The TypePad is a free plugin, more specifically a CCX file, only 75 KB in size, released by HAL Typefaces and created together with developer Christoph Seibel. The design of its interface is inspired by the layout of digital drum machines or MIDI controllers. The TypePad has nine different buttons or operators, which can be applied to five different ranges. It allows for toggling one axis at a time or combining multiple axes. We will get into all the details below. You can read TypePad – Part 1: Origins to find out how the plugin came to life. On this page, we’ll show you how to use the tool to get the most out of your variable fonts.

First things first, open and install the CCX file via the Creative Cloud plugin manager. Then open Indesign and select the plugins panel via the “Plugins” drop-down option in the menu bar at the top.

Once the TypePad is open, add some text in a variable font and you are good to go. The plugin will show the font’s name and how many axes it includes. If more than one axis is available, you can activate one axis at a time or choose to combine any or all of the axes simultaneously. The range defines the unit size in which the task takes place.

Glyphs — The task is applied once to the whole text frame, calculating a unique value for every character.

Words — The task is applied once to the whole text frame, calculating a unique value for every word.

Lines — The task is applied once to the whole text frame, calculating a unique value for every line of words.

Word by Word — The task is applied repeatedly to each individual word in the text frame.

Line by Line — The task is applied repeatedly to each individual line of words in the text frame.

Reading these options for the applied range may seem a bit abstract. We suggest to download the plugin and give it a try to better grasp how it works. We included free trials of three variable fonts: HAL Four Grotesk, HAL Magic and HAL Gap. Keep in mind: combining two different variable fonts in the same text frame is too much to handle. The plugin can only edit a single variable font per text frame.

Now let’s move on to the nine operators. These are the big square buttons with different symbols.

Increase/Decrease — This task creates a gradual transition from 0 to 100 or 100 to 0.

Oscillate A & B — This task only applies the extreme values, alternating between them: so for example 0/100/0/100/0 or 100/0/100/0/100 and so on …

Mountain and Valley — This task is also a gradual transition from 100 to 0 and back to 100, or 0 to 100 and back to 0.

Reset A & B — These are the reset buttons, setting the entire text frame to the value 0 or 100 respectively. 

Randomiser — This button applies random values to the defined range and axes. 

Depending on the variable font and the scope of each axis, the tool can generate endless results of visually interesting typographic compositions. It’s all about experimental typesetting and how to create stunning, ambitious and complex arrangements in a few clicks. There’s so much more to gain from variable fonts then what Indesign users may expect.

Time to milk them.

We’ve included several examples of TypePad results below and the relevant settings that led to their creation.

A few more notes to consider when using the TypePad:

• The executed task will not run across threaded (linked) text frames.

• In general, the longer the texts are, the longer the task will take.

• If a task is taking too long and you wish to abort, simply cancel by clicking on “×” in the status bar at the bottom.

• Some transitions, especially when working with a width or weight axis, will lead to new line breaks as the characters become wider and heavier.

• In this case, you may need to repeat the same task to get the desired effect.

It’s our first Indesign plugin, so please be gentle and spread the word. Get in touch if you spot any errors or want to send us some feedback. We hope this tool will open a door to more designers and typographers experimenting with variable fonts for print and static typesetting. The potential of variable fonts is huge: it’s 2025 and we’re just at the tip of the iceberg.

Words by HAL Typefaces
Illustrations by Dario Danielli
Plugin coding by Christoph Seibel