![]() It’s always better to uncover potential problems before you get a paying job on press.įont management, or the art of typeface juggling ![]() If you haven’t been working with OpenType yet, be sure to run a few tests with your output house, service bureau, or print provider before running a real job. Outputting documents with OpenType fonts shouldn’t be a problem, but some older output devices may choke on them. Some design applications are not fully OpenType compatible, so you may not have access to all of the characters in the typeface. Stray from the Adobe fold, however, and you may run into problems. They can contain far more typeface and typestyle information than their TrueType and PostScript counterparts, including ligatures, true fractions, multiple languages, and more.Īdobe co-developed the OpenType standard with Microsoft, and all of the Creative Suite applications are fully OpenType compatible. This file format is truly cross-platform, so your documents look the same on a Mac or Windows workstation. OpenType: OpenType is the new emerging standard in font technology. Lose either one, and your document looks wrong either onscreen or when it prints. One is the screen font, which represents your typeface on your computer display the other is the printer font, which the printer uses when you output your file. This font format includes two files for each typeface. They also have the disadvantage of being limited to either Mac or Windows. Instead, they use vector information, much like Adobe Illustrator, to scale your type to near infinite sizes without quality loss. PostScript fonts have the advantage of not requiring specific type sizes in the font file. Most professional and high-end output devices, such as laser printers, film and plate output systems, and proofers use the PostScript language to process your print jobs at the device instead of in your computer. PostScript Type 1: For years, PostScript fonts were the preferred standard in the design industry. A lot of direct-to-plate and direct-to-film output devices will change your nonstandard type sizes to Courier. Straying outside the available type sizes is likely to cause output problems later in your workflow. If you use TrueType fonts, stick with the included type sizes. If you want to use 42 point, your workstation has to take a guess at what the type size should look like, and you often end up with something that’s jagged and not at all like what you intended. For example, a specific version of Times Roman may come in 9, 10, 12, 14, 18, 24, 36, and 72 point sizes. Since it would take an insanely long time and make massively huge font files, TrueType fonts tend to be limited to only a few type sizes. TrueType fonts are sometimes called bitmap fonts because each type size is built pixel by pixel-in essence, a bitmapped image. At least on the Mac, TrueType is something of a cross-platform format. The Mac version of TrueType is compatible only with the Mac, although Mac OS X can use Windows TrueType fonts. TrueType: There are actually two versions of TrueType: One for the Mac and one for Windows. ![]() Knowing which type you can use, and where, helps prevent headaches and hair pulling. ![]() Over the years, several font file formats have emerged. We’ll start by figuring out what types of font formats you are likely to encounter, work our way through organizing and managing your font library, and check out some options for dealing with damaged and corrupt fonts, too. Let’s take a look at some of the things you can do to keep your fonts under control and improve your productivity. Keeping your fonts organized and checking for any corrupted or damaged fonts goes a long way to keeping your design workstation happy and healthy. On any given day, you have to deal with different computer operating systems, multiple font types, conflicting font names, corrupt fonts, type reflow, and the list goes on and on. The amazing array of different font manufacturers and typestyles has given us more choices than Gutenberg could have possibly imagined when he started us down the path to electronic page layout more than 500 years ago.ĭealing with fonts is a complex puzzle when you add in all the variables. Unfortunately, fonts turn out to be one of the first places designers have problems. Fonts, above all else, are the most critical part in the design process: Without them, you can’t put the printed word on a page. ![]()
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