Fonts

ian_stoddern

I am using onshape, for the first time in fact 2nd day, and am astounded by the total inability of using fonts, now maybe I am not fully aware of how to import more fonts, hence the post, but if I can only use the ones shown, I am very sorry to say that $1400 a year for a program, that has been running 12 years... Well enough said

MichaelPascoe

Welcome to Onshape @ian_stoddern. More fonts would be great, I have needed them a few times.

Here is an improvement request you can throw your vote in: https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/10127/user-fonts-or-simply-more-fonts

Also, here is a custom feature I have added to my toolbar that you might like as well: 
This custom feature has several text options Surface Text by @jan_vykydal

If you plan on going production and using this for your company but still need more fonts, you can write your own custom features or have others write it for you. CADSharp specializes in custom features and automating workflows. If you find yourself doing something repetitive, consider automating it.

Also, you can import dxf files directedly and use those. Between google docs, and inkscape, I can generate pretty much any kind of text you can imagine and import the dxf into Onshape to be extruded.

david_zachmeyer307

MichaelPascoe said:

Welcome to Onshape @ian_stoddern. More fonts would be great, I have needed them a few times.

Here is an improvement request you can throw your vote in: https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/10127/user-fonts-or-simply-more-fonts

Also, here is a custom feature I have added to my toolbar that you might like as well: 
This custom feature has several text options Surface Text by @jan_vykydal

If you plan on going production and using this for your company but still need more fonts, you can write your own custom features or have others write it for you. CADSharp specializes in custom features and automating workflows. If you find yourself doing something repetitive, consider automating it.

Also, you can import dxf files directedly and use those. Between google docs, and inkscape, I can generate pretty much any kind of text you can imagine and import the dxf into Onshape to be extruded.

Such workarounds shouldn't be needed in a professional CAD package. AutoCAD, SolidWorks, etc. have supported .TTF fonts for years if not decades. Not having that capability in OnShape is kind of like driving a Lexus that has lawn chairs for seats.

wayne_sauder

I agree more fonts would be a very good idea, but remember onshape is not about supporting what has been for decades but rather finding new ways to accomplish things. When I run into things like this I try to stop and question myself if is this something that is actually needed, or should I throw all preconceived ideas out the window and look at the blank sheet of paper a bit longer. Or maybe buck the standard in favor of a better one?   

eric_pesty

My understanding is that there are some technical/legal issues with licensing of fonts (for example how does Onshape handle sharing a document that has "non free" fonts in it?, they probably would need to revert to displaying using a different font but that would cause some features to break etc...) and that is the reason we don't have more fonts available today...
However, while we can achieve the end result we need using DXFs, it really slows us down (for example we have some text that we want to configure but right now we need to generate DXFs for every possible text combination instead of just typing it in).
So I really hope they can come up with a solution because it's a pain...

christian_petty

Defaulting to an open source font seems like a reasonable fix for licensing. I too would like to see custom font support.

S1mon

I'm very curious how Figma handles this, since they have very professional graphic design tools in the browser. Seems like Onshape could emulate their approach to handling custom commercial fonts.

A quick question to GPT4 gives this:

As of my knowledge cutoff in September 2021, Figma provides support for using commercial licensed fonts in designs. When using licensed fonts, it is important to follow the terms and conditions outlined in the font's specific End User License Agreement (EULA). Here's how Figma handles commercial licensed fonts:

1. Local fonts: You can use locally installed commercial fonts in your designs. Once you have the appropriate license and the font installed on your computer, Figma will automatically detect and make the font available for use within the application. Make sure to follow the font's licensing terms, which may have restrictions on sharing, distribution, or usage for commercial purposes.

2. Shared fonts: If you are part of a team using Figma and want to share a commercial font with other team members, you need to ensure that every team member has the appropriate license to use the font. Some font licenses may allow you to share the font with a specific number of users, while others may require each user to have a separate license.

3. Figma Organization plan: If you're using Figma Organization, you can take advantage of the Shared Fonts feature. This feature allows organizations to upload licensed fonts to a central repository so that all team members can access and use the fonts in their designs, provided that the organization holds the necessary licenses. This ensures that your organization stays compliant with font licensing terms.

S1mon

I just stumbled upon this real info about how Figma enables local font access in their web app: https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/360039956894-Access-local-fonts-on-your-computer#browser

SolverHeath

https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/comment/87753#Comment_87753

A CAD program running natively in a modern browser is an incredible accomplishment. I love that OnShape is working at finding new ways to accomplish things via intuitive workflows and thoughtfully designed user interfaces. That's why I pay for OnShape!

In this case the "finding new ways to accomplish things" argument misses the mark explaining why OnShape lacks mature typographic editing tools, or even vector file (.svg or .eps) importing tools. Shop for any category of product and typography will be common… engraved, extruded, stamped, punched, scribed, etched, etc. Product designers and engineers alike require mature typographic editing tools! Typography is as common as oxygen… it's literally everywhere!

I suspect OnShape does not care about delivering high quality tools for typographic layout work or for instantiating/inserting and editing vector files. I don't know why this is the case. Perhaps OnShape lacks a knowledgeable advocate internally to run a feature team for developing these features? Who knows?!

The OnShape forums are chalked full of customers requesting these features. Customers describe in detail product design use cases I am familiar with from my professional experience, including the message that began this thread. I understand that the lack of mature vector file importing and font support tools is a source of persistent frustration. As it stands today, tools in OnShape for adding text barely exist (they suck) and the tools for importing vector files don't work at all (when inserting a vector image OnShape rasterizes them, effectively rendering them useless for modeling).

Instead of parsing .eps (encapsulated post script) or .svg (scalable VECTOR graphis) as usable vector atrwork, which we know OnShape can do because they do this with .dwg and .dxf files, their solution from the forums is to tell customers buy or learn more software and workflows to manage the conversion from .svg to .dwg. Please OnShape, fix this!