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David_c15
David_c15
April 10, 2022
Question

Vertical position issue of certain fonts

  • April 10, 2022
  • 7 replies
  • 2358 views

Hi, when I use certain font (Helvetica Neue LT Std in my example) the text is not vertically centered and I can’t find any way of adjusting the ascender/descender values (like mentioned in this article: Fix Vertical Position Issue of Custom iOS Fonts | TO THE NEW Blog). How can I fix this in Figma? There are ways I can hack it, for instance changing the height of the text box and the text alignment but then I will sacrifice how other features work, e.g. Auto Layout.

Thanks

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    7 replies

    Elena_Schmolke
    Elena_Schmolke
    July 4, 2022

    I have exactly the same problem with the Helvetica Neue LT Std. It’s our design system’s main font and I would be required to build up all our components with it. Why is Figma not able to display it properly?

      Simon16
      Simon16
      November 24, 2023

      Same issue. Helvetica Neue LT Pro

      helvetica

        Celine_
        Figmate
        Celine_
        Community Support
        November 29, 2023

        Hey Simon,
        After checking internally, it does look like Helvetica Neue LT Pro uses a different baseline than Helvetica Neue. As a workaround, I’d recommend setting the text bounding frame from auto-height to fixed size and then using vertical trim with the text centered on the Helvetica Neue LT Pro font.

        Here an example before (original Helvetica Neue LT Pro) / after the setting:
        Before:

        Before

        After, setting applied:
        After

        Hope this helps!

          Keir_Davis
          Keir_Davis
          February 8, 2024

          Vertical trim doesn’t solve the issue in a sustainable way, at least in terms of design developer collaboration.

            Petr_Siroky
            Petr_Siroky
            New Participant
            November 20, 2024

            I’m having the same issue with Helvetica Neue LT Pro. It’s hellish… sure, I can set the Trim on, but then it’s rather annoying trying to select the text often times, because it’s so tiny.

            Frank_Stallone
            Frank_Stallone
            New Member
            December 19, 2024

            As Keir_Davis mentioned, setting the vertical baseline trim to baseline is not ideal.

            Stallone 2024-12-19 at 13.56.43@2x

            Frank_Stallone
            Frank_Stallone
            New Member
            December 19, 2024

            helv-2

            For those who want to see what Helvetica Neue LT Std is doing with regards to the bounding box in Figma vs. Helvetic Neue and Helvetica I’ve attached this gif animation.

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