Libris Britannia 4/science library(b).zip/science library(b)/INFO/PCCDEMO.ZIP/COMP1.EXE/FONTS.PRS

Text File | 1993-12-20 | 12KB | 199 lines

                                           éçÄÄÆêìå àÄìôÆ  ╧╧╬╠╬╠╬╠╬╠╬╠╬╠╬╠╡
         σΣα≤⌠±Σ α±≤ΦΓδΣ                         ß√ Θετφ Γτεφµ
▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄  ▄▄ ▄▄▄▄  ▄▄▄▄    ▄▄▄
  ▄▄   ▄▄  ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄       ▄▄     │
  ▄▄    ▄▄▄▄  ▄▄▄▄  ▄▄▄      ▄▄     │   ∩±εσΣ≥≥Φεφαδ ∩⌠ßδΦ≥τΦφµ ß⌠±Σα⌠≥
  ▄▄     ▄▄   ▄▄    ▄▄       ▄▄     │ τα⌡Σ αδ÷α√≥  ταπ εφΣ  ∞αΘε± ≤±⌠∞∩
  ▄▄     ▄▄   ▄▄    ▄▄▄▄     ▄▄     │ Γα±π ⌠∩ ≤τΣΦ±  ≥δΣΣ⌡Σ - ≤τΣ ∩ε÷Σ±
                                    │ ≤ε   ∩±επ⌠ΓΣ   α≤≤Σφ≤Φεφ-µ±αßßΦφµ
┌┐         VS.     ┌┐               │ πεΓ⌠∞Σφ≤≥  ≤τ±ε⌠µτ  ≤τΣ  ∩ε÷Σ± εσ
││                 ││               │ σεφ≤≥.
│└┐ ┌──┐┌┐┌┐┌──┐   │└┐ ┌┐┌┐┌──┐┌──┐ │
│ │ │  ││││││  │   │ │ │││││  ││  │ │    Fonts make  a page  come alive
│┌┘ │┌─┘│││││┌┐│   │┌┘ │││││┌┐││┌┐│ │ and can transform the whole atmo-
││  ││  │││││└┘│   ││  │││││││││└┘│ │ sphere of a printed work.
│└─┐││  │└┘││ ─┤   │└─┐│└┘││└┘││ ─┤ │    Unfortunately,  the  power  of
│  │││  │  ││  │   │  ││  ││  ││  │ │ fonts was  frequently unavailable
└──┘└┘  └──┘└──┘   └──┘├─ ││┌─┘└──┘ │ to the average  home user because
                       │  │││       │ few DOS  programs supported fonts
                       └──┘└┘       │ save  those  hardwired  into  the
                                    │ printer. Even  then most printers
                                    │ came with  the  stock  Courier or
                                    │ Pica   font.    Additional   font


cartridges  for   laser  printers  │  ruled the earth.
could be bought, at a cost....     │  Type  1  fonts  for  the  PC  are
                                   │  identified by the file extensions
   The  arrival  of  Windows  3.1  │  .PFM  and  .PFB.  The  .PFM  file
brought a breath  of fresh air in  │  contains the  printer  and screen
the  form  of   True  Type  Fonts  │  metrics for  generating character
(TTF). For  the first  time font-  │  spacing  whilst  the  .PFB  files
power   was   available   to  the  │  contains the  character outlines.
masses.                            │  Both .PFM and  .PFB files must be
                                   │  present  for  each  Type  1  font
   In this article I will discuss  │  prior  to  installation.  You can
the two  major font  formats, the  │  nominate where you want your .PFB
pros and  cons  of each  and help  │  and .PFM  files to  be located on
you arrive at  a conclusion about  │  your hard disk.
which to use.                      │
                                   │     In contrast,  True  Type fonts
ôçä £ àÄìô àÄæîÇôÆ                 │  come in only one file with a .TTF
                                   │  extension. During  installation a
   Before  True  Type  fonts came  │  .FOT  file  is  generated,  which
into  existence,   Type  1  fonts  │  contains the location of the .TTF


file  and  information  about the  │     Unless  you   already  have  a
font  that   Windows   uses  when  │  software package  that bundles it
deciding which  font  your appli-  │  along, you  will have  to pay for
cation is asking for. Don't worry  │  ATM.  The  latest  incarnation of
about  damaging   the  .FOT  file  │  ATM is  version 2.5  which offers
because Windows  can re-create it  │  many   significant  improvements.
from the .TTF file. Both the .FOT  │  However,  most  users  will  have
and  .TTF  files  reside  in your  │  version 2.0  or  2.02 so  in this
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory.      │  article I  will  be  referring to
                                   │  this.
éÄÆô & éÄìòäìêäìéä                 │
                                   │     User-friendliness   is   about
   The True  Type font  engine is  │  equal on both counts although the
shipped  standard   with  Windows  │  True   Type   manager   is   more
3.1.  Everything   you   need  to  │  intelligently integrated. You can
install and  use True  Type fonts  │  install True  Type fonts straight
is  on   hand.   Type   1  fonts,  │  from Windows and have it instant-
however, need  a separate program  │  ly available.  With  Type  1, you
known as the  Adobe Type Manager,  │  have to exit  and restart Windows
popularly abbreviated as ATM.      │  after  installation   before  the


Type 1  fonts  are  accessible by  │  correlate to the  font name. Look
your programs.  ATM  2.5 corrects  │  into  the  ATM.INI  file  to  see
this  and  makes   Type  1  fonts  │  which filenames  belong  to which
installation  as  quick  as  True  │  font.
Type.                              │
                                   │  ÆÅääâ
   Deleting unused  fonts is also  │
easier with  True Type.  When you  │     True Type  fonts are  not new.
have   made   the   decision   to  │  They were originally developed by
relegate a  font to  the bin, the  │  Apple for the Macintosh but these
Control Panel will delete the      │  first  generation   fonts  had  a
font reference  from your WIN.INI  │  reputation for  slow performance.
file plus the .FOT and .TTF files  │  Microsoft  then  took  up further
themselves.                        │  development,   hunted   down  the
   ATM 2.0  deletes the reference  │  speed  bottlenecks  and optimized
but will not  remove the .PFM and  │  the  font   technology  with  the
.PFB files  from your  hard disk.  │  result that True  Type in Windows
You do  this yourself  and it can  │  is a speed demon.
get confusing  because  the file-  │
names    do    not    necessarily  │     The ATM 2.0 engine generated a


graphic image  of every character  │  bitmapped font, and  it prints as
and sent  them as  bitmaps to the  │  text not graphics.
printer   to   be   processed  as  │
graphics. If  your  page  has the  │     The good news  is that ATM 2.5
letter `s' a  thousand times, ATM  │  now narrows  the  gap  because it
2.0 would generate  and send 1000  │  uses   the    same    method   of
graphic images of  the letter `s'  │  downloading fonts  as  True Type.
to  your  printer  -  an enormous  │  With ATM 2.5 the speed difference
waste of time and resources.       │  is negligible  and should  not be
                                   │  an issue.
   True Type, on  the other hand,  │
prints  text  using  the  fastest  │  ÉöÇïêôÿ
technology in  your  printer. Say  │
you  use  a   LaserJet  and  your  │     This is  probably  one  of the
document   uses   12-point  Arial  │  most    important    factors   in
letters, Windows generates a PCL4  │  deciding  which  font  format  to
bitmap  font   and  automatically  │  use.  Fonts  come  from foundries
downloads  it  to  your  printer.  │  (an archaic  term  from  the days
This means that  an image is sent  │  when letters  were  produced with
to the printer  only once, in the  │  metal dies) of which the pioneers


and leaders  are Adobe, Linotype,  │  Arial is more graceful than ATM's
Monotype  to  name  a  few. These  │  Helvetica and  True  Type's Times
companies have vast experience in  │  New  Roman  is  more  subtle than
the field of  designing fonts and  │  ATM's version.  But bear  in mind
their  fonts  feature  delicately  │  that  Monotype  spent  months  of
hinted  serifs,   precise  stroke  │  attention on these  fonts to give
weights and so  on. These premium  │  them  the  best  appearance. Most
fonts are typically found only in  │  font foundries do not commit this
Type 1 format. In fact the Type 1  │  level  of  quality  assurance  to
format was invented by Adobe.      │  True  Type  and  thus  in general
                                   │  Type  1   fonts  are   of  better
   This is  not to  say that True  │  quality.
Type fonts  are inferior. Indeed,  │
both  font   formats  have  equal  │
potential  for  quality.  Witness  │     This  situation   is  changing
the   13   fonts   supplied  with  │  rapidly as  more  and  more inde-
Windows 3.1.  They are frequently  │  pendent  foundries  recognize the
cited as being  better than their  │  market for  True Type  fonts. You
Type 1 counterparts.               │  will   see   far   more  packages
   For  example,  the  True  Type  │  offering carefully  designed True


Type fonts  on  the  market today  │  format compared to 2,000 for True
than at any time in the past.      │  Type. For  the  greatest artistic
                                   │  sophistication and variety Type 1
   As  an   aside,  in  practical  │  is the  hands  down  winner. This
conditions  you  will  hardly see  │  coupled with  the  higher quality
the difference  between True Type  │  of Type 1 fonts is the reason why
and Type 1  fonts because many of  │  many  professional   bureaus  are
the finer  details of  a font are  │  adherents of Type 1.
lost  when  printed  on  ordinary  │     This  is  useful  to  remember
dot-matrix,   inkjet   or  300dpi  │  because  if   you  ever   need  a
laser printers.                    │  document     published    profes-
   Only on something like 1200dpi  │  sionally, it  is wise  to typeset
or  2400dpi  digital  typesetters  │  the   document    in   a   format
can a person fully appreciate the  │  supported by the bureau.
delicate nuances of a font.        │
                                   │     However, True  Type  is slowly
æÇìåä & ÆöÅÅÄæô                    │  encroaching  into  the  field and
                                   │  more   and   more   bureaus   are
   There are approximately 20,000  │  beginning to  support it  or risk
typefaces  available  on  Type  1  │  losing business  in the  next few


years. But for the moment, Type 1  │  competitive,  the  like  of Adobe
is the way to go.                  │  and Monotype are releasing "value
                                   │  packs". This  bodes well  for end
éÄÆô                               │  users   because   quality   fonts
                                   │  become more affordable.
   Most   Type    1   fonts   are  │
expensive  to  procure.  The time  │
and effort  spent by  the foundry  │
in  crafting   these  fonts  seek  │  ÆöîîÇæÿ
reward in high paybacks. This was  │
possible  in  the  pre-True  Type  │     For  most   users,  True  Type
world because the major foundries  │  would be the  most natural format
had a monopoly on fonts.           │  to use  because  it is  native to
   Now that independent foundries  │  Windows and  managing  them  is a
are marketing  cheaper and better  │  cinch.  Moreover,  True  Type  is
True Type  fonts the  high prices  │  faster in  printing and scrolling
cannot continue. Indeed the price  │  on screen.  Variety  may  be less
of font-packs have dropped drama-  │  than Type  1  but unless  you are
tically over the  last 12 months.  │  into   exotic   and   specialized
In    an    effort    to   remain  │  documents,  True   Type  will  be


ample.                             │  part  of  your  free  memory  and
                                   │  resources   (depending   on   the
   For  those  who  wish  to have  │  number of fonts  loaded). This is
Type 1  fonts  on  hand,  get ATM  │  over and above  the drain by True
2.5.  This   upgrade  will  boost  │  Type fonts ñ
productivity  with  Type  1 fonts  │
and even  lets  Type  1  gain the  │
upper hand  on  the  overall when  │
variety,  quality  and  speed are  │
combined.                          │
                                   │
   For those  who  are wondering,  │
both True Type and Type 1 can co-  │
exist peacefully.  If  you cannot  │
decide which  to use,  take both.  │
Both   formats    can   be   used  │
concurrently   in   all   Windows  │
applications.  One  caveat: using  │
ATM will  slow down  slightly the  │
startup  of  Windows  and  eat up  │