| What
is a font? |
A
font is a file or a set of files needed to display and
print a particular typeface. Helvetica, for example,
is a typeface, and Courier is another. They are also
referred to as fonts. Each font comprises one or more
files, depending on the font technology used (PostScript,
for example, uses two files, and may have more; TrueType
only needs one, but may have more than one). Helvetica
Bold is a different font than Helvetica, but in the
same family.
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| What
is a font family? |
Font
families are collections of fonts which look similar
but have slightly different characteristics. Helvetica
Regular and Helvetica Bold are two different fonts,
but in the same family.
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| What
is a bitmapped font?/What is a screen font? |
A
bitmapped font is also referred to as a screen font.
They are files which contain pixel information your
computer uses to display the font on your computer screen.
Bitmapped font files are for a particular point size.
If you have bitmapped fonts for Helvetica at 12 point
and 14 point, Helvetica at 13 point will look slightly
pixelated on the screen. If all you have installed is
bitmapped fonts, your printer will print fonts which
looks pixelated or not smooth. Font sizes which are
physically installed will look better, but there are
problems with having too many fonts open simultaneously.
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| What
is a printer font?/What is a PostScript font? |
When
referring to printer fonts, you are usually talking
about PostScript. PostScript fonts come in pairs (there
may be more than two files involved): one or more screen
(bitmapped) fonts, and one printer font.The printer
font is scalable, meaning that whatever font size you
are using will be scaled properly by a PostScript-capable
printer, and will look smooth on the paper. The printer
font is used for printers, the screen font is normally
only used for on-screen viewing on your computer. You
may have multiple bitmapped fonts which are all linked
to the same PostScript font. For example, you may have
Helvetica Bold 12 pt, Helvetica Bold 14 pt, and Helvetica
Bold 24 pt, but they will all use the same printer font,
HelveBol. You should make sure that your printer fonts
are in the same folder as the suitcase containing the
screen fonts.
TrueType
fonts are also scalable. TrueType is a font technology
from Apple Computer which gives you smooth fonts on
screen as well as on paper. TrueType fonts may include
bitmapped fonts in various sizes for on-screen viewing;
the bitmapped fonts are not necessary for TrueType to
do its thing. TrueType fonts will print clearly to a
non-PostScript printer.
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| What
is a font suitcase? |
A
font suitcase is a particular type of Macintosh folder
which holds screen, or bitmapped, fonts. Different people
and different font vendors organize their fonts differently;
usually you will have a font suitcase for each font
in a family. A font suitcase has an icon which looks
like a suitcase; you can double-click on it and see
what fonts are actually contained inside. There is no
Window equivalent.
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| What
is TrueType? |
TrueType
is a font technology from Apple which allows you to
have smooth font screen displays and printing without
needing extra screen font sizes or PostScript. TrueType
fonts will print smoothly to non-PostScript printers.
TrueType fonts consist of one scalable TrueType file,
and possibly one or more bitmapped screen fonts. TrueType
technology is very efficient, however some PostScript
printers have problems with TrueType fonts.
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| What
is an OpenType font? |
OpenType
is a cross-platform font file format developed jointly
by Adobe and Microsoft.
The two main benefits of the OpenType format are its
cross-platform compatibility (the same font file works
on Macintosh and Windows computers), and its ability
to support widely expanded character sets and layout
features, which provide richer linguistic support and
advanced typographic control.
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| What
is a dfont? |
A
dfont is a special version of a Macintosh TrueType font.
All the information that is normally stored in a TrueType
font's resource fork has been moved to the data fork.
Typically, the only dfonts you will run into will come
with Mac OS X.
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| What
is Adobe Type Manager (ATM) and what is it used for? |
| When
you talk about ATM, you must realize that there is ATM
and ATM Deluxe, two very different products.
ATM is a software used mainly for smoothing
fonts, both on-screen and to non-PostScript printers.
ATM uses the scalable information contained inside the
printer font to display your type smoothly on your monitor;
without ATM, you would be limited to using your bitmapped
fonts. Bitmapped fonts do not scale well; depending
on what sizes of the font you have installed and what
size font you are using, your results could vary from
'not so bad' to terrible. And, your fonts may line up
one way on the screen but print out with different spacing.
This is because printer fonts and bitmapped fonts will
scale differently, and take up different amounts of
space. ATM solves this problem. ATM also has some other
functions as well, but font smoothing its primarily
used for.
Adobe Type Manager Deluxe (different
from ATM) also does font smoothing. It is a font manager;
used to organize fonts, which allows you to activate
or deactivated at your command. Extensis Suitcase is
a font manager as well. However you should not have
two type of font manager software running at the same
computer.
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| How
do I activate fonts? |
Normally,
your fonts reside in the Fonts folder inside the System
Folder on a Macintosh system, or the fonts folder in the
Windows directory on a Windows platform. The computer
boots up, looks in the folder, and turns the fonts on.
They are then available to all applications. If you make
changes to the contents of your Fonts folder, the new
fonts won’t be available and the old fonts won’t
be removed until you have relaunched any open applications.
There are some problems with managing your fonts via the
Fonts folder, however, the biggest being system resources.
Having many fonts activated in the fonts folder of your
system can drastically reduce your overall system performance
and possibly encounter system instability. Use a font
manager software such as Adobe Type Manager Deluxe or
Extensis Suitcase to avoid these problems.
Please remember that once you have activated
fonts via your font manager software, it is important
that you exit your application and relaunch it for the
newly added fonts to be available to your application.
If do not have a font manager software and you are activating
and deactivating fonts simply by adding fonts to or
removing fonts from the fonts folder, you should restart
your computer for the changes to take effect.
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| Should
I use a font manager software? |
| If
you are heavily involved in desktop publishing and use
a variety of fonts in your work, you should invest on
a font manager software. Adobe
Type Manager Deluxe and Extensis
Suitcase are two of the popular font manager software
and are relatively inexpensive.
Using a font manager helps minimize
system problem due to fonts, and allows for easy activation
and deactivation of fonts. When you use a font manager
you should keep your fonts elsewhere on your system
other than in the Fonts folder. The font manager keeps
a list of all your fonts, and you can turn on the ones
you need and turn off the ones you're done with. Please
remember, you will have to restart you applications
before the fonts will be available.
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