6 Replies Latest reply: Nov 26, 2009 1:10 PM by Captain_Planet RSS

    CS4: Make _sans font bold?

    Captain_Planet Community Member

      First of all, I apologise for cross-posting but i'm not sure if mobile flash developers will know more about my issue:

      http://forums.adobe.com/thread/522887?tstart=60

       

      I'm despreate for a resolution, or a reason for this behaviour!  All i want to do is have one static textbox, using _sans font, with some text normal and some text bold!  Pleeease help!!  I didn't have this issue in CS3!

        • 1. Re: CS4: Make _sans font bold?
          Captain_Planet Community Member

          OK.....I'll re-phrase my question as seem as nobody anywhere can answer my initial question.

           

          If i decide to use bitmap/pixel fonts, can anybody recommend a good one?  And do I have to embed the fonts in every single dynamic text box, or can I do it once for the whole application?  Any advice would be great....

          • 2. Re: CS4: Make _sans font bold?
            Idaho Airships, Inc. Community Member

            Greetings from Boise, Captain_Planet!

             

            I'm making a few assumptions here, but if the "bold" option is grayed out it means that Flash knows that the device you are authoring for doesn't have a bold series of glyphs for that font on board (available as a device font).

             

            Now, that's just me guessing.

             

            You only have to embed a font once for each .swf, but if you only embed certain glyphs from a particular dynamic field you will also need to embed-as necessary-any other glyphs you may need in other individual dynamic text instances.

             

            If you are unsatisfied with device options or any fonts you may have presently, you might consider (again...I'm presuming you're authoring for devices) fonts specifically designed for Flash. One that I'm aware of is www.fontsforflash.com. I have a couple of their products-they're pretty slick.

             

            You still need to engage "best practices" with fonts specifically designed for Flash (such as appropriate antialiasing options and registering their instances to whole/integer pixel values.

            • 3. Re: CS4: Make _sans font bold?
              Captain_Planet Community Member

              Greetings back from Manchester, UK! 


              Thanks very much for your response.

              "it means that Flash knows that the device you are authoring for doesn't have a bold series" - I'm working with the N95 8GB device, and the bold glyph worked on CS3 _sans which is strange?  It also works physically on the device.  Do you use CS4?  Can you make _sans font bold in CS4?  I'm wondering if it's my setup.

               

              "You only have to embed a font once for each .swf.....www.fontsforflash.com" - phew.  I'm glad i only have to embed it once.  I might try this option if I can't solve my existing dilemma.

               

              Thanks again!

              • 4. Re: CS4: Make _sans font bold?
                Captain_Planet Community Member

                ....just out of interest, I've just created a new Flash file (Actionscript 3.0) - so in other words, not a Flash mobile app.  But i still can't make _sans font bold!  The 'Style' drop down is STILL greyed out!!

                • 5. Re: CS4: Make _sans font bold?
                  Idaho Airships, Inc. Community Member

                  You know, I haven't been to Manchester (I hear football is popular there...ahem...) but did live in East Anglia for a couple of years (Felixstowe), 1977-79. Loved it-especially the beers and the castles/archaeology. I was there when Ipswich won the FA cup...that was quite a party!

                   

                  OK, I am using CS4 Pro on a PC and am fully updated. I just opened a Flash Lite 3.0 and 3.1 document on a N85 (I don't have a N85 8GIG option-perhaps a difference between the USA and European lines?), In that I (IDE) put a Dynamic Text object and set the font to Arial. Sure enough, I have all the Style Options including Bold, Italic, Bold Italic, and Black. When I set the Family to _sans I get no options.

                   

                  Have you posted the question to F1 (Help) in Flash yet? There may be someone who is much further along with this issue than I am that can shed some light on the matter. Interestingly, I pulled another phone document in (Samsung 931SC) and it couldn't make bold on the _sans family either.

                   

                  I wonder if this is possibly a new convention for device fonts or something relative to a number of phones or ?

                  • 6. Re: CS4: Make _sans font bold?
                    Captain_Planet Community Member

                    ay.....the legend that is Bobby Robson, hey?

                     

                    Thanks for testing this out - at least I don't feel like I'm flogging a dead horse with a corrupt install or something.

                     

                    "I wonder if this is possibly a new convention for device fonts or something relative to a number of phones or ?" - yeah.  It's had me wondering for a few weeks now.  Right - I'm going to drop Adobe a line now....I'll update you if i get anything back.

                     

                    Thanks again!