*Let’s Kill Some Trees* is a simple font utility which lets one print out a short sample of uninstalled fonts. Not a program you will use every day, it is a program that does a very narrow and specialized task. I am not aware of any other utility which allows one to do it does, so I think it fills an unoccupied niche.
Early in 1995 I released a simple program called *The Show Must Go FOND* which scanned through a disk or a folder searching for fonts and displaying what it found on the the screen. Several people (actually, only about four) responded to this program with suggestions. All said that the program really needed printing capabilities--it should print samples of fonts that had not been installed. I was more than a little hesitant to comply, in part because this would open up the potential for an awful lot of printing (and killing of trees), but much more because I was not sure that I could do it. The problem is that one is really supposed to install fonts which one uses. Uninstalled fonts are supposed to be unusable.
I have managed to scrape together a little time to construct a program which prints fonts. Because *The Show Must Go FOND* was working pretty well, it seemed unwise to mess it up with something which might not work, and hence the printing got put into a separate program. Maybe sometime in the future I will combine these programs, but only if someone gives me good reasons to do so.
This program may not work with all printers or print drivers. One cannot print the samples of uninstalled fonts if one has background printing on, which is the normal state of printing on a modern Macintosh. BEFORE YOU TRY TO PRINT, YOU MUST TURN OFF BACKGROUND PRINTING. The way to turn off background printing varies from print driver to print driver. With version 8 of the laser writer driver from Apple, one can simply check a box when one selects the printer from the chooser. With an older version of the print driver for the HP Deskwriter, it is necessary to remove the print monitor and the print backgrounder from the extensions folder or controls folder or where ever they were. (Or you can turned them off with Extension Manager, a free but very useful extension that everyone should have.)
This program gives you limited control over what is printed. Basically, the program prints the font name and style and one line of text illustrating the font. You can choose which fonts you want printed in three ways. First, you select the directory or folder you want to use, and the fonts will be printed from only that area. Second, you can select a range of names by choosing two letters of the alphabet, and the program will only print those. Third, the program will number all the fonts it finds. You can select a start and end point of that range, and only have the fonts in that range printed.
There are some very un-Mac like things in the program. In large part this is because the program violates Macintosh rules. The primary one it violates is that it prints out uninstalled fonts. One is not supposed to do this. Before you yell and scream that you really do not want to turn off background printing, please be aware that the program is operating outside the rules. If you do not like it, use the competition.
(However, please send all suggestions for improvement. There is no assurance that they will get implemented, but they will be considered.)
Getting Started
Begin by reading the instructions. (I hate reading them at least as much as you do. But they are short, and they will make life easier.)
Then configure the search with the options command. If you have used *The Show Must Go FOND*, you will notice that options are fairly similar. However, you cannot search anything but fonts in suitcases. Including anything else was asking for trouble. If you can tell me why you need to print out fonts that are anywhere else, I may give the user more options here.
Notice that you can limit the printout in two ways. First, you can exclude names that begin with ranges of letters. So, for example, you could just print fonts with names from C to G. Second, the program counts the fonts it finds. You can print only a range of these numbers, such only the fonts from 25 to 50. Thus if you print a couple pages one day, and then the next day you want to print more, you do not have to begin from the beginning and reprint those you already have.
Make sure that the printer you have choose will not print in the background. Make sure the printer is on. Select Print Fonts. From the open-files dialog, choose the file or folder you want to examine. If you are lucky, you will get results you really like and no bombs.
That is all, except to remind you that there is a help command under the Help Menu. (That is the one with the little question mark in a balloon.)
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions:
(Actually, who knows what questions will be frequently asked, but here are some I anticipate.)
Q. All the fonts printed out as Helvetica. What went wrong?
A. Make sure you are not printing in the background. If you print in the background, you will get Helvetica or Courier or whatever your printer substitutes when it cannot find a font.
Q. Why do you have an expiration date on this program?
A. Because I think that sooner or later it will go commercial. I do not like to compete with myself.
Q. How do I quit when I am printing out fonts?
A. Try holding down the Command-Period keys. The program will notice them only when it finishes the fonts in one suitcase and begins to look for the fonts in another. If you have a suitcase with 150 fonts and you want to exit, try Command-option-escape.
Q. How can I get a list of the fonts on a disk?
A. Try *The Show Must Go FOND*. It does this, among other things.
Legal Stuff
*Let's Kill Some Trees* is Copyrighted 1995 by Robert Schenk. If you find it useful, consider buying the two CD-ROMs of typefaces I have designed, Font Pro 2 and Font Pro 3, published by Wayzata Technology, Inc, 2515 East Highway 2, Grand Rapids, MN 55744. Their phone is 218-326-0597.
Retail price of each is only $25, and they may also be bundled with other CDs at very reasonable prices.
The demo version of this program will expire at the end of 1995.
The standard software disclaimers about liability apply. Those basically are that you use this program at your own risk and I am not liable for anything.
Report any bugs or suggestions for improvement to Robert Schenk. Contact him at
bobs@saintjoe.edu
February 1995
Other unique programs from Robert Schenk
The Maze Construction Set
Includes MazeMaker 3.3 and over 70 specialized Maze fonts. Is the most sophisticated computer maze generator on any platform. This is by far the most sophisticated and interesting of my programs. (This is a commercial product available on Font Pro 3. A demo version of this is available on-line as Make-A-Maze.)
Frankenstein's Helper 3.0
A math game for late grade school or early high school. (This is a commercial product available on Font Pro 3. Version 1 is available on-line various places.)
Be Fruitful and Multiply 1.4
A simple multiplication drill which also illustrates what the purpose of multiplication is. (Available on-line various places.)
Kerning Master
A specialized type tool that lets one compare the kerning sets of two fonts, or scan fonts for various attributes. Requires presence of AFM files. (This is a commercial product available on Font Pro 2, the reprinted edition of late 1994. It is not on the original edition.)
ChessEdit
A chess utility which allows one to quickly draw chess boards for export to other programs. (Available on-line various places.)
The Great Frame-Up
A DTP utility which allows one to create weird and unique borders or frames. Results must be exported to a page layout program which allows one to have text on top of text. (A commercial product on Font Pro 3.)
Census Taker (beta)
A utility which allows one to learn about the inhabitants of directories or drives. (Beta version available on-line various places.)
The Show Must Go FOND(beta)
A utility which allows one to preview fonts. It scans a folder or volume, illustrating whatever it finds. No need to install or find in order to see what is there. (Beta version available on-line various places.)
Snap Crack and Pop(beta)
A utility which scans through files and plays all the snd s it finds. (Beta version available on-line various places.)
Andy's Letters
A simple game to help preschoolers learn the alphabet. (Version 1 available on-line various places; version 1.01 is a commercial product on Font Pro 3.)
MacTykoon 1.1.2
A simulation game in which you try to make a profit running a business. Requires a lot of thought and no hand-to-eye coordination. (Available on-line various places.)
Well over 300 original and distinctive typefaces in Adobe PostScript Type 1 and Apple TrueType formats. (Commercial products available on Font Pro 2 and Font Pro 3. Several of my early faces (RedLetter, SalloonExt, Zirkle, Zarrow, ChooChoo) are available as shareware or demo-ware on-line.)
Font Pro 2 and Font Pro 3 are published by Wayzata Technology, Inc, 2515 East Highway 2, Grand Rapids, MN 55744. Their phone is 218-326-0597. Retail price of each is only $25.
(If you have access to the internet, you can download some of these programs by ftp-ing to ingrimayne.saintjoe.edu.)
