Font embedding or: better typeface substitution on MuseScore.com, using a font server or listing fonts available at MuseScore.com
I use the Cambria and Calibri typefaces on my scores, for titles and lyrics respectively, and also add manual system breaks. They look very nice on my computer (Windows 10) or on any PDF I export.
However, uploading the scores to MuseScore.com makes the typeface Cambria to be substituted by Caladea and Calibri by DejaVu Sans, breaking the layout to the point some systems have only one measure. It is very ugly when it happens.
Fonts such as Cambria and Calibri can be embedded on documents to the point they are allowed to be editable and not just printable: See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/gdi/embedded-fonts and the font properties, they have the "editable embedding" allowed; also see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/fonts/font-faq, principally https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/fonts/font-faq#document-emb…, https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/font-list/cambria#licensing… and finally https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/font-list/calibri#licensing….
MuseScore should allow us to embed fonts which have the proper bits for embedding, so that scores uploaded to MuseScore.com would appear exactly as they were formatted.
In the meanwhile, or in the case you think font embedding is not in the project's scope, MuseScore.com should substitute those fonts for metrically equivalents. There is a list of metrically equivalent fonts at https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Metric-compatible_fonts, where you can see the best match for Calibri is not DejaVu Sans, but Carlito (an open source typeface). Best of all, they are all free and open source or, in the case of the Core Fonts for The Web, licensed to be used commercially (the Core Web Fonts) without paying licensing fees.
Another solution is to use free and open source font servers such as Google Fonts and FontLibrary.org, so when we upload a score with one of those fonts, they will be rendered exactly as they were intended.
But the minimal thing that is super easy to do is to make a list of available fonts at MuseScore.com, so we can try typefaces that will not break our scores' designs.
Comments
This at least partly (the part about substituting) is an issue you should be bringing up on musescore.com, in https://musescore.com/groups/improving-musescore-com/
In reply to This at least partly is an… by Jojo-Schmitz
Thank you, I'm going there!
In reply to Thank you, I'm going there! by joaopaulo1511
I see you did in https://musescore.com/groups/improving-musescore-com/discuss/5082661
This is entirely a question for over at .com
But istr that they should support Google Fonts, so you might try that?
Another possibility might be that, just as you can upload your local (custom) audio, that that form would also allow uploading the locally generated SVGs instead; which would at least show the correct fonts on .com
In reply to This is entirely a question… by jeetee
Well, embedding fonts in a score file would need to be done in the MuseScore program and hence is a musescore.org issue ;-)
I don't think it'd ever happen though
In reply to This is entirely a question… by jeetee
I think with the custom audio it won't work either
In reply to I think with the custom… by EnricoM
? Custom sound does work, as that generate an MP3 locally and uploadeds that, as a separate file
In reply to ? Custom sound does work, as… by Jojo-Schmitz
Maybe I misunderstood the workaround, but with the custom sound the font is not reproduced on musescore.com either.
In reply to Maybe I misunderstood the… by EnricoM
Of course not, and nobody claimed it would. A soundfont is not a text font.
Edit: Hmm, I see, not sure what @jeetee meant there?
In reply to Of course not, and nobody… by Jojo-Schmitz
What I meant is that, just as we now have to possibility to upload generated audio (which resolves the licensing issue on soundfonts for .com) it might be an option to also use the locally generated SVGs, as that is what .com uses to show the score.
Then at least the online display of the score would be correct, without the need for embedding font info.
In reply to What I meant is that, just… by jeetee
Ah, I see, you meant that as a feature request not as an existing one
In reply to This is entirely a question… by jeetee
In reply to @jeetee:
I thought about uploading the locally generated PDFs, but then I noticed MuseScore.com allows for printing parts separately or displaying only a part, but neither the PDF nor the SVG format are flexible to get all the parts combinations a user could want to see/play. With scores with only 4 instruments (such as SATB) it is easy to do a PDF upload for every combination of parts/instruments, but the difficulty quickly scales up when more instruments are added to the score.
The better solution would be MuseScore embedding fonts inside the .mscz file, the same way as LibreOffice embedds inside the .odt/.ods/.odp/.odg files.
In reply to I thought about uploading… by joaopaulo1511
It would certainly be technically possible to add embed a font in an mscz, similar to how images (png, svg, jpg) are embded
In reply to It would certainly be… by Jojo-Schmitz
The difference with LibreOffice is of course that they don't have an online sister platform which leads to possible licensing issues.
I can see the Program allowing for embedding fonts as an option; but that won't magically result in .com being allowed to use them.
In reply to The difference with… by jeetee
Unless the embedding code checks on those things the OP mentioned, "editable embedding" being allowed, as outlined in https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/fonts/font-faq#document-emb…
In reply to Unless the embedding check… by Jojo-Schmitz
Interesting.. so that might indeed clear the road for MS to allow font embedded. Perhaps it is time to turn this into an issue in the tracker and include these relevant links?
In reply to This is entirely a question… by jeetee
Moved comment to another reply.
In reply to This is entirely a question… by jeetee
Had to try and move my comment again. Something is weird with this forum website.
In reply to This is entirely a question… by jeetee
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In reply to This is entirely a question… by jeetee
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