Fonts and faces

A run names its typeface in two parts: AppliedFont is the family and FontStyle is the face within it.

In short AppliedFont names a font family, such as Minion Pro, and FontStyle names a face of that family, such as Bold or Semibold Italic. Both can be set on a run, a character style or a paragraph style, and resolve like any other attribute. InDesign writes AppliedFont as a typed <Properties> child and FontStyle as an attribute. An IDML package contains no font data: Resources/Fonts.xml lists the fonts the document uses, so that the application opening it can tell which are missing.

How InDesign spells the font

On a <CharacterStyleRange>, a <CharacterStyle> or a <ParagraphStyle>:

• <Properties><AppliedFont type="string">Minion Pro</AppliedFont></Properties> — the family;
• FontStyle="Bold Italic" — the face, as an attribute.

InDesign ignores an AppliedFont attribute: a run or style that names its font only that way opens in the default face. In the census of real documents, paragraph styles carry AppliedFont as a <Properties> child in 271 documents.

The face name is the font's own style name, so it varies between families: Bold, Black, Semibold Condensed, 75 Bold. A run that names a face the family does not have is a missing font, exactly like a missing family.

Attribute · CharacterStyleRange	Values	Paged	paged.set
AppliedFont	ref	read · written	characterFontFamily
FontStyle	text	read · written	characterFontStyle
PointSize	length (pt)	read · written	characterFontSize

Fonts.xml lists fonts, it does not contain them

Every package has a Resources/Fonts.xml part, referenced from the design map as idPkg:Fonts. It holds one <FontFamily> per family and, inside it, one <Font> per face the document uses, with the face's Name, PostScriptName, FontStyleName, FontType and Status. Status records whether the face was installed when the file was written; the census of real documents shows Installed, Substituted and NotAvailable.

Attribute · Font	Values	Paged	paged.set
FontFamily	enum / text	written
FontStyleName	enum / text	written
FontType	OpenTypeCFF | OpenTypeCID | OpenTypeTT | TrueType	written
Name	text	written
PostScriptName	builtin / enum / text	written
Self	Font reference	written
Status	Installed | NotAvailable | Substituted	written
FontStyleNameNative	enum / text	written

Fonts.xml also holds <CompositeFont> definitions. A composite font, common in Japanese layouts, combines faces per script under one name: Latin letters from one face, kana and kanji from another. A run applies a composite font through AppliedFont like any family.

When an application opens a package, it looks the families and faces up among its own installed fonts. A face it cannot find is reported missing and set in a substitute. Fonts packaged next to a document by InDesign's Package command sit in a Document fonts folder beside the .indd or .idml, not inside the package.

In Paged: a face is looked up among the fonts the host registered, by family and style name: first the exact family and style, then the family alone, then a configured default font. A FontStyle of Regular looks up the bare family. Fonts.xml is not read, composite fonts are not supported, and a missing bold or italic is not synthesised: the run takes whichever face the lookup finds. Supported · verified

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between AppliedFont and FontStyle? AppliedFont is the family (Minion Pro); FontStyle is the face within it (Bold Italic). Together they name one font.

How should I write the font in IDML so InDesign reads it? As a typed child: <Properties><AppliedFont type="string">Minion Pro</AppliedFont></Properties>, with FontStyle as an attribute. InDesign ignores an AppliedFont attribute.

Does an IDML file contain the font files? No. Resources/Fonts.xml lists the families and faces the document uses, with their PostScript names and status, but no font data. The application that opens the file uses its own installed fonts.

What is a composite font? A font defined in Fonts.xml that combines several faces under one name, one per script, so that Latin text and Japanese text in the same run come from different faces.