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- Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.setup
- Path: sparky!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!torn!watserv2.uwaterloo.ca!watserv1!wes.on.ca!tomh
- From: tomh@wes.on.ca (Tom Haapanen)
- Subject: Re: Font formats - help!
- Organization: Waterloo Engineering Software
- Date: Tue, 05 Jan 1993 01:18:14 GMT
- Message-ID: <1993Jan05.011814.17114@wes.on.ca>
- References: <C03u1x.Lzu@chinet.chi.il.us> <DRG0WTD@math.fu-berlin.de>
- Lines: 50
-
- > prb@chinet.chi.il.us (Paul Botts) writes:
- >> 6) I have the utility ALLTYPE, which will convert all my PostScript
- >> fonts to TrueType. I'm thinking that I have had enough of all this
- >> confusing mixing of formats, and would like to:
- >> a) convert the ATM fonts [...] to TrueType
- >> b) blow away ATM [...]
-
- wolff@inf.fu-berlin.de (Thomas Wolff) writes:
- > My recommendation: it's unwise. Reason: I don't see real problems with
- > type 1 (PostScript) fonts and ATM, there exist more documentation and
- > manipulation software for type 1 fonts, and: anyone who thinks about
- > converting type 1 fonts to truetype should be aware that
- > 1. hints are rumored to get worse or lost during this transformation,
- > 2. truetype fonts waste more than twice as much of precious disk space
- > than equivalent type 1 fonts.
-
- Yes, AllType does a horrible hinting job, if any. And wrecks other things
- as well (such as font family names). However, FontMonger seems to have
- done a very good job in my Type 1-to-TrueType conversions, and at least
- on my modest LaserJet 2 printer the fonts look practically identical.
-
- The increase in disk space usage is true: TrueType .TTF files tend to eat
- up 50-60K each, while Type .PFB files use up 25-30K each. .FOT and .PFM
- files are small, probably the minimum of one cluster for each. Whether
- 30K per font matters to you or not depends on your disk space -- the
- systems I use all have at least 300 MB of disk, and an extra 600K for
- 20 fonts is not a problem.
-
- But why switch at all?
-
- First, there is printing speed. Unless you're using the latest ATM (2.5?)
- -- for which you'll have to pay Adobe -- you will print much faster to
- LaserJets with TrueType, since it generates soft fonts on the fly.
-
- Second, lower memory usage. With ATM, you'll be using about 150K of memory
- for ATM itself, plus whatever you set for the size of the font cache. If
- you run on a 4 MB system, this alone might be enough incentive to switch.
-
- In the end, it's up to you. If you already have a font conversion program,
- you might give it a try. Convert some fonts, uninstall ATM (yes, take it
- out of your system.ini). See whether losing ATM has an impact on memory
- and/or performance. Compare the output (at small AND large point sizes)
- and see whether YOU can see a difference, and whether it matters to you.
-
- In the worst case you'll have wasted an evening fiddling with your fonts,
- but at least you'll now have an "expert" opinion on the matter yourself!
-
- [ \tom haapanen "i don't even know what street canada is on" -- al capone ]
- [ tomh@wes.on.ca "trust the programmer" -- ansi c standard ]
- [ waterloo engineering software "to thine own self be true" -- polonius ]
-