Standard Ligatures

Tag: liga

Function: Replaces a sequence of glyphs with a single glyph which is preferred for typographic purposes. This feature covers the ligatures which the designer/manufacturer judges should be used in normal conditions. The glyph for ffl replaces the sequence of glyphs f f l.

Swash

Tag: swsh

Function: This feature replaces default character glyphs with corresponding swash glyphs. Note that there may be more than one swash alternate for a given character. The user inputs the ampersand character when setting text with Poetica with this feature active, and is presented with a choice of the 63 ampersand forms in that face.

Stylistic Alternates

Tag: salt

Function: Many fonts contain alternate glyph designs for a purely esthetic effect; these don't always fit into a clear category like swash or historical. As in the case of swash glyphs, there may be more than one alternate form. This feature replaces the default forms with the stylistic alternates. The user applies this feature to Industria to get the alternate form of g.

Historical Forms

Tag: hist

Function: Some letterforms were in common use in the past, but appear anachronistic today. The best-known example is the long form of s; others would include the old Fraktur k. Some fonts include the historical forms as alternates, so they can be used for a 'period' effect. This feature replaces the default (current) forms with the historical alternates. While some ligatures are also used for historical effect, this feature deals only with single characters. The user applies this feature in Adobe Jenson to get the archaic forms of M, Q and Z.

Tag: uppercase

Function: