Answered by Jay Nelson, Editor and Publisher, Design Tools Monthly

Question:
I know that OpenType fonts sometimes have alternate versions of characters available, but how can I control which version gets used in a particular situation? I use both QuarkXPress and InDesign.

Answer:
In OpenType fonts, characters are referred to as Glyphs. This is because OpenType fonts are based on Unicode, and Unicode allows thousands of characters in a font. Many characters are not actual letters or numbers, so they are referred to by the more generic term Glyph. But to get back to your question:

It's actually pretty simple once you know where to look. Assuming the OpenType font HAS alternate characters (not all do), first select the character you want to replace and then:

In InDesign: choose Type> Glyphs. Click the Show pop-up menu in the Glyphs palette, and choose "Alternates for Selection". Then double-click any available Alternates to replace the existing character.

In QuarkXPress: choose Window> Glyphs. Choose "Alternates for selection" from the pop-up menu in the Glyphs palette. Then double-click any available Alternates to replace the existing character.

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