Precinct Omega
patreon
F#*%ing Fonts!!
🕑 Added 2021-02-13 09:01:00 +0000 UTCWelp...
So, when I started self-publishing, I was keen to retain some level of consistency, thematically, between the original Horizon Wars book and what came next. And one key part of this was my use of fonts. After much searching around and help from an old friend who is a self-acknowledged font geek, I decided that DIN Condensed was the font closest to fitting whatever Osprey used. I played with the kerning and the character width until I got close enough and I was happy with that.
Then I decided to move from using Adobe InDesign to Affinity Publisher for three big reasons (well, one BIG reason, which was quickly joined by two others). First, Adobe has a subscription model (Software as a Service, or SaaS as it's known) so I paid a pretty substantial amount per year to keep using it, whereas Affinity is a package - you buy it once and you're good to go. You even get a limited number of free upgrades, and I just upgraded*.
However, with the upgrade came the discovery that DIN Condensed is no longed licensed to Affinity. So I have to make a choice. Do I buy a licence to use DIN Condensed (which is not a simple or cheap process)? Do I give up on Affinity and go back to Adobe (scrapping weeks of work)? Or do I just find a different (royalty-free) font and give up DIN Condensed?
My business brain says just find a different font. But I don't know how attached to the old font my players are going to be. Will I lose something fundamental if I give up DIN Condensed? And, if I do switch, should it be to a close approximation to the original, or to a completely different font?
There's a poll below to vote in, but feel free to articulate your opinion in the comments.
*The other two reasons are that Affinity is a UK-based software developer, and that it's also pretty bloody good and does some stuff better than InDesign (for example, Ctrl-I actually makes things italic, rather than opening a search bar (WTF, Adobe? Who makes Ctrl-I open a f***ing search bar??)).
Comments
Paul Holden
I voted for "Find a different one" but I do care about the Font. Just not enough to push you to go back to Adobe or spend money that would be better spent on something else (your call on that one I guess).
Brandon Ulick
No need to waste money on it. I’d imagine the cost would be on the higher end of the range as it’s for commercial use.
