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opentype__post_table_version

Simon Cozens edited this page May 8, 2025 · 1 revision

Font has correct post table version?

opentype/post_table_version

  • Applies to: TTF
  • Fontspector can hotfix?: no
  • Fontspector can fix sources?: no

Rationale

Format 2.5 of the 'post' table was deprecated in OpenType 1.3 and should not be used.

According to Thomas Phinney, the possible problem with post format 3 is that under the right combination of circumstances, one can generate PDF from a font with a post format 3 table, and not have accurate backing store for any text that has non-default glyphs for a given codepoint.

It will look fine but not be searchable. This can affect Latin text with high-end typography, and some complex script writing systems, especially with higher-quality fonts. Those circumstances generally involve creating a PDF by first printing a PostScript stream to disk, and then creating a PDF from that stream without reference to the original source document. There are some workflows where this applies,but these are not common use cases.

Apple recommends against use of post format version 4 as "no longer necessary and should be avoided". Please see the Apple TrueType reference documentation for additional details.

https://developer.apple.com/fonts/TrueType-Reference-Manual/RM06/Chap6post.html

Acceptable post format versions are 2 and 3 for TTF and OTF CFF2 builds, and post format 3 for CFF builds.

Proposals

Profiles

  • opentype (in section 'Opentype Specification Checks')

  • universal (in section 'Opentype Specification Checks')

  • googlefonts (in section 'Opentype Specification Checks')

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