Inter: Printing issues with Microsoft Word

[YorelCayla]

The bug
I face a stange error when it's come to print with the Inter v3.5. and my custom version too.
The printed text does not look the one in Word the leading is good but the letters are bigger and the metrics are not respected.
Same error on Pages. It seems the font is not propelly interpreted by a printer.

Here is a preview with my custom version :

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Compose my text on Word it looks ok here
2. Sent to print from Word on a postscript printer

1. No issues when I make a PDF
2. No issues with an other fonts

Expected behavior
The printing should look like the composition in Word

Screenshots
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Environment

• macOS 10.11.6
• App that renders the font Microsoft Word 15.13.3 and Pages 5.6.2
• Version of font "Inter Regular 3.0v5"

All best

[rsms]

This is really strange — it seems like a bug in Word to me. Exactly which font files do you have installed?

[rsms]

I printed the default sample text from rsms.me/inter/lab using Apple Pages 8.0 with Inter Regular 3.5 OTF installed to a CUPS-connected postscript laser printer. It looks correct to me.

Have you tried printing with a different printer? Could it be a printer issue..? I only have one printer at home, but I can try on a few other printers at the office next week.

[YorelCayla]

Hi Rasmus, thanks for your answer, here is a new test.
I have a Post-script Printer (HP LaserJet 5200tn). The SF pro text look the same no matter the technique. The Inter look différent, the metrics values are changed and the size too.

Hypothesis :

1. The Post-script printer does not interpretate the right metrics value. Is there in the font file a default metrics value ?
2. Units per EM (2816) is too big for a good Postscript interpretation.

[rsms]

Very interesting. SF Pro Text looks different in your prints as well, though less difference. Spacing is different and stroke weight seems to vary a little. Wonder if Word does something crazy, maybe Windows GDI -> PostScript translation?

The PDF is of course postscript, so if printing the PDF on the same printer yields expected results, then this means that Word produces different PostScript code depending on if you print or generate a PDF (and thus, this is a bug in Word.)

[YorelCayla]

I think the variation in SF pro is due to the size and printing speed. If I put the two layers on top of each other the SF look quiet similar.

Next week I will check with an other version of Word.

[reli-msft]

@rsms
Current Word uses DirectWrite everywhere (yes they ported DWRITE), but I have no idea how Word 15 on Mac works. There's maybe something wrong with the PPEM, like rounding error?

@superpapuche
Could you please provide more detail. like:

• Which Inter version
• Which variant (TTF vs OTF vs VAR)
• Does this bug reproduce on latest O365 Word? If so, what is the version number of it?

[megaroeny]

We're also experiencing this at our company. We printed something yesterday, and the letter-spacing/kerning was too tight. Our marketing designer is on a Mac, so _maybe_ its Word for Mac? I'll ask her to upload a photo of the print too.

[rsms]

@jaminroe What happens if you print to the same printer from TextEdit on that same Mac computer?

[megaroeny]

@jaminroe What happens if you print to the same printer from TextEdit on that same Mac computer?

Sorry I never got back to you. I'll follow up with you later this week. Will ask our marketing designer again too.😊

[alex-kovac]

To add... We also get considerably tighter kerning printing directly from Pages v8 and TextEdit on High Sierra 10.13.6.

• Font we use is Inter Version 3.011;git-f93a4a705 (non-variable)
• Printer is HP LaserJet 1320

[megaroeny]

To add... We also get considerably tighter kerning printing directly from Pages v8 and TextEdit on High Sierra 10.13.6.

• Font we use is Inter Version 3.011;git-f93a4a705 (non-variable)
• Printer is HP LaserJet 1320

You should try the latest release. You're behind quite a few versions! 3.11 is the latest. 😄

[alex-kovac]

...

• Font we use is Inter Version 3.011;git-f93a4a705 (non-variable)
  You should try the latest release. You're behind quite a few versions! 3.11 is the latest. 😄

Checked. This should be the latest version. 3.11 zip release (12 days ago) contains otf files labelled version 3.011, created 22 Oct 2019. Release 3.10 contains otf files font version 3.010. This did not seem problematic knowing font versioning numbers.

[megaroeny]

...

• Font we use is Inter Version 3.011;git-f93a4a705 (non-variable)
  You should try the latest release. You're behind quite a few versions! 3.11 is the latest. smile

Checked. This should be the latest version. 3.11 zip release (12 days ago) contains otf files labelled version 3.011, created 22 Oct 2019. Release 3.10 contains otf files font version 3.010. This did not seem problematic knowing font versioning numbers.

Oh interesting, I'll need to check my files later when I'm back in the office. I have seen Font Book not update the version if you just try to install and override your current version installed. I've had to delete the Inter font in Font Book and then install fresh with the lastest version.

I'm guessing you're taking about the file names though in the zip file?

[alex-kovac]

Zip file from _Releases_ page here on GitHub is named 'Inter-3.11.zip'. Unzipped, in Finder/File info, says: Version 3.011;git-f93a4a705. Using non-variable fonts.

Version number did not seem alarming. Considering font versioning goes X.000 to X.999, version 3.011 seemed equivalent to 3.11. I might be wrong, of course. ... It is not 3.0.11, or 3.110 either ;). Plus, 'created' date seemed fine.

• Fonts have been deleted from FontBook prior to installing fonts from 3.11 zip.
• Just in case, font caches have been cleared this way and Mac restarted. Still, FontBook says: Version 3.011;git-f93a4a705

Additionally, Affinity Designer printing directly to HP LaserJet 1320 (PostScript, I believe) exhibits the same issue.

Might be wrong but, I have seen a similar glitch using multiple master fonts before. The big difference here is that with a multiple master font wrong kerning was visible on screen, too. With this issue, conventional fonts are used and on screen appearance is flawless, while printing is tight.

XXL 'Thank you' for quick replies and making/opening Inter!

[alex-kovac]

Test. Printing the same file... OK on inkjet OfficeJet Pro 8100 (above), tight on LaserJet (below).
Funny, after measuring printouts it seems that the overall line length stays the same but the glyphs are _bigger_ on laser.

[megaroeny]

Ah okay yes I see! The web font is a different version that the OTF :ok_hand:

[megaroeny]

@rsms our marketing designer did a print yesterday and good news, the kerning seemed to be fixed! 🙌

• The version of Inter is 3.011
• MS Word is 16.30
• Mac with OS 10.14.16

[YorelCayla]

@rsms @megaroeny I just try a new print I have the same issue.

• Inter is 3.011
• MS Word is 16.16
• Mac with OS 10.11.6

As I see it it's neither a Kerning problem nor a spacing one. But the glyphe get bigger in the same box.

[creative-pfnyc]

I have the same issue on Mac, but does not occur on Windows. Printing from MS Word on Windows renders the font properly, but incorrectly on Mac.

Mac settings: OS 10.14.16, MS Word 16.31
Windows settings: Windows 10, MS Word 365 Pro Plus 1902

Additionally, when printing from Mac MS Word, one of our office printers that runs through a Fiery server threw a font error instead of printing a document (Ricoh Pro C5200 Series E-24B)

ERROR: invalidfont
OFFENDING COMMAND: definefont
STACK:
/Font
-dictionary-
/IHTAOE+Inter-Regular

For the time being, I'll be printing PDFs from a Mac, which obviously renders correct prints.

[rsms]

Considering font versioning goes X.000 to X.999, version 3.011 seemed equivalent to 3.11.

You're correct. The OpenType spec has many weird things; the version metadata is one of them where the word “Version” is actually part of the value in the spec! Ha, ha. The use of exactly 3 ASCII numbers following the “.” after the major version ASCII digit number is a convention that some legacy font interpreters rely on, thus it’s a requirement by Google Fonts (my understanding.)

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/opentype/spec/name#nid5

[rsms]

By the way, thank you all so much for investigating this issue.
It does seem like a potential bug in Microsoft Word for Mac. I’m not sure what we could do with Inter, and even if we could, if we should.

[alex-kovac]

I'd like to add the error occurs on apple Pages, too.