Inside Multimedia 1994 April

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WELCOME TO F O N T S P E C --------------- OVERVIEW: FontSpec Pro is the Ultimate Windows Font Manager. The application ======== has three areas of interest: 1. View installed fonts 2. Print font specimen sheets 3. Install and manage fonts As a Viewer: ----------- You can display your installed fonts in sizes from 8 to 999 points, using different effects and justification modes. Instead of trying to remember what all those cryptic font names look like you can view actual multi-line samples of the font right on your screen. As a Printer: ------------ You can print pro-quality font specimen sheets of your installed fonts using a variety of options, including single or two-column or full sheet formats. You select what the specimen sample will say or you can create your own sample text. You select point sizes, which fonts to print, add time, all caps... almost anything can be customized to your satisfaction. As a Font Manager: ----------------- Here's the really exciting part! If you're like most of us you have more than likely collected a large number of fonts. Having all those fonts installed at the same time takes up memory and slows Windows down. FontSpec Pro gives you a way to manage those fonts in smaller bite-size chunks we call "Font Groups." A Font Group is a collection of fonts which you intend to use for a given purpose. For example, you can create a group of fonts which you use for a given customer. Or, you can create a group of your favorite fonts. Each Font Group is given a name (such as "My Favorite Fonts"). You can then install and activate any Font Group you choose. As a bonus feature, you can also preview each font before it's ever installed. This feature helps you decide if you really want to keep a particular font or not. And, if you decide you don't want a font (it doesn't matter if it's already installed or if it's not yet installed), you can remove and delete any font you don't want. MARKETING Shareware (not freeware). Please feel free to distribute this ========= application to everyone as long as no monies are collected, except for a small disk duplication fee if necessary. If you find this program of value to you please don't think that the "other guy" will send in his registration (he probably won't). As of today, October 28th 1993, over 3500 copies of FontSpec have been distributed and only 47 people have registered (ugh!). So, I'm COUNTING ON YOU(!) to do the right thing and register: --------------- UniTech Corporation 2697 McKelvey Road Maryland Heights, MO 63043 Phone: 314 770-2770 Registration is just $25.00 (Do it. You'll feel great!) Visa, Mastercard, checks ok When you register FontSpec Pro you can be assured of a realistic upgrade policy: You register just once. The registered version will recognize new version upgrades within the same whole-number revision (version 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 etc... to 5.9 are all treated the same). That means you can download upgrades -=+*AT NO COST*+=- except for line charges. SET-UP: FontSpec Pro is self-installing. Depending on whether you have the ====== shareware version or the registered version, you do the following: If this is a shareware copy of FontSpec: --------------------------------------- . Decompress your file (ZIP,ARC,whatever). Here's an approximation of what you'll end up with: FS-SETUP EXE Setup program. Run from windows README NOW This file README TX_ Setup decompresses documentation CHANGES TX_ Setup decompresses new features FS-MENU EX_ Setup decompresses file launcher FS-VIEW EX_ Setup decompresses font viewer FS-PRINT EX_ Setup decompresses font printer FS-FONTS EX_ Setup decompresses font manager FONTSPEC DL_ Setup decompresses DLL utility UNI-N TT_ Setup decompresses truetype font UNI-B TT_ Setup decompresses truetype font SS3D2 VB_ Setup decompresses VBX utility THREED VB_ Setup decompresses VBX utility . Put all of the files into a temporary directory or on a floppy diskette. . Start Windows. Choose "Run" from the File Menu. Type "A:\FS-SETUP.EXE" or you can use the path of the temporary directory where the files reside. You should obtain the file VBRUN300.DLL which is not included with this distribution, but is required for FontSpec to run. It wasn't included because many people already have this file on their system so it would be a waste of time to download it again (and again and again). I hope you can appreciate why the file wasn't included. It may already be on your system (check your \Windows directory or your \Windows\System directory). The file can also be obtained from most bulletin boards, CompuServe forums or America Online. If you've purchased FontSpec: ---------------------------- Installation is a snap! Start Windows. Choose "Run" from the File Menu and type "A:\SETUP.EXE" (not FS-Setup, that's for the people who haven't registered... yet). Both registered and shareware versions -------------------------------------- You can reinstall FontSpec Pro at any time by selecting the FontSpec install icon from the FontSpec Group. GETTING Double-click on the FontSpec Launcher icon. Each time you start the STARTED launcher, it reminds you that you can relocate the launch pad to any ======= part of your screen by clicking (and holding down) the left mouse button on the launch pad's BORDER and then moving to where you want the pad to be, then release the mouse button. This is also known as "Drag & Drop". The launch pad's color changes once every minute (no it's not an offbeat clock). The color changes to help remind you that the launch pad is active. Also, the pad does it's very best to stay on top of whatever application you may have running. This means that you have access to FontSpec Pro from within other Window's applications. Let's start with the Viewer. Single-click on the pad's view button. VIEWER The viewer starts up with a sample of one of your fonts in 60 points ====== (points are a unit of measure used by the typography industry). One inch equals 72 points. The viewer makes no changes to your system, so don't be afraid to experiment. Click on the large Setup button at the top of the form. The font sample is replaced with a setup form. This is where you customize the viewer to suit your needs. You can show all the way up to 999 points if you wish by changing the maximum point size. My personal preference is 72 points. When the viewer starts up, it initially shows one font face. If you want to see multiple lines at startup, select "off" for the Startup Zoom option ("on" means you are zooming in one font). If you don't have a very, very fast computer then you might opt to show just one font at a time (the default). If you want to view fonts other than TrueType then make that selection next. But you should know that bitmapped fonts will look "jaggy" in larger point sizes (for example, MS Sans Serif in 24 point will look ok, but will look yucky at 98 points). Leaving this setting on the default of Truetype Only will guarantee viewing fonts that look good at any size. Of the five type specimens that you can view, two are user-definable (you can use whatever words and characters you need). You can either type your own words in the two User Defined Specimen option boxes or you can click the Default Value buttons for default text. All of these settings can be changed at any time, so don't worry about what you type now. You can change it later, if you wish. Click on the large Done button to save and exit setup (if you click anywhere else outside of the setup form then the information will not be saved -- handy if you changed your mind). The rest is up to you now. Select a sample from the five specimen buttons, change point sizes, justification, italics, bold... experiment. By the way, by now you must have noticed that there is a one-line help area just about the viewport. When you move the mouse over different controls, this area (I call it "MouseHelp") tells you what the controls do. Try moving your mouse over the moving advertisement at the top of the screen. (Hint!) PRINTER FontSpec Pro really shines when printing specimen sheets. To use the ======= Printer application you must have two fonts already installed. Both came free with Windows and are on your original Windows disks if you haven't installed them. The two fonts you must have installed are Arial and Arial Bold. You probably have both installed already, but if not, you should do so before running the Printer application. To run the Printer application, single-click on the Launch pad's Print button. You can move the mouse around for help (just like in the Viewer). Click on Setup before printing. Starting Page number defaults to 1. Use this to set a starting page number in case you're printing lots of pages and something goes wrong, or if you want to begin printing with a different page number for sections or whatever. The printing starts with the first font selected regardless of this number. Only the printed page number is affected by this option. The Page Header is what prints at the top of each page and the Page Footer is what prints at the bottom of each page (this will get clearer after you've printed a sample page). Just like in the Viewer, you can enter your own text for the two User-Defined specimens. Registered users can also select a printer and print orientation from this setup form. Shareware users can try these features but the printer will remain selected as it was before running the application. If you want to change your printer on the shareware version, you can do so by using the normal Windows options available to you. Click on the Done button to save and exit setup. Selecting Fonts to Print ------------------------ Select the facenames you want to print from the listbox on the left. You can either click on the Select All Fonts button or single-click on individual names. The selected fonts appear in the adjacent listbox. If you change you mind you can click on the Clear All Fonts button or single-click on individual names to remove them from the listbox. If you want to print most (but not all) of your fonts, then you can click on the Select All Fonts button followed by clicking on the individual names that you don't want. Select Sheet Style ------------------ There are three different sheet styles to choose from. The Single Column Sheet prints your specimens one to a line across the page. The Two-Column Sheet (the default) gets the maximum number of fonts on a page (by the way, 18-point looks great in this format). The Full Sheet style prints sample paragraphs (greeking), the entire standard character set in normal and italics, and a one line sample in every size from 6 to 72 points -- all on one page! (This takes alot(!) of time and alot(!) of paper so you might want to use this option sparingly.) Please note that selecting the Full Sheet Style removes some of the other options available to you because they are not needed (no sense in selecting a point size when all the point sizes are printed, for example). Select a Print Sample --------------------- You can select from four different specimens. The first two are the same as in the Viewer application and the last two can be customized by you (using setup). The default is Paragraph Text, which includes printing the facename as part of the specimen. All choices print the facename in 6-point type directly under each specimen line. Select Print Styles ------------------- If you want to see absolutely everything then check off all four variations. FontSpec Pro will skip bold fonts if you don't really have them installed, but will print in italic even if you don't have an italic font installed (thanks to Windows). On my system, I got rid of all my italic fonts since I can print them anyway. Why take up valuable disk space, right? On the other hand, you'll find some very nice italic fonts which, because of their design, you'll want to keep since a close facsimile just isn't the same. Other Options ------------- You can add the time at the bottom of each page (the date is added automatically). Adding the time helps you judge how long each page takes so the next time you don't have to just sit and watch. The All Caps option is good if you just can't stand to look at fonts which have no lowercase characters (usually they print a box or some other stupid character instead of lowercase). Selecting All Caps prints the specimen line in all capital letters. You can also eliminate page numbers. Why would you want to do that? Well, suppose you have a forty or fifty page specimen book and want to replace page 17... with 2 or 3 other pages... yikes!!! Without this option you'd have to reprint all the other pages, but if you don't use page numbers... get the idea? Select the point size to print each specimen line in. My preference is 18 points. This size is big enough to clearly see the font and still get a respectable number of characters on each line. Print Your Specimens (finally!) -------------------- Once everything has been selected to your satisfaction, click on the big Print button. As each font is sent to the printer you will see a sample of the type in the Quick View window. Just above this window is a print progress area that displays the name of the font and the elapsed print time. Notice that the print button has been replaced by a stop button. You can stop printing anytime, but if you click the stop button, please be patient. It takes some time for the printing to actually stop. During the printing process, you'll notice that the progress area will display a "Waiting for Windows" message and it looks like things have stopped or "frozen". Don't be alarmed! FontSpec Pro is doing just fine, but is waiting for Windows to catch up to it. As soon as Windows has processed the font information, FontSpec Pro will resume printing. If you have a fast computer (and a fast printer) you may not see any delay at all. FONT The Font Manager has so many options that I hope I can describe each MANAGER well enough to you! Bear with me on this. You can start the Font ======= Manager by single-clicking on its' Launch pad button. Remember, too, that like the Viewer and Printer, you have MouseHelp available to you at all times simply by moving the mouse over an area of your screen. Compare Fonts ------------- As you may have discovered, some fonts are really the same as others but have a different name. This can get to be a problem because you could end up with duplicates that take up valuable disk space and memory. If you suspect a duplicate, or if you just want to look at a font (installed or not, it doesn't matter). You can do so by navigating to the directory which has the font file. Once you have selected the right directory, you can use the two listboxes (top, right) to select an installed font and a font file (installed or not). A sample of each will be displayed at the bottom of the form. This is a scrollable area so you can see and compare two fonts side by side using the entire character set. To the right of the two samples is an arrow which points to the current font (use the tab key to toggle between the two). Whichever font is being pointed to is also displayed in the center part of the form and is continuously adjustable in size by using the scroll bar to the left of the sample. If FontSpec Pro detects two fonts which are the same (or very close) it will highlight them for you automatically. Express Delete -------------- If you decide to remove a font (installed or not) you can do so by using this option. The font which is being pointed to is the font which will be deleted. You are asked for a confirmation before the delete actually happens. If you are pointing to the FONT FILE then the file will be deleted. If you are pointing to the INSTALLED font then both the file and the installed font will be removed from Windows. Express Install --------------- If you see a FONT FILE that you like, you can use Express Install to immediately install the font in Windows. If you check the Copy File to Windows box then the font will be copied to the Windows directory otherwise it will be installed based on the directory it is located in (note that the font should then remain in this directory). Managing Font Groups -------------------- A Font Group is a collection of one or more fonts which for whatever reason you would like to use keep and use together. A group of your favorite fonts, a group of fonts you use for a certain client, a group of fonts you use only occasionally. Whatever you needs, Font Groups come in very handy. Making Your First Group ----------------------- Click on the Make button located in the Font Group Manager frame. Since this is your first group you are given the opportunity to save your current Windows configuration in case you later want to restore everything to pre-FontSpec use. It's up to you, but why not? The next form allows you to create your font group. First select the drive and directory where your fonts are located. The font files appear in the adjacent listbox. If you single-click on any file name you will see a sample of the font in the Quick View window below. If you double-click on the file name it will be added to the Font Group listbox. Likewise, if you single-click on any name in the Font Group listbox you'll see a sample and if you double-click, then the name will be removed from the Font Group listbox. You can add fonts to the Font Group from many directories at the same time. Just navigate to the directory and add the fonts. When you have assembled a Font Group you are satisfied with, enter a group name of your choice in the group name box and, optionally, check the Copy Fonts to Windows box. Click on the Done button (or Cancel button to discard the group). If your group does not include Arial and Arial Bold you will be reminded that FontSpec Pro needs these fonts for printing specimen sheets. If you don't plan on printing specimen sheets then it doesn't matter, otherwise you are given the opportunity to add these fonts to your group. Installing Your Font Group -------------------------- From the Font Group Manager frame, click on the drop-down listbox and select a previously created Font Group. Click on the Install button. The selected Font Group is processed, installed and is immediately made available without restarting Windows. Depending on the size of the group, this can take anywhere from a few moments to as much as a minute. The installation progress is displayed in the Font Group Manager progress window. Deleting A Font Group --------------------- Select a previously created group name then click the Delete button. Modifying A Font Group ---------------------- Select a group name. Follow the same instructions for making a Font Group. The only difference is that your fonts will already be in the Font Group listbox ready for your changes. The only thing you can't change is the Font Group name previously assigned. FINAL I really hope you enjoy using FontSpec Pro. But please remember that COMMENTS maintaining a program of this scope requires time. It also takes ======== time to talk with the people who call (I always welcome callers, registered or not) and to help them with FontSpec and sometimes even with other problems they have unrelated to FontSpec. I'm doing my part by submitting this kind of product to the share- ware community. You can do your part by supporting these efforts in the form of registration. $25 bucks... it's not a lot. Thank You. UniTech Corporation 2697 McKelvey Road Maryland Heights, MO 63043 Phone: 314 770-2770 Registration is just $25.00 (Do it. You'll feel great!) Visa, Mastercard, checks ok