Can't change font/ glyphs/ alternates in Ventura (used different apps)?

Question

Can't change font/ glyphs/ alternates in Ventura (used different apps)?

Hey Community,

I have a huge problem and I need help: I recently switched from Windows to Mac. I have a lot of (paid) fonts (otf) and they always worked perfectly fine with windows 10 (every app).

But on my Mac (M1) I can't change the glyphs. I use apps like Pixelmator pro, pages, I even tried textedit.

I installed a free trial of Typeface, because I thought it might be the font book app itself that causes the problem. But no.

They just don't work no matter what.

Any ideas on this topic? It really is a reason to switch back to windows as I need easy access to font alternates.

Here's an example:

Pixelmator Pro + Font Book.

I can always see the glyphs, other characters, but I can't change them!

This is what happens: It tells me there's nothing selected.

I've tried it with so many different fonts (Mac fonts too!!) and apps. It looks like a Ventura/ Mac problem.

I haven't tried adobe as I would never consider to pay for a subscription.

I can't tell if there was a problem on versions before Ventura, sorry.

Is there anybody with the same problem but maybe solved?

If you have any questions that might help to find a solution, please ask!!!

Thank you so much!

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 13.1

Posted on Jan 16, 2023 05:24 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 18, 2023 04:08 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Quick Update:

I found that there's an alternative to use fonts (so if someone needs a solution right now):

If you do not have or want a subscription to Adobe CC for whatever reasons and downgrading is not an option, I'd recommend trying Affinity Suite V2!

That's what I use now as it has its own font renderer. They do have a free trial.

It definitely is a macOS Ventura bug with the font renderer. I've talked with different people and it does function with the versions before Ventura.

I reported the bug. I didn't downgrade as Affinity is the perfect solution for me personally (I like it a lot!).

Thank you very much Tom for helping me out!

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Answer 2

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

121,524 points

Jan 16, 2023 05:41 AM in response to morningbadger

On a Mac glyph alternates are accessed via the Font Panel, which you get to normally via Format > Font > Show Fonts. You select text in a doc, open font panel, and then go to the gear wheel or 3 dots at top left corner and down to Typography to see the possible variations. Does that work at all for you?

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Answer 3

Jan 16, 2023 08:22 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I know, it works fine.

I can see all alternative letters (font doesn't matter) and I can click them, but they don't change. It always says there's nothing selected. It is so weird!

I am wondering how graphic designers, artist deal with this problem. I don't think everyone is able or willing to pay adobe products.

Interesting that it works in Monterey! Have you tried some different glyphs?

(I chose Zapfino because everybody on a Mac should have it and there are alternative letters available.)

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Answer 4

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

121,524 points

Jan 16, 2023 08:50 AM in response to morningbadger

morningbadger wrote: I can see all alternative letters (font doesn't matter) and I can click them, but they don't change. It always says there's nothing selected.

My Ventura does the same thing. It's clearly a Ventura bug in the Glyph Variants item

But the Stylistic Variants item on Zapfino does work for me. Unfortunately you don't know what the variant is until you click on the box for the set.

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Answer 5

Jan 16, 2023 10:09 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

The stylistic variants do work with apple fonts, but they don't work with every "3rd party" font. Even if they'd worked, it does take too much time to check every variant for every letter.

Do you know where I can report this problem? This definitely needs to be solved.

Luckily my Macbook came with Monterey! So I guess I'm able to downgrade (just need to figure out how it works and of course backup my files and stuff).

I don't have a Time Machine backup because macOS is so new to me and I'm just figuring out how everything works. (Except this problem now, I'm absolutely in love with my MacBook by the way!) My files/ data/ everything is always secured on 2 external ssd's anyways.

Tom, I can't thank you enough, you really helped me a lot!

I'll tell you how it is going with Monterey and the "glyph variation access problem"!

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