Note: This topic assumes you have a non-variable font, thus a font without axes, and you don't want to turn the font into a variable font.
If you want to make a bold font out of a regular font, you also need to adjust all your glyph outlines. This can be easily accomplished through the transform features, using the Medium to Bold script. There are several other scripts that can make a font thin, italic, etc.
If the font already contains bold outlines, but is recognized as a regular font, then you need to change a few settings on the Font Properties panel:
Instances Tab:
•Style Name: Regular -> Bold
•Weight Class: 400 - Normal (Regular) -> 700 - Bold
•PANOSE: Optionally change Weight from 5 (Book) to 8 (Bold)
How to make fonts work like a family?
Windows comes with several typefaces (font families) that are made up with more than 4 fonts, so such family comes with more than just Regular, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic. To name a few; Calibri contains 6 fonts, Segoe UI comes with 12 fonts and Sitka is king with 24 fonts. The trick to make this work is fairly straightforward; however you need to be consistent. All fonts within the family must have the same Typographic Family Name. However the four common fonts (Regular, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic) leave the Typographic Family Name and Typographic Subfamily Name empty, and instead will use the Style Map Family Name and Style Map Style Name fields. The other fonts will be grouped together based on their Width and Weight, and will get their own Family Name based on that.
Older software typically supports the combination of Style Map Family Name and Style Map Style Name, while modern software uses Typographic Family Name and Typographic Subfamily Name. If the Typographic Family Name and Typographic Subfamily Name fields are empty, the values from Style Map Family Name and Style Map Style Name are used.
For example a typeface named “GreatFace” with 10 fonts:
Id |
Font |
Font Family |
Font Subfamily |
Typographic Family |
Typographic Subfamily |
Width |
Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
GreatFace Narrow |
GreatFace Narrow |
Regular |
GreatFace |
Narrow |
Condensed |
400 - Normal |
2 |
GreatFace Narrow Italic |
GreatFace Narrow |
Italic |
GreatFace |
Narrow Italic |
Condensed |
400 - Normal |
3 |
GreatFace Light |
GreatFace Light |
Regular |
GreatFace |
Light |
Medium |
300 - Light |
4 |
GreatFace Light Italic |
GreatFace Light |
Italic |
GreatFace |
Light Italic |
Medium |
300 - Light |
5 |
GreatFace Regular |
GreatFace |
Regular |
|
|
Medium |
400 - Normal |
6 |
GreatFace Italic |
GreatFace |
Italic |
|
|
Medium |
400 - Normal |
7 |
GreatFace Bold |
GreatFace |
Bold |
|
|
Medium |
700 - Bold |
8 |
GreatFace Bold Italic |
GreatFace |
Bold Italic |
|
|
Medium |
700 - Bold |
9 |
GreatFace Black |
GreatFace Black |
Regular |
GreatFace |
Black |
Medium |
900 - Black |
10 |
GreatFace Black Italic |
GreatFace Black |
Italic |
GreatFace |
Black Italic |
Medium |
900 - Black |
Font |
Bold |
Italic |
Italic Angle |
PANOSE Weight |
PANOSE Proportion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GreatFace Narrow |
|
|
|
5 or 6 (Book or Medium) |
6 - Condensed |
GreatFace Narrow Italic |
|
YES |
12 |
5 or 6 (Book or Medium) |
6 - Condensed |
GreatFace Light |
|
|
|
3 - Light |
2, 3, or 4 |
GreatFace Light Italic |
|
YES |
12 |
3 - Light |
2, 3, or 4 |
GreatFace Regular |
|
|
|
5 or 6 (Book or Medium) |
2, 3, or 4 |
GreatFace Italic |
|
YES |
12 |
5 or 6 (Book or Medium) |
2, 3, or 4 |
GreatFace Bold |
YES |
|
|
8 - Bold |
2, 3, or 4 |
GreatFace Bold Italic |
YES |
YES |
12 |
8 - Bold |
2, 3, or 4 |
GreatFace Black |
Y/N |
|
|
10 - Black |
2, 3, or 4 |
GreatFace Black Italic |
Y/N |
YES |
12 |
10 - Black |
2, 3, or 4 |
All these settings and flags can be modified through the settings on the Font Properties panel.
Masters Tab:
•Italic Angle (0 for Upright, negative for Italic)
Instances Tab:
•Style Name
•Weight Class
•Width Class
•Typographic Family Name *
•Typographic Subfamily Name *
•Style Map Family Name *
•Style Map Style Name *
•PANOSE (optionally Weight and Proportion)
*) FontCreator can generate the additional naming fields, so you don't have to worry about them.
