The LaserWriter font you have just downloaded is one of two of a matching design set - HitechBold. I made this one up "off the top of my head," although you will probably notice similarities to other letters you may have seen around (like the letter style Hyundai uses on their cars). This may be, but I used no templates at all in the creation of this typeface. It was design for use with technical drawings and it includes my Fraction Construction Set so that dimensions can be set with fractions. A special set of arrows is also included which I think are better looking than the arrows you get in MacDraw.
About the Fraction Construction set:
The following discussion will need some definitions in order to understand what I am talking about.
A fraction as it appears on a page (*with this set) is a number over a horizontal bar over another number. Each number is made up of digits which will be referred to as a "part" (i.e., a numerator part or a denominator part).
All numerator parts are zero width characters so they may not appear when you first type them in. Some of the numerator parts will require two keystrokes in order to obtain them. These will be, in particular, option-e (hold down the option key and strike e twice), option-i and option-o (handle these in the same manner). The reason for this is in the way the operating system handles key strokes and it expects accent parts for characters to be at these locations (this way you can get an acute accent over an a, i, o, u, or any other letter you want without having to have a different accented character for combination.)
There are two kinds of numerator parts. Those which will center directly over a denominator part and those which will center over the space BETWEEN the denominator parts (assuming there are more than one digit in the denominator).
For numerator parts to center over the digit of a denominator part, type option-number (top row of keys). Then type a denominator part, IN THAT ORDER. You should finish this type of fraction typing a denominator part.
For numerator parts to center over the spaces between denominator parts, type option-q for 1, option-w for 2, etc. (the row of keys beneath the numbers and shifted half to the right - convenient to remember, right?). Then type a denominator part, IN THAT ORDER. You should finish this type of fraction typing a denominator part. These numerator parts are shifted a character and a half to the right. They will not appear until after the next character is typed, and remember what I said about option-e,i,and o, 'cause this is where they fall.
For denominator parts, type option-a for 1, option-s for 2, etc. (following the same pattern as above). The bar is incorporated into the denominator parts and will automatically appear when typed.
The arrows I mentioned are located at option-< (for left arrow) and option-> (I don't need to explain). An extension bar which will exactly match either arrow is located at option-- (dash, good place for it).
There are also a few letter style variations. There is an alternate M, V, X, and Y and there may be an alternate W but I don't remember (It would be the same as an upside down M anyway - if you like them or prefer them, tell me and I will place them in their normal position for you.)
No attempt was made to make foreign accented characters, but this can be arranged if you would like (it may mean the sacrifice of fractions though.)
The font HitechBold is a normal (black type) font. The font HitechHGDS is one of my "Invisifonts". It is a MASK of HitechBold (an exact match) and can be customized to your own liking: "filled" with different shades, patterns, lines, or randomly filled by placing a Paint object behind it (an interesting effect I achieved was by taking a Paint file that had a lot of 50% grey and reduced it in MacDraw - this 'shrinking' created a plaid pattern - it was really neat).
Another interesting feature of this font is that all letters except i,j, and l are exactly the number of points wide as you select from the font menu (i.e., select 12 points and the characters are exactly 12 points from the left side of on character to the left side of the next, etc.). The three letters whose width I changed look too strange to leave monospaced.
If you like either one of these fonts, then the final working version can be purchased for $20 each. The sample copies (that you downloaded) can be freely distributed. The final purchased version is for use by purchasers only. You will have a license to use your purchased font for personal or commercial purposes, but please do not give any copies away to anyone - they are not copy protected for your convenience only. Purchasers will be registered and customer support will be available.
The font ID for HitechBold is 253
The font ID for HitechHGDS is 251
These will not conflict with any Adobe faces (That I presently know of).
You will need to install the bitmap in your system file with Font/DA Mover v3.2 or later for proper installation. Install the LaserWriter Font in the system folder (or at the same desktop level as the system if you don't use folders) or with the application that will use the font. It will automatically download as it is called or you can manually download it to LW where it can be made to reside until the LW is turned off or reset. I will include download utility and a proper version of Font/DA Mover on the disk with your purchased font.
If you have any preferences for the screen font sizes, tell me and I will also include those.
The screen fonts you downloaded have not been altered and will work with the final version of the LW font you purchase.
If nobody purchases any of the fonts I place on CompuServe then I must assume nobody likes the font and I will eventually delete it. At present, this is the ONLY means I have to market my fonts, and your contribution will ensure that I will be able to continue to provide these services to the public.
Thank you for your interest and support.
-Butch
PS- If you had previously downloaded my Calligraphic font and found that it only printed a distortion of Courier - try using the font with system 3.2 (only) and LaserWriter/LaserPrep 3.1. There seems to be a problem with the software that creates the fonts (or with the newer systems) that need to be worked out. It will work (I hope) with system 3.2 so try it again, please. This may be true of some of the other composite fonts (those which access ROM resident fonts in LW) also. Thank you M. Rice for pointing out this problem for me.
