format sometimes uses wrong characters for umlaut. That was not depending on the font in my case. I copied the buggy text to a plain text editor and did some search-and-replace to fix this.

turepalsson commented 4 years ago

EDIT: Never mind, I was wrong: Using the OTF version solves the problem for me.

I have noticed the same problem. Looks fine on screen using macOS (Catalina 10.15.4) Preview.app, but when printing from Prewiew.app to a HP CP1515n laser printer, the dots over ä and ö slide one character to the left. The ring on å, however, stays put! Several other fonts do not show this problem. Attaching test.pdf which triggers the problem for me. test.pdf

finnglink commented 4 years ago

I'm having exactly the same problem. Replacing the chars manually brought no change, I will take a look at the OTF version tomorrow. Using an HP printer as well, btw.

finnglink commented 4 years ago

OTF fixed it for me as well!

GuterPunkt commented 3 years ago

I had this problem until I finally found the solution here. As everybody says, OTF fixed it. However, we use Google fonts via Suitcase. Those are automatically TTF and cannot be removed. This leads to very annoying interferences between the OTF I want to use and the TTF that is automatically activated by Suitcase. Is there any chance this bug in the TTF version can be fixed?

jpt commented 2 years ago

this could be because there are nested components in the TTF. looking into it, thanks.

jpt commented 2 years ago

although it could be the printer driver as well

SimpleJack commented 2 years ago

Hey @jpt , was the font the issue, or the printer drivers? We are currently having the same problem with Konica Minolta printers and some others.

kenmcd commented 2 years ago

Hey @jpt , was the font the issue, or the printer drivers? We are currently having the same problem with Konica Minolta printers and some others.

The issue is the printer drivers - they do not handle the components in OpenType-TT (TTF) fonts correctly (all components, not just nested components). As the printer driver converts the font to PostScript, it makes some errors.

The quickest work-around is to use the OpenType-PS (OTF) fonts. Those fonts do not have components, so the printer driver does not break them.

Another option is to during the output/creation of the OpenType-TT (TTF) fonts to remove all the components, again so the printer driver does not break them. But this makes the fonts larger, so it is not likely to happen with web fonts. Since Barlow is a FOSS font you are free to edit and export the fonts without any components.

Additionally, there is nothing wrong with the TTF fonts. The problem is in the printer driver. So it is unlikely that all font providers (e.g. GF) are going to remove all components to accommodate bugs in printer drivers.

GuterPunkt commented 2 years ago

Thank you, that sounds reasonable. As the workaround with the OTF version has it's flaws when working with Suitcase and I have no control over my clients printer drivers, my solution would be to avoid Google fonts in print projects, right?

kenmcd commented 2 years ago

Thank you, that sounds reasonable. As the workaround with the OTF version has it's flaws when working with Suitcase and I have no control over my clients printer drivers, my solution would be to avoid Google fonts in print projects, right?

Well, that seems severe, but it is up to you.

Note that not all of the fonts have components. With some fonts the upstream-repo developer may decide to remove them.

Another work-around is to export to PDF, and then print. The PDF creation libraries are updated regularly and do not have this bug.

My understanding is that the PostScript engines in some of these printers are simply ancient - and that they have not been updated in many, many years. Even in a brand new printer. So if you have to deal with one of these printers, you will need to deal with it. Use OTF fonts Use modified TTF fonts which have the components removed. Tell the client to get a better printer. (OK, that was a joke, know you can't do that)

So now you know the issue, and your options to deal with it. :-)