What Are Stylistic Alternates in Fonts?

Stylistic alternates in fonts are optional versions of individual characters. They let you swap a standard letter, number or symbol for another design without changing what the text says. A type designer might draw a single-storey a, a different R, a longer-tailed Q or several rough versions of the same capital. You decide when to use them; the font does not decide for you.

What are stylistic alternates in fonts?

A stylistic alternate is an alternative glyph for a character, included by the type designer as an optional visual choice. In OpenType, the feature is commonly identified by the four-letter tag salt, short for Stylistic Alternates.

An example of Stylistic Alternates in action in Adobe Photoshop

The character is the meaning stored in your text; the glyph is the shape drawn on screen or in print. If you replace the default a with an alternate a through an OpenType feature, it still behaves as the letter a. You can edit it, search for it and usually copy and paste it as normal.

The word “stylistic” matters. These alternatives are not required for spelling or language support. They are extra glyphs that let you adjust the look of a letter and in turn the whole word, fix an awkward shape or stop repeated letters looking mechanically identical. The official OpenType specification allows one default glyph to have one or several stylistic alternatives.

What is an OpenType feature tag?

An OpenType feature tag is a standard four-character code that tells software what a font feature does. Think of it as a label inside the font. Stylistic Alternates use salt; Contextual Alternates use calt; Stylistic Sets run from ss01 to ss20.

The tag does not contain the alternative drawings. It points the application towards a set of substitution rules inside the font. When salt is enabled, those rules tell the software which alternative glyphs can replace the default ones.

How does a font designer add stylistic alternates?

I apologise if this gets too technical, you can skip this bit and read on.

First, the designer draws the default character and its alternative versions as separate glyphs.

An example of the substitution features in Glyphs app

Next, the designer adds substitution rules to the font’s salt feature. A simple rule might say:

sub a by a.alt;

That means: replace the default a glyph with a.alt when Stylistic Alternates are enabled.

If the designer has drawn several versions, the rule can offer a choice:

sub a from [a.alt1 a.alt2 a.alt3];

In Glyphs, the designer adds or edits the feature under File > Font Info > Features, compiles the feature code and tests the substitutions before exporting the font. Glyphs then writes the rules into the finished font’s OpenType layout tables. The official Glyphs feature guide explains how the substitution code works.

Does the person using the font need to understand OpenType tags?

No. In Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop or Figma, the user normally selects Stylistic Alternates, opens the Glyphs panel or chooses a named Stylistic Set. The application reads the tags in the background.

Knowing the tag becomes useful when you are adding a feature through CSS, checking what a font includes or troubleshooting software that hides, renames or fails to support it. For most people, salt is the wiring behind the switch. You do not need to understand the wiring to turn on the light—but it helps when the light refuses to come on.

Why do type designers include alternate characters?

A typeface has to work as a system, but that does not mean every word needs to look pre-decided. Alternates give the designer setting the type a little room to add some real polish to their design.

• To change the mood. A plain letter might have a sharper, softer, wider or more decorative alternative.
• To vary repeated letters. In handmade display type, two identical letters can expose the digital repetition. Swapping one breaks the pattern.
• To improve a particular word. An alternate may fit better beside a neighbouring letter or create a stronger silhouette in a logo.
• To offer a clearer form. Some fonts include alternatives that distinguish characters such as a capital I, lowercase l and the number 1.
• To give headlines more control. One unusual letter can provide the character without turning the whole line into fancy dress.

The useful bit is choice. An alternate is not automatically better than the default. It is simply another choice.

What is the difference between stylistic alternates, stylistic sets and contextual alternates?

These names are often bundled together, but they do different jobs. My guide to contextual alternates in fonts explains the automatic side in more depth; the short comparison is below.

Stylistic alternates are individual choices. Stylistic sets are coordinated choices. Contextual alternates are rule-based choices. That single distinction clears up most of the confusion.

There is one wrinkle: fonts and applications do not always label their controls identically. A type designer may put a useful alternate in salt, a stylistic set such as ss01, or a character-variant feature such as cv01. If one menu appears empty, check the Glyphs panel and the other OpenType sections before assuming the character is missing.

Are stylistic alternates the same as alternate glyphs?

Not quite. A glyph is any visual shape in a font. An alternate glyph is another shape that can stand in for a default one. A stylistic alternate is a particular kind of alternate glyph assigned to the salt OpenType feature.

Swashes, small capitals, oldstyle numerals, ligatures and characters inside stylistic sets are also alternative glyphs, but they are not all stylistic alternates. Think of “alternate glyphs” as the cupboard; salt is one labelled shelf.

How can you tell whether a font includes stylistic alternates?

1. Read the specimen or product description. A good listing should name the feature and show the characters it affects.
2. Open the Glyphs panel. Select a letter and look for alternative forms grouped beneath or beside it.
3. Check the OpenType controls. Unsupported features are often hidden, greyed out or unavailable.
4. Test repeated letters. Words such as LETTER, BOOKKEEPER and BALLOON quickly reveal whether useful alternatives exist.

Do not rely on the file extension. An .otf or .ttf file can contain OpenType layout features, but neither extension guarantees stylistic alternates. The feature has to be drawn and programmed into that particular font.

How do you use stylistic alternates in Adobe Illustrator?

1. Select the character or text object with the Type tool.
2. Choose Window > Type > OpenType.
3. Click the Stylistic Alternates icon to switch the feature on or off.
4. If the font offers several versions, open Window > Type > Glyphs and choose the exact glyph you want.

Adobe notes that the control is only available when the selected font supports it. Its current Illustrator instructions also separate stylistic alternates from swashes and titling alternates, which is worth remembering when you are hunting through the panel.

How do you access alternate glyphs in Photoshop and InDesign?

In Photoshop, select the relevant character and open Window > Glyphs. In InDesign, use Window > Type & Tables > Glyphs. The panel shows the glyphs contained in the active font and, where supported, alternatives for the selected character.

You may also find Stylistic Alternates or Stylistic Sets in the application's OpenType controls. Menu names move occasionally between versions, but the principle does not: select the text first, confirm the correct font is active, then apply the feature or choose the glyph.

For a one-off logo or headline, choosing exact glyphs is often the better route. Switching salt on across an entire paragraph can replace more characters than you intended.

How do you use stylistic alternates in Figma?

1. Select the text layer or characters.
2. Open Typography in the properties panel.
3. Open the Type menu and choose the Details tab.
4. Look under Letterforms, Stylistic Sets or Character Variants and switch on the option you need.

Figma greys out features that the selected font does not support and can expose up to 20 stylistic sets. Its OpenType feature guide is useful when a control seems to have vanished.

Can you use stylistic alternates on a website?

Yes, provided the webfont contains the feature and the browser supports the CSS you use. The direct method is font-feature-settings:

.headline {
  font-feature-settings: "salt" 1;
}

A stylistic set uses its own tag:

.headline {
  font-feature-settings: "ss01" 1;
}

For more readable CSS, @font-feature-values can assign human-friendly names that work with font-variant-alternates. The MDN reference maps stylistic() to salt and styleset() to ss01–ss20.

Test the actual browser and font files used on the site. A feature existing in the desktop font does not prove that it survived a webfont conversion or that every browser will expose every possible choice.

A real example: alternates in Pumped Up Kicks

Pumped Up Kicks is a deliberately uneven uppercase display font. Repeated letters are exactly where that sort of typeface can start to look too digital, so I drew at least four versions of every A–Z character, with up to eight versions of some letters.

The main alphabet sits on the uppercase keys. The lowercase keys hold another set of uppercase forms, which makes the first alternatives quick to reach. The remaining versions are available through the Glyphs panel in software that supports OpenType. The font contains 916 glyphs and 45 ligatures in total.

The point is not to replace every letter. Change the repeated characters first, then look at the whole word. If the rhythm already feels natural, stop.

Why are stylistic alternates not showing?

Work through these checks in order:

1. Confirm that the font actually includes them. OpenType support does not mean every optional feature is present.
2. Select the text. Many applications apply the control only to selected characters or to text typed afterwards.
3. Check the correct menu. The characters may be under Stylistic Sets, Character Variants, Swashes or the Glyphs panel rather than Stylistic Alternates.
4. Check the font version. You may have installed an older or reduced edition without the full glyph set.
5. Remove duplicate font files. Applications can load an old copy while the newer one sits beside it looking innocent.
6. Restart the application. Font menus and caches do not always update immediately.
7. Test another professional design app. If the alternates appear there, the limitation is probably the first application's feature support.

When should you use stylistic alternates?

Use them where someone might actually notice the decision: logos, packaging names, poster titles, book covers, album artwork, signage and short social headlines. They are particularly useful when a word contains repeated letters or when one default shape makes the word feel unbalanced.

Use fewer in running text. A paragraph with every optional flourish switched on can become a typographic Christmas tree: technically impressive, difficult to live with. Alternates should improve the word shape, clarity or character. If they only prove that you found the menu, they are not helping.

Frequently asked questions

Do all OpenType fonts have stylistic alternates?

No. Stylistic alternates are optional. The type designer must draw the extra glyphs and add the relevant OpenType substitutions. Check the font specimen, product description or Glyphs panel before buying a font for this feature.

What does salt mean in a font?

salt is the registered OpenType feature tag for Stylistic Alternates. It replaces a default glyph with one of the optional designs assigned to that character.

Are stylistic alternates automatic?

Usually not. They are normally off until the user selects a glyph or enables the feature. Contextual alternates are different: they can change glyphs automatically when the surrounding letters match rules in the font.

Do stylistic alternates change the spelling or searchable text?

When applied as an OpenType substitution, they normally change the displayed glyph while leaving the underlying characters intact. Manually inserting a Private Use Area character is different and can affect copying, searching or accessibility, so use the proper OpenType control where possible.

Can stylistic alternates be used in a logo?

Yes, subject to the font licence. They are useful for refining repeated letters and the overall silhouette of a wordmark. Remember that an alternate from a retail font is still available to other licensees; it does not make the lettering exclusive.

What is the difference between salt and ss01?

salt usually offers alternatives for individual glyphs. ss01 switches on the first coordinated stylistic set, which may alter several characters together. A font can contain either feature, both or neither.

The short version

Stylistic alternates are optional character designs that you choose yourself. They live inside the font, usually under the OpenType tag salt, and are most useful when you need to vary repeated letters or tune the shape of a short piece of display type. Check the font's OpenType controls and Glyphs panel, make one deliberate change at a time, and judge the word rather than the feature list.

If you want a font built around that sort of control, explore Pumped Up Kicks and try setting a word with repeated letters. That is where the alternatives earn their keep.