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From: jeff@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Jeff White)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Some ATM questions
Message-ID: <24658@netnews.upenn.edu>
Date: 9 May 90 00:12:09 GMT
Sender: news@netnews.upenn.edu
Reply-To: jeff@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Jeff White)
Organization: University of Pennsylvania
Lines: 37


  After reading the the June '90 MacWorld article on printing and seeing the
improvement ATM makes, I'm starting to think seriously about getting it.  
Some questions first though:

1. Does ATM work with the normal print driver?  I have an IW LQ at home,
   use a LaserWriter at work, and expect to get a DeskWriter when the LQ
   breaks (I got it for only $100, so even if it breaks in 6 months or so,
   it still would have been worth the money).  I'd hope I could use the
   manufacturer's driver (Apple, HP, whomever), and not expect Adobe to have
   to provide it.
2. What are the 13 fonts that are provided with the package?  What are the
   other 22 that comes with the Plus Pack?  I assume the both are equivelent
   to the normal 35 fonts that come with the LaserWriter.
3. How does the selection of the fonts work?  My guess would be that when 
   enabled, the Mac would ATM to generate outline fonts, and fall back to
   bitmap fonts when the Postscript font isn't available.
4. For the Apple LaserWriter - how does ATM output compare with the regular
   LW fonts?  I usually create a PostScript file, and then either use 
   sendps (Mac) or macps (Unix) to print it, with satisfactory results.  I'm
   wondering whether I would need to have ATM enabled when preparing a 
   document to be printer on the LW, and if I do, whether it will create a
   PostScript file that sendps or macps will handle properly.  Also, how much
   larger will the file be with ATM vs. regular LW fonts?
5. How good is ATM at printing smaller point sizes (10 and less)?  I've read
   some comments that say that bitmapped fonts are better than outline (ATM)
   at small point sizes because the bitmap can be hand tuned.
6. Does ATM produce a significant slowness in performance (both for on-screen
   and printouts)?  I have 2.5 Megs of ram, so I should be able to allocate
   a few hundred kbytes for the ATM cache, which I've read helps performance.
7. What is the usual charge for upgrades?  

  That seems like enough questions for now.  I certainly appreciate whatever
answers you can provide.

						Jeff White
						jeff@eniac.seas.upenn.edu