theTypeBook is a Mac utility which aids in the creation and maintenence of a typeface reference book. This type of reference is extremely popular in the Graphics and Typesetting industries. It helps people (both clients and employees) select typefaces by demonstrating the various artistic attributes of each face on a printed page. theTypeBook is compatible with virtually all
printers. All current Postscript and Truetype fonts are supported.
In the past, users of Mac DTP have had to generate typebooks themselves via the layout of each individual page in their favorite DTP application. Even when using a template strategy it is still necessary to select the Font and the FontStyle for each page, then edit the text so overflows and holes are controlled within reason. All this adds up to a significant amount of non-billable hours required to produce a typeface reference book.
theTypeBook eliminates the need for operator involvement in creating each page. Selection of the desired typefaces and issue of the Print command is all that is required. In fact there are no other direct functions available.
Page Footer
As distributed this section of the page holds theTypeBook logo and tag-line/address of Golden State Graphics.
For a small fee I will create a customized version of the page footer using the information you provide. This customization may include almost any type of artwork/copy within the space available. This provides a professional touch to your presentations of available typefaces. (See below.)
2. About the Sample Layouts
There are currently four "basic" layouts built into theTypeBook. However options are through the Layout menu which one or more aspects of each. You can change the "standard" fonts used on all the specimen printouts, add comments, adjust the number of samples on Line Showing specimens, or have 6 instead of three color sample parargraphs on the main specimen page.
You can also control whether the specimens are printed in left-facing, right-facing, or centered format. Facing page options appear in the Print Dialog. The default setting is "Left Facing", when looking at the edge of a bound page it is printed on the left side. Click the "Right Facing" or "Centered" options if you want to use them for this printing session.
2.1 The Sample Page
This is the main specimen page and consists of seven distinct parts:
Title
This is the "True" outline name of the typeface. It is located at the top and usually right-justified on the page. All pages are in the same format which is designed for a 3-hole punch. This facilitates updating an existing book with new additions or reorganizing pages. The Facing Pages option in the print dialog moves the name to the left side of the page.
Strength
A series of one line showings of the typeface at various point sizes. Demonstrates how well a face holds-up at these sizes.
Letter Form
A 48 pt. display of selected characters available from the typeface. Sufficently large enough to compare the various attributes of similar faces.
If Extra Colors Samples is selected in the Layout menu the Letter Form display will be reduced to 36 pt.
Note: If you select either of the metric measurement modes a slightly different set of characters will be used and will include a few of the most popular European characters are added.
Type Color Samples
A series of sample paragraphs are printed to demonstrate how the typeface might work as body copy. Certain point size and leading combinations cause the paragraph as a whole to appear lighter or darker on a page. The point size and leading used to produce each of the sample paragraphs may be independently set through the Color Sample Specs dialog in the Layouts menu.
A special text wrapping algorithym is used which breaks words at the last character that will fit a the line. It does not hyphenate or search for a space to break a line of text. This inhibits "holes" from appearing in the samples and provides for a consistent color comparison.
When printing to a legal-size page or when Extra Color Samples is selected, three additional color samples are provided.
Chars/Pica [Chars/Cicero]
This is the average number of characters the will fit in one Pica of column width. It is computed from the fractional character widths of individual characters and based on the sample text in the Type Color section of the page. The fractional character width data is obtained directly from the current FOND resource for the selected character style. (See below for more about the sample text.)
Cap Height [Inches/Millimetres]
This table indicates the approximate point size required in this typeface to produce a capital letter of a desired size. This is an approximate number due to the fact that not all font designs fill to the top of their font rectangles. Quite often there is an extra white space at the top of the rectangle. When it is present, theTypeBook obtains the Font Ascent value from the FOND resource. Otherwise theTypeBook looks at the top 8 bits in the character bitmap font until it finds a black one. Whichever of these values is then scaled to the appropriate size which is subject to some minor deviations during calculation. This means that occassionally font sizes in the larger scales, the recommended sizes may be a point or two off.
If Extra Color Samples is selected in the Layout menu the Cap Hieght data will not be displayed. Since the emphasis of this layout is mainly on body copy only the Char/Pica information is displayed.
If so desired, both copyfit measurements may be replaced by a additional display of the specimen typeface. If Extra Color Samples is selected this will be a 48 pt. display of the characters Aa through Zz - whatever fits on one line. If Extra Color is not selected a 96 pt display is used.
Note that both these measurements tables may optionally be replaced with a 96pt display sample by selecting "No Measurements" from the Measurements menu.
More About the Sample Text
The Average Character Width and Cap Height data are computed from the "fractional" data contained in the FOND resource. The FOND contains character width tables for each style based on a size of 1pt. The width values of all the characters in the color sample are scaled to size and added together, that value is divided by the total number of characters used. This is similar to stringing all the letters together on a single line to obtain the total width. It does not take into account possible word-wrapping or hyphenization when copy is restricted to a specified column width. Therefore typespecing calculations are considered to be approximate values.
2.2 The Line Showings Page
This feature will combine the selected typefaces on a page (or pages) into a collection of two-line showings. Its main purpose is creating an overview of your font collection. For each selected typeface two line a printed display upper and lower case characters, numerals, and popular punctuation at a fixed point size.
Because the available typefaces are listed in order of weight (lightest to heaviest) the Line Showing samples will appear in this order on each page or pages. Sorting order of theTypeBook is:
1. Regular width face sorted lightest to heaviest.
2. Titling faces, lightest to heaviest.
3. Condensed style typefaces sorted beginning with the thinnest to
the widest, sub-sorted to lightest to heaviest.
4. Extended style typefaces sorted beginning with the thinnest to the
widest, sub-sorted to lightest to heaviest.
5. Expert style typefaces. These are sub-sorted by the first 4 catagories.
The number of samples per page is controlled by the page size selected and the Line Showings Specs dialog in the Layouts menu. Sample sizes from 10 to 51 pts may be used. The size affects the number of samples that will fit on a page. The number of samples must be from 4 to 15. If an improper combination is entered a beep will sound when you click OK. When possible the closest allowable value will replace the improper one automatically.
You can set the title used on the Line Showings pages through the "Line Showings Title" dialog in the Layouts menu. This is useful when catagorizing your fonts. Some titles might be "Serif Fonts", "Shareware Fonts", "Cheltenham Family", or "Package #198" for example.
The Line Showings page title will be overridden by the basename of a font family if "Family page breaks" is turned on in the Print Dialog. Family page breaks will start a new page of Line Showings when the base family name changes during the printing process. This option allows you to automatically group line showings into a family organization.
If you do not edit the Line Showing Title the default title "Line Showings" will be used.
The "Comment Text" feature also applies to the Line Showing pages allowing you to further catagorize. ie. "Adobe Type-1", "Monotype", "Postscript", "TrueType", "Based on the original design", etc.
When Include Font ID info is enabled through the Page Comments dialog Fond ID information is printed right-justified opposite the corresponding outline name for each font on each page.
2.3 The Keycaps Page
Simply prints a keycaps chart which indicates the necessary key combinations needed to generate a particular character.
Keycaps charts are extremely helpful when working with Dingbats type fonts.
2.4 The All Characters Page
This feature displays the printable Character set at the largest possible point size using a full-page format. Typefaces which are condensed or have a smaller cap height will be printed at larger sizes than normal. Typefaces which are extended will be printed at smaller sizes.
This is useful when you want a detailed examination of all the printable characters.
The sample size is initially set at 60pts. The sum of all the character widths is computed and the point size is adjusted downward until all lines needed fit on a single page.
3. Technical Features
3.1 Launching/Quitting theTypeBook
When theTypeBook is launched many of the preference settings used during the previous session are restored.
The Fonts selected in the Fonts and Measures preferences are verified for thier availability. If any font required by theTypeBook cannot be found you will be presented with an Alert dialog. You may "Continue" opening theTypeBook or Quit. If you continue, you should be sure to reselect the layout fonts before printing any specimen pages.
When quitting theTypeBook, the current Page Setup and Layout selections are saved. This will set-off some Virus detection utilties as the two storage resources are saved.
3.2 List of Available Typefaces
When building the list of available typefaces, theTypeBook gets all the names of all the available styles from every FOND that is installed. The names are obtained from the style-suffix strings table contained in the FOND resource of each font family.
theTypeBook eliminates duplicated names resulting from non-merged or partially merged font families and then sorts the list according to the weight name of the typefaces.
The limit on the number of postscript names which could be read in has, for all intents and purposes, been eliminated. The current sort allocation will support up to 4000 names. If you are using non-merged fonts that number includes the duplicated information. In other words, non-merged families reduce the number of actual typefaces that can be supported.
Below the list of available typeface the current number of typefaces "Selected" and "Total Faces" available are displayed.
3.3 Making Typeface Selections
Typeface selection is simplified by presenting the menu of installed fonts in their "True" outline names. In this way, each face is selected individually and the standard Style Menu is no longer required.
Selections may be made by typing the name, continuing until the appropriate name is selected. You may also use the up and down arrows in conjunction with the shift key. Of course you can also use the mouse in the typical fashion. If no other windows are open, the "Select All" command in the edit menu is also available.
Typeface selection by typing the name continues while you type unless you pause for two seconds or more.
3.4 Working with Suitcase II/2.0
When you access the "Suitcase" desk accessory the font list will be rebuilt when you return to theTypeBook. This is necessary to keep pace with any changes that might affect the available fonts.
This feature may be overridden by holding down the Shift-key as you grab the Apple menu. Use this feature to save time when working with DA files, otherwise you ALWAYS want to rebuild when changing font files.
3.5 Program Localization
All text used to produce the page layouts and dialogs contained in theTypeBook have been removed from the program's code and placed into string resources to make "localization" easier and more complete.
Some of the resources serve as templates controlling which characters are printed and in what order. The Keycaps resource is a good example of this. Each keyboard key is immediately followed by the four possible characters available by using the modifiers keys. This pattern repeats for each key on the keyboard.
4. The File Menu
Printing is disabled until one or more typefaces have been selected. When you issue the Print command via the button, menu selection, or command-key equivalent. theTypeBook will produce a single page of output for each selection in the list in the appropriate format.
File Menu keyboard equivalents
Cmd-P Cmd-1 Prints Sample Page
Cmd-Shft-P Cmd-2 Prints Keycaps Page
Cmd-Shft-Opt-P Cmd-3 Prints Character Set Page
Cmd-Ctrl-P Cmd-4 Prints Line Showing Page
Cmd-Opt-P Opens Page Setup dialog
4.1 Page Setup
theTypeBook currently supports only the letter, legal, and A4 pages sizes. Selection of any other will produce an Error Alert when the print command is issued.
Before printing Line Showing specimen pages it is recommended that "Unlimited Downloadable Fonts" be enabled. Printing is faster when other specimens are printed if "Unlimited Downloadable Fonts" is not enabled. This option is accessed by clicking the "Options" button in the Page Setup dialog.
There is no benefit to turning on "Larger Print Area". If it is theTypeBook will adjust to ensure the image remains in the same position on the page.
4.2 Printing Pages...
theTypeBook handles each typeface as an individual printing job. This has two advantages; it is not necessary to use the "Unlimited Downloadable Fonts" option except when printing "Line Showings". If the printer is in a shared environment other printing jobs will be able to "slip-in" the printing queue.
Both Multifinder background printing and SuperLaserSpool are supported.
A number of options have been added to the standard print dialog. These are "Cropmarks", "Family Page Breaks", and "Facing Pages -left, right, and centered".
The cropmarks checkbox is currently disabled as the actual code has not been implemented. It will be after the necessary Postscript "wedgie" has been developed. I have decided to distribute this version without it since the procedure for implementing this capability is UNDOCUMENTED! Not only the procedure, but the Postscript commands as well - it may take some time...
Family Page Breaks is enabled (for selection) only when printing a Line Showings Page. When turned on, if sufficient typefaces are selected to produce multiple printed pages a new page will be started when the base name of the font family changes during printing.
Facings Pages is available for all layouts. It does not affect the Keycaps layout because it is always centered on a printed page. In order to provide the necessary flexibility you must first select all left (or right) facing pages and print them. Then select the others and print them. That is, one side is printed. Then the other side.
When OK is clicked a number of dialogs will be presented in sequence indicating the current printing status.
The first is the "Preparing Page" status dialog. It indicates the type of page being prepared. "Preparing Sample Page", "Preparing Keycaps Page", or "Preparing Character Set Page" will be displayed followed by the selected font name.
The remaining status dialogs depend on the type of printer in use. If it is an ImageWriter you will receive a "Spooling Page..." dialog. If not it will proceed directly to "Printing Page...". If background printing is active the page will be sent to disk otherwise it will go directly to the printer.
The print cycle may be cancelled at any time by pressing Command-period. If the page has already spooled to disk you will have to use the Print Monitor to cancel the output to the printer.
5. The Edit Menu
theTypeBook's Edit menu contains all of the standard Edit menu items. However the majority are disabled most of the time. The only menu item that remains enabled all of the time is "Select All". Copy and Paste are enabled only when the "Color Samples Text" window is open.
5.1 Copy and Paste
The Copy and Paste menu commands are only available while the "Color Sample Text" window is open and active. These command work in the usually Mac fashion allowing you to transfer text to and from other applications and theTypeBook.
Note that copy and paste are also available in a number of other function dialogs of theTypeBook. However since they are modal dialogs they are not affected by the status of the Edit menu. That is, copy and paste in dialogs is always available where supported.
5.2 Select ALL
"Select All" is always enabled in the Edit menu and performs as expected. If issued when viewing the list of available typefaces it selects all of the names in the list. The number of Selected faces below the list will match the Total Faces available.
When viewing text in the Color Samples Text window "Select All" selects all of the text whether it is visible or not.
6. The Layouts Menu
Selections in the Layouts menu affect the configuration of one or more printed specimen pages. They facilitate creation of a Type Specimen Catalog more closely tailored to individual requirements.
Most the Layout menu items are accessed rather infrequently. Once a look has been established its unlikely to change that often. Two of the items may be used with some regularity, therefore they have command key equivalents:
Layouts Menu
Cmd-C Opens Set Comments Dialog
Cmd-L Opens Line Showings Title Dialog
Note that the Layouts menu is disabled and the Edit menu is enabled when the Edit Window is open. This changes the meaning of the Cmd-C key combination back to its standard text operation. When the Edit window is close Cmd-C again becomes the Set Comment Command.
Other keyboard equivalents
Cmd-W Closes the Sample Text window
Cmd-period Cancels the current dialog
6.1 No Measurements
This option applies only to the main specimen page. When selected, the copyfit data which is normally printed will be replaced by an addition display of the typeface.
The display is the sequence Aa to Zz or as much as will fit on one line. The size of the display is affected by the Extra Color Samples selection (see below). If Extra Color Samples are selected then the display size is 48 pt. Otherwise it will be 96 pt.
6.2 Extra Color Samples
The "Extra Color Samples" is designed for those having more emphasis on body copy than display type. This layout is a modification to the main specimen page layout.
The difference is the addition of 3 more color sample paragraphs for a total of 6 independently controlled samples. This affects the 48 pt display which is reduced to 36 pt and the alternate 96 pt display is reduced to 48 pt.
If measurements are enabled then only the Characters per Pica (or per Cicero) will displayed, the Cap Height data will not be shown.
The current selection state of "Extra Color Samples" is saved and restored when you Quit and Launch theTypeBook.
6.3 Layout Fonts & Measures
Fonts used for font names, titles and data on the sample pages may now be changed via the "Layout Fonts & Measure" menu selection.
The dialog contains a scrolling list of available fonts. Selecting a name in the list enables the two "Set Font" buttons. Click one or the other to set either the Fontname/Title font or the bodyfont respectively. The list may be automatically scrolled to an alphabetical position by pressing a letter a through z.
If either of the selected typefaces are not available you will be notified when launching theTypeBook.
NOTE: If you use lengthy AKAs or Comments you may find it useful to change the FontNames/Line Showings Font to a Condensed typeface.
Measurements radio buttons provide selection between decimal and metric typesetting statistics.
The selections made affect the display characters used in the specimen pages. There are two seperate sets of display characters, the american english and one containing additional european characters.
6.4 Color Samples Specs
The Color Samples Specs dialog provides the setup of the size and leading used for each of the sample paragraphs. Each paragraph is setup independent of the others and are shown in the order in which the appear on the printed page.
The sizes may range from 4 to 60 points, though not many 60 point characters will fit in the space available. The leading value is an absolute leading independent of the size for that paragraph.
The tab-key may be used to move between the fields and paragraphs.
6.5 Color Samples Text
The Color Samples Text window is a full featured text editing window. The text displayed in the window is used to create the sample color paragraphs. At the bottom window is the current character count of the text.
The standard Mac text editing functions are available. Click-drag, double-click, shift-click, arrow keys, etc.. Cut and Paste is also supported in the normal fashion.
The text may anything but should be something similar to the typical writting style in use. This is important since this text is also used for computation of the Characters per Pica (or Cicero) data printed on the main specimen page. Therefore if the text is typed in all capitals, then the copyfit data will reflect copy set in all caps.
When changes are made to the text, a dialog will appear to confirm "Saving" or "Discarding" the changes when the Color Samples Text window is closed. The sample text window may be closed by clicking the Close box or typing Command-w.
6.6 Line Showing Specs
Selecting Line Showings Specs in the Layouts menu displays a dialog indicating the point size and the number of samples per page that will be used in the Line Showings layout. It permits adjusting the look or economy of the specimens.
The dialog also indicates the "Maximum" samples possible based on the currently selected page size (from the Page Setup dialog) and the sample's point size. By decreasing the point size the maximum number of samples per page may be increased. As the point size increases the maximum number of samples is reduced. If the OK button is pressed with an invalid combination a beep will sound and the appropriate item to change highlighted and set to the closest allowable value.
The Maximum Number of Samples is updated every time a numeric key is pressed. The message "<Error>" indicates that the combination of the point size and the number of samples would exceed the printable area of the selected page.
Sample point sizes must be in the range of 10pts to 51pts. The number of samples must be in the range of 4 to 15 samples per page.
6.7 Line Showing Title
Since each font name appears in the body of the page allow with its two-line specimen the page title is available for other uses. Select "Line Showings Title" from the Layouts menu or press the Command-L key combination to change or examing the current Line Showings title.
The default title is "Line Showings" which is appropriate if all fonts are simply printed in alphabetical order. When fonts are being catagorized it is desirable to reflect the catagory in the page title.
Some examples would be:
Serif Fonts
Shareware Fonts
Cheltenham Family
Package #198
The Page Comments feature produces similar results on the line showings layout with one exception. If Include Fond ID Info is enabled in the Page Comments dialog the ID info will be printed in the title bar for each typeface specimen on the page.
See Page Comments for more information.
6.8 Page Comments
The Set Comments function provides the ability to add secondary information to the specimen pages. It affects all layouts except for the Keycaps page.
Use Set Comments to identify such things as the Manufacturer, Designer, or any other information. Once entered the text will be used on all subsequent specimen pages until changed or deleted. Delete the text by selecting it in the Set Comments dialog and press Delete.
Set Comments takes avantage of available space as dictated by the length of the page title. This affects only the automatic text wrapping of the page comment. Line lengths may run up to approximatly 20pts from the page title or 260pts total, whichever is smaller. There is a two line maximum.
The Set Comments dialog supports Cut, Copy, Paste and Select All command key combinations. Command-Period (.) closes the dialog without saving changes.
6.8.1 Entering Comment Text
How you enter text in addition to Including ID Info will affect the format of the printed comment. This adds some control to over the results.
In the Set Comments dialog the Return key is used when entering text. It becomes part of the text and is not the same (temporarily) as the Enter key. The Enter key is still used as the keyboard equivalent of the Ok button.
If text is entered continuously without press entering a <return> character the text will be automatically wrapped to two lines if necessary. Normally the wrapped area will be 260 pts or the remaining area after the title has printed.
Entering a return at the desired end of the first line of the comment will "override" the text wrap. The line is printed completely without regard to the length of the page title which could overlap is many cases. This feature is most helpful when used with Include Font ID Info described below.
6.8.2 Use Font ID Info
This option probably satisfies the need for a Page Comment for the majority of users of theTypeBook. It automatically adds the FOND name (used in menus), the Style applied, the Font ID# and the Type of font for each typeface specimen.
The Included Font ID Info is the only comment that will appear in the Keycaps specimen page. On the other specimen pages it replaces the second line of the current comment text if any.
The Type of the font producing the typeface is indicated by one of three possible codes:
PS for Postscript
TT for Truetype
BM for Bitmap type fonts.
Note:
theTypeBook takes preference to "Parent" FOND resources when sorting out typeface names. Typefaces produced by FOND resources for subordinate style variations are either ignored/skipped if the parent FOND is capable of producing it. When using the automatic "Use Font ID" comment all style variations will reflect information based on the parent FONDs.
The format of the printed ID Info depends upon the specimen page type printed and whether there is other comment text as well.
For all pages except for the Keycaps and Line Showings page the Font ID Information will replace the second line of the comment text if there is one, or if there is only one line to begin with it still becomes the second.
If there is other comment text the ID Info will reflect only the Menu name and Style used to produce the typeface. Otherwise the first line will contain the Menu name and the second will contain the Style used, ID number, and Type of font.
In the Line Showings layout the Fond ID Information does not use the Comment area and has no affect on the other comment text if any. Insead the ID Info is printed with each typeface specimen individually.
The Keycaps layout always provides the complete Font ID Information on one line at the lower-left of the chart.
7. The FontList menu
The FontsList menu provides control over the contents of the available typefaces list.
7.1 Show Bitmap Fonts
When checked, Bitmap fonts will be included in the list and may be printed using any of the layouts. Unchecked Bitmap fonts are suppressed from appearing in the list.
7.2 Assign AKA Name
Provides font name alias capability called "AKA" (Also Known As). These AKAs replace the "True Outline Name" on the printed page.
Fonts which have an assigned AKA entry are displayed in the italic style in the list of available typefaces.
To create an AKA, double-click on the typeface name you wish to assign the AKA to. You may also select one and only one typeface to enable the "Assign AKA" selection in the Fontlist menu. Select "Assign AKA" or press Command-/.
You will be presented with a dialog indicating the name of the typeface for which the AKA is begin created. If an AKA already exists, it will be displayed in the edit area otherwise the edit area will contain only the flashing cursor. If you hold down the option-key when you double-click on a typeface name that name will be added to the edit area of the dialog only if an AKA does not already exist.
To delete an AKA, double-click on the "italicized" typeface name or select one and select "Assign AKA" from the Fontlist menu. When the dialog box appears the edit area will contain the AKA. It will be selected automatically. Press the delete key to remove the AKA and click OK (or press return) to confirm the change.
7.3 Use AKA List
AKAs may be loaded in from a tab-delimited text file. The tab-delimited text file is simply a list of the outline names and corresponding AKAs. Each Outline name is followed by a <tab> character which is followed by the AKA Name which is followed by a <return>. This is a format that is easily generated by word processor, spreadsheet, and database applications.
Select "Use AKAs" under the FontList menu. You will be presented with the standard Mac dialog for opening disk files. Each outline name will be searched for in the list of available typefaces. When an exact match is found the corresponding AKA is assigned. If no match is found execution continues normally with the next name in the list.
You may read in any number of AKA text files. If a typeface already has an AKA definition, it will be replaced by the one contained in the text file. All others are "added to" the currently assigned AKAs.
7.4 Save AKA List
All currently assigned AKAs may be saved to a tab-delimited text file. Saved AKA files and others which correspond in format may be called on to reassign the AKAs at a later date.
Select "Save AKAs" under the FontList menu. You will be presented with the standard Mac dialog for saving files to disk.
7.5 View Current AKAs
All currently assigned AKAs may be reviewed by selecting "View AKA List" from the Fontlist Menu. A dialog will be displayed containing a scrolling list of the orginal typeface names and thier corresponding AKA names. Click OK, or press return to dismiss the dialog.
7.6 Clear All AKAs
All currently assigned AKAs may be cleared at once by selecting "Clear All AKAs" from the Fontlist menu. A dialog will appear asking you to confirm the removal of all AKA assignments.
