Advanced OpenType typographic features elevate ordinary text into custom, highly polished designs by unlocking the hidden glyphs natively embedded within professional fonts. While software like Adobe Illustrator or InDesign provides quick access to these variations via the Glyphs or OpenType panels, many creators overlook them.
The 10 hidden typographic features listed below will instantly change how you typeset and build visual identities: 1. Discretionary Ligatures (dlig)
What it does: Natively bonds unique or unexpected character pairs beyond standard stylistic fixes.
When to use: Use this feature to give an elegant, retro, or historic vibe to logo marks or decorative book covers by joining pairs like ct, st, or sp. 2. Tabular Figures (tnum)
What it does: Converts numbers from standard variable widths into blocks with exactly equal horizontal widths.
When to use: Essential for data presentations, pricing tables, and dashboards. It keeps columns of numbers perfectly aligned vertically so they do not wiggle sideways. 3. Oldstyle Figures (onum)
What it does: Replaces standard tall numbers with varied heights that feature ascenders and descenders.
When to use: Perfect for long-form narrative body text. These numbers blend smoothly into lowercase words without visually jarring the reader like harsh, all-caps numbers do. 4. Contextual Alternates (calt)
What it does: Dynamically swaps out characters based on the surrounding letters to mimic natural human handwriting or balance adjacent shapes.
When to use: Activate this on script or handwritten fonts to prevent repeating identical glyph shapes next to each other, ensuring the design feels truly organic. 5. Stylistic Sets (ss01, ss02, etc.)
What it does: Toggles completely alternative designs for specific letters (like switching a double-story “a” to a single-story “a”).
When to use: Use this feature to completely alter the personality of a font family to better match your brand system without purchasing a brand-new typeface. 6. Swashes (swsh)
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