How to substitute italicized font for italic version of font?

English
, , ,
#1

Some font packages come with specialized versions of the font for bold, italic, bold-italic, heavy, light, etc. I’m wondering if there is a way to substitute the base font for one of the specialized versions whenever I apply such format to the base font?

For example, suppose “Font1 package” comes with the following fonts: Font1, Font1-ita. Font1-ita is a specialized italic version of the font, distinct from the merely italic format of Font1. Likewise, Font1-ita, being its own base font, can be italicized as well (but that’s a bit too much italics). Anyway, I’m typing up my document using Font1 and, if I want some italic text, I just push Ctrl-I to turn that on, type what I need, then Ctrl-I to turn off italics. This italicized the Font1, but I’m wondering if there is a way to instead automatically switch the font to Font1-ita whenever I try to italicize Font1?

Of course, I found the font replacement in the Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Fonts but this doesn’t have the granularity of specific formats of fonts.

Also, I know I can use Find and Replace to search the whole document for italicized Font1 and replace it with Font1-ita. That’s nice to have, for sure, but some sort of automatic replacement would be optimal. Then, I can see the finished document in real time instead of having a document full of misformatted text, then finding and replacing all such text when I’m finished.

Thanks

#4

In principle, such font packages contain technical tables which link the specialised variants and the font renderer will automatically select the ad-hoc variant instead of dynamically generating a version on the fly.

Your question is then incomplete. An important information is missing: OS name as font renderers vary across platforms. Also, a few details about the font itself would be useful to check if the aforementioned tables are present. The fact that Ctrl+I leads to a result different from the variant suggests that the fonts are not correctly configured.

A general advice about using Writer: learn to work with styles and avoid as much as you can direct formatting (Ctrl+I and the like, including toolbar buttons). Styles give you independence of text against appearance and centralised formatting management.

1 Like
#9

Yes sure, it’s:

Version: 7.4.2.3 / LibreOffice Community
Debian Linux 6.0.0-6-amd64
GNOME 43.0/X11

The font is Milo TTF.
Hope that helps.
Thanks

#10

After analysis with FontForge, this font definitely has problems:

  • it is released under a special licence which is not totally free
  • the name table is not correct:
    • in MiloComp.ttf, family is declared as MiloComp and style Regular
    • in MiloComp-Ita.ttf, family is MiloComp-Ita and style Regular
      I didn’t look into the other fonts but, that, already shows every file is considered an independent font, not a member of a family.

The font is not correctly designed and what you experience is the consequence of this bad design. Add to that it covers a very restricted subset of Unicode. IMHO, avoid this font and use a more common font with a good Unicode coverage.

The tables could be amended to unite the various files under a real single family, but the licence forbids this operation (requires author’s assent).

1 Like
#11

Yes I imagined it would have many such issues. If you can convince them to avoid this font and adopt something better, you have my blessing.

#12

Your wish has been granted:

“Please note our previous Milo font enterprise license is expired.”

From https://brand.arizona.edu/applying-the-brand/typography

#13

:joy: Yes it seems so, but what has it been replaced with? Something Adobe Creative Suite even more proprietary and restrictive that I can’t even figure out how to use on Linux…

#14

It is bizarre that a university would choose proprietary fonts, but there it is. I think Calibri is included in the MS core fonts package offered by many distributions.

The Proxima Nova fonts are available for purchase in OTF format so not a technical problem. Maybe worthwhile to purchase if university won’t add you as user for their licence.

#2

Set up a Character Style for the italicize font of the font family you are using. You can set up a keyboard shortcut to apply the Character Style making it as easy to apply as direct formatting.

Alt + Zero will change the Character Style back to No Character Style.

1 Like
#3

Wonderful! Great idea! Just had to find the keyboard shortcuts, in Tools > Customize > Keyboard tab.

#5

Is it by default or I have to assign that keyboard shortcut (Alt + Zero)?
Is there an option to disable direct formatting?

#6

This is by default (with a few others, related to headings: Alt Ctrl + 1 = Heading1, Alt Ctrl + 2 = Heading2, and so on up to Alt Ctrl + 5). Note that these shortcuts are designed for use with a numpad. This means that if, like me, if you’re using a laptop without a numpad, then you’re out of luck :frowning: (unless some knowledgeable soul has a solution).

Otherwise, if you’d prefer using styles (congrats!), you might want to replace the Formatting toolbar with the Formatting (Styles) one. Ultimately, you may customize that toolbar to adjust it to your uses (ex: I add the three essential zooming options: optimal view, page width and entire page).

“Alt Ctrl” by @LeroyG (see next comments).

#7

Unless I’m wrong, shortcuts for Heading 1 to 5 are Ctrl+1 to 5. Alt may be substituted on some specific OS or after personal choice. Which is your OS?

#8

Ooops. Yes, should read Ctrl+… in my message above, my mistake… :frowning:

(I’m using Linux Mint with Cinnamon DE.)

Impressum (Legal Info) | Datenschutzerklärung (Privacy Policy)   Content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license.