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site today! ■DEPARTMENT ››› ›photoshop user› february 2017106
PETER BAUERFrom the Help Desk
answers to photoshop & gear-related questions
To: Quinn
From: KelbyOne Help Desk
SVG stands for “scalable vector graphics.” It’s a term used
in Photoshop for fonts that can have individual glyphs
(characters) that are multicolored. You may also hear SVG
fonts referred to as “color fonts.” In Photoshop’s Font
menu, you’ll be able to identify these fonts by a little tiny
“SVG” symbol in the lower right of the O that indicates an
OpenType font.
You’ll find three types of fonts (okay, bad pun!) in
Photoshop’s Font menu. TrueType fonts have a double T
between the name of the font and the sample, OpenType
fonts show the O symbol to the right of the font name,
and SVG fonts add the “SVG” to the O symbol.
OpenType fonts (both regular and SVG) can contain
many more glyphs (characters) than can TrueType fonts
and often have alternate styles for individual characters
built into the font.
The key to SVG options and alternates for individual
characters in Photoshop is the Glyphs panel. (Open it
through Photoshop’s Window menu.) To experiment with
SVG, use Photoshop CC 2017’s Trajan Color font—it’s one
of two SVG fonts installed with Photoshop. (The other is
EmojiOne, found by default near the top of the Fonts menu
rather than in alphabetical order in the menu. But that font
deserves its own column.) These SVG fonts are sort of a
trial balloon for Adobe to see if there’s enough interest and
usage of the concept to continue development. (Try it and
see the power of this option. And don’t forget to send your
feedback to Adobe. If there’s not suitable support for SVG
fonts, we may watch this promising option wither. Keep in
mind that SVG fonts will increase file size.)
Because this is such a new concept, it’s supported by
only a few programs other than Photoshop in the opening
stage: Firefox, Windows 10 Anniversary Edition Microsoft
Edge, and in Windows 10 apps that support DirectWrite
and Direct2D.To take advantage of the options available for SVG
fonts, follow these steps:- Open or create a document in Photoshop.
- Select the Type tool (T).
- In the Options Bar, select Trajan Color as the font.
- Click in the image window to create point type, or
drag the Type tool to create a rectangle in which
to create paragraph type. (Alternatively, click with
the Type tool on an existing path to add text along
the path.) - Add your text.
- Press Command-Return (PC: Ctrl-Enter) to finish
adding text. - Click-and-drag over a character with the Type tool to
select it. You can also select multiple characters if you
want to replace them with a single character from
the Glyphs panel. - In the Glyphs panel, below the font name, select the
option Alternates for Selection. (You’ll also see a gray
bar under the highlighted character, and positioning
the cursor over the character shows you the alter-
nates and color options directly in the document.) - Choose from among the colors/gradients available.
- Double-click on the option of your choice.
- Move the cursor away from the text to show the
Move tool, and click to see the results.
Notice, too, that instead of Alternates for Selection, you
can select Entire Font. That enables you to select one
or more characters and see all of the options available
for that font. You can, for example, select one or more
characters and replace them with perhaps a dollar sign
or another symbol. ■
What does “SVG” mean?—QuinnDiscuss this Issue