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Fonts: OTF versus TTF – What is the difference?

Filed Under: Fonts

Are you having fun talking fonts this week? I hope so! If you’ve missed any of the posts about fonts catch up with How to Install Fonts and Organizing and Managing Your Fonts. Today we are looking at the difference between .ttf and .otf fonts. You can use either .ttf or .otf fonts in Silhouette Studio or Design Space.

.ttf Fonts

.ttf stands for TrueType Fonts. TrueType fonts were created in the 1980’s by Apple and Microsoft, as a solution to fonts that would work universally between the two different operating systems and with most printers.

.otf Fonts

.otf stands for OpenType Fonts. Opentype fonts were created in the 1990’s by Adobe and Microsoft. Opentype fonts extend the amount of characters available (each font can hold up to 65,000!), and supports additional features like ligatures, small caps, alternate characters, swashes, and more.

OpenType Font Features

Ligatures: Two or more letters that are connected.

Example: Both words are written in Sherlock Pro. The second word shows a ligature of the M and the P.

Fonts: OTF versus TTF - What is the difference? by cuttingforbusiness.com - Make money with your Silhouette Cameo or Cricut.

Small caps: All letters are rendered in capital letters, with intentional capital letters appearing larger than the rest.

Example: Both words are written in Sherlock Pro. The second word is written in small caps.

Fonts: OTF versus TTF - What is the difference? by cuttingforbusiness.com - Make money with your Silhouette Cameo or Cricut.

Swashes: Leading and trailing decorative elements.

Example: Both words are written in Sherlock Pro. The second word uses swashes at the beginning and the end.

Fonts: OTF versus TTF - What is the difference? by cuttingforbusiness.com - Make money with your Silhouette Cameo or Cricut.

Alternates: More than one style of a letter are available in the font.

Example: Both words are written in Sherlock Pro. The second word uses alternate letters. The differences are subtle, but look closely and you will see them.

Fonts: OTF versus TTF - What is the difference? by cuttingforbusiness.com - Make money with your Silhouette Cameo or Cricut.

Isn’t that neat? I bet you have several OpenType fonts with hidden elements that you haven’t discovered! To access all the features of OpenType fonts, you’ll need Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator, or you’ll need to access them using a character map. Before you go searching your fonts, I have to tell you this: not all OpenType fonts are created equally. Some designers choose to not map the OpenType fonts entirely. This means that unless you have an Adobe program, you may not be able to use a character map. If you do not have Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, read the information in the font description carefully before purchasing a font. I’d hate for you find out that you don’t have a program that will allow you to access the advertised features.

Now that you know that differences between TrueType and OpenType fonts, I’ll teach you how to use a character map in tomorrow’s blog post to access some of the “hidden” features.

 Fonts: OTF versus TTF - What is the difference?  by cuttingforbusiness.com - Make money with your Silhouette Cameo or Cricut.

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« Organizing Fonts with NexusFont
How to Use OpenType Fonts in Silhouette Studio or Cricut Design Space »

Comments

  1. Melissa Tarun says

    February 4, 2016 at 5:41 pm

    GREAT explanation! I’ve never read a post that really described the differences as well as you have! My question is: When given the choice of installing TTF or OTF, should I always install OTF? I do have Adobe Illustrator.

    Reply
    • Christine says

      February 5, 2016 at 8:37 pm

      Melissa, If you have AI, then I’d opt for OTF if it’s available. Christine

      Reply
  2. Julia says

    February 2, 2017 at 4:12 pm

    This is so helpful! Thank you! My question, if given the option (and I do not have adobe illustrator) but can use the character map and MainType 7.0 to access extra characters, which should I download, OTF or TTF?

    Reply
    • Christine says

      February 3, 2017 at 8:02 am

      I always download the OTF if I have a choice.

      Reply
  3. Katie says

    March 21, 2017 at 12:12 pm

    Can I use an .otf font on a Silhouette? I’m new to this and want to be sure.

    Reply
    • Christine says

      March 22, 2017 at 1:31 pm

      Yes, you can.

      Reply
  4. Nancy says

    April 2, 2017 at 1:32 pm

    Thanks! Always wondered.

    Reply
    • Christine says

      April 3, 2017 at 8:42 am

      My pleasure Nancy!

      Reply
  5. Suzanne Herder says

    July 18, 2017 at 10:40 pm

    Hi, Christine-
    I ordered a font collection from Creative Market. I just received a message that they’ve issued an update that now has ” PUA encoded versions of the fonts. Use these fonts if you are working with Microsoft, Office, Silhouette, or other programs that do not support Open Type. Access all of the characters without work-arounds.” I was happy to see this because although all fonts in the collection loaded to my mac, only one (Hanley Block) was showing up in Silhouette Studio. So here are my questions–should I uninstall the old font files before installing the new ones, and would you recommend OTF, PUA encoded OTF, or TTF? I’m running these through SS, not Adobe. Thanks so much for your advice and assistance!

    Reply
    • Christine says

      July 24, 2017 at 1:10 pm

      I would uninstall and reinstall the PUA encoded OTF. 🙂

      Reply
    • Christan says

      September 2, 2017 at 4:13 pm

      I’m new to Cricut and Design Space. I hope this question isn’t totally idiotic. I just downloaded a free font of the week and it’s OTF. I thought I went through the steps of installing by extracting and then right clicking on each file and installing. I’m not seeing the font in Design Space. Did I miss a step? Very possible!!! I didn’t see that I could install OTF files to Design Space so I wasn’t sure exactly what to do here. Thanks for your help.

      Reply
      • Christine says

        September 4, 2017 at 8:50 am

        Close Design Space and reopen it. If it is installed on your computer it should show up.

        Reply
        • Christan says

          September 4, 2017 at 1:18 pm

          Thank you! I appreciate your help.

          Reply
          • Christine says

            September 5, 2017 at 4:18 pm

            My pleasure!

  6. Valerie says

    July 31, 2017 at 12:11 am

    THANK YOU!!! …but UGH, I should have look into this sooner. All the fonts I have to re-install. 😛 I want my swashes! sigh.

    Reply
    • Christine says

      July 31, 2017 at 9:06 am

      My pleasure!

      Reply
  7. Nancy says

    August 30, 2017 at 12:16 am

    Hi Christine,

    So if you can use OTF on a silhouette, am I correct in assuming you can use them on a cricut explore also.

    Reply
    • Christine says

      August 31, 2017 at 7:54 am

      Correct.

      Reply

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