This is version 1.2 of Walrod Initials, a freeware font available to the DTP community.
It is a fairly accurate knockoff of Geometrica, a font originally released in 1985 by Autologic from artwork prepared by Jeffrey G. Level and Bruce Frame. It contains only 26 initial caps -- there are no accompanying lower case letters or lining figures.
Geometrica, and its two sister fonts, Champ Fleury and Melencolia, are stylized renderings of the work of 16th century artists Geofroy Tory and Albrecht Drer. Both wrote treatises outlining the procedure for the geometric construction of Roman capitals. Each envisioned the capital letter surrounded by a box that contained circles, arcs and bisecting lines which follow rigid constraints.
Dover publishes a $4 edition that highlights Drer's discussion on capitals called "Of the Just Shaping of Letters." Tory's work, "Champ Fleury," is more difficult to find (I've only seen excerpts, not a full English translation). I highly recommend the Dover book for anyone interested in gaining an insight to the forms of capital letters. The volume is very popular among calligraphers.
Technically, this font was rendered on the Mac using AltsysÕ Fontographer 3.5.1 font editor. It is originally released as a PostScript Type 1 font (this is the READ.ME file for the PC PostScript version. A PC TrueType font is also available). Each capital is type high, meaning they are EXACTLY equal to the font size called (in 12-pt. type, the font letters will render 12 points high, in 72-pt., they'll be 72 points high, etc.). This may cause a problem for some applications that expect a font to have a descender. Those applications may render the font on the screen a little squashed, but it should print out fine. If not, please drop me a message and I'll reduce the cap height.
The font has an Adobe UniqueID number of 5013601 (which has been registered with Adobe, so there should be no font caching conflict). The NFNT number used is 3061. As always, that is in the busy shareware zone and could result in a font conflict with other shareware/freeware fonts. It should not conflict with any commercially released font.
The paths used in this font are unusually complex and push the boundary of the Type 1 font format. I have successfully imaged the font at 200-pt. at 1270 dpi on a Linotype RIP 40. I make no guarantees, however. Remember -- just because it images off your laser printer, don't assume it'll run at high resolution, especially if you're going up in size. Print a test before you go on deadline. The higher the output resolution and the bigger the size, the more problematic the file could become.
Files included in this upload are:
WaI_____.PFB For use with ATM & Windows
WaI_____.PFM For use with ATM & Windows
WaI_____.AFM AFM file (metric info in ASCII form)
WaI_____.CFG For use with Adobe Type Foundry
WaI_____.INF For use with Adobe Type Foundry
READ.ME The file you are reading
This font is being released as freeware. It is my gift back to those who so frequently help me in my struggle to set decent type in a PostScript environment (such as Brad Walrod, for whom the font is named). The following restrictions, however, apply to its distribution: this font can be freely passed along to other users as long as it containes all files, including this READ.ME message. On CompuServe, Walrod Initials is available on the DTPFORUM exclusively. Other bulletin boards wishing to upload the font should contact me for permission.
It is NOT to be included in shareware collections sold for profit. I dislike seeing my work lumped in with sales pitches that promise "Over 200 megs of fonts!"
I don't have a huge legal staff, but please respect my wishes. This font is intended to be shared among the telecommunicating typesetting community -- primarily those who also give, either of their programming or design talents, their knowledge or simply their sympathy when someone encounters a print production problem not easily solved from the desktop.
According to documentation from Altsys, you load the font as follows:
In Windows 3.x, launch ATM 1.x and click on the Add... button. Chose the appropriate drive and/or directory to locate the font files. ATM 1.x will install the font in the default directories (\PSFONTS for the outline and PSFONTS\PFM for the metric file). Theoretically, ATM should automatically edit your WIN.INI file to include the font.
Now open up the WIN.INI file and adjust the softfont line. It should look something like:
That should do it. ATM 2.0 loads similarly, but you don't have to horse around with the WIN.INI file.
I assume the Ventura/GEM crowd know what they're doing ('cause I certainly don't -- apparently rename the .pfb file to a .pfa extension, dump it into the font folder and then use the Ventura AFMTOVFM.EXE to convert the .afm file).
Come on guys, get a Mac! <grin>
I have no idea what the story is the the .cfg and .inf files. Hopefully, if you need them, you know what to do with them.
Again, my apologies for my PC ignorance. I'm hoping John Cornicello, PC sysop on Compuserve's DTPFORUM, will sort some of this out. If he does, my thanks to him. If not, he is definitely not to blame.
Walrod Initials is released in memory of Glenn Rodgers, an apprentice typographer at Characters Graphic Services, Inc., who died tragically in 1992. He is sorely missed.
Notification of any problems with the font or requests for its upload on other bulletin boards can be made to:
Jonathan Hodges
61 Winchester Road
Ronkonkoma, New York 11779
CIS #76276,3102
Revision history:
version 1.2 changed the bitmap from 23-pt. to 24-pt. and is considered the release version of the font (that means I'll knock off TrueType and PC versions now). NFNT # was changed from 3060 to 3061 due to an internal conflict at Penguin Productions. Our mascot, Brad the Penguin, moved from under the equal sign to his proper home at Shift-Option-k, the spot Apple uses for its logo.
version 1.1 corrected four character so all characters have the same width and the same right sidebar.
