Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!hsdndev!dartvax!Charles.E.Dubuque From: Charles.E.Dubuque@dartmouth.edu (Charles E. Dubuque) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system Subject: Re: System 7.0 - TrueType vs Bitmapped fonts and postscript? Message-ID: <1991May31.183033.8712@dartvax.dartmouth.edu> Date: 31 May 91 18:30:33 GMT References: Sender: steve@dartvax.dartmouth.edu (Steve Campbell) Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH Lines: 61 yee@osf.org (Michael K. Yee) writes: > I have both TrueType and bitmapped fonts in my System File (7.0). > My questions are: > 1. Should I removed all of my bitmapped fonts in favor of their > TrueType equivalent? Meaning if I have both a TrueType Times > font and all the Times bitmapped fonts, should I removed all my > bitmapped Times fonts from the System File? Depends. For Helvetica, Courier and Symbol I would say leave the bitmaps in there for the point sizes you use most. This is because these fonts have bold and italic that are essentially the same as their Quickdraw equivalents (ie. there isn't much difference between a Helvetica bitmap bold and the Helvetica true type bold and neither has a true italic, so you will always get a slanted font anyway). However, if you've got fonts with their own special italics (like the Times font), I would suggest taking out the bitmaps. If bitmaps are present, the Mac will slant the bitmap for italic instead of generating a true italic. If this doesn't bother you, you can leave a bitmap in, but it bothers me. As for the rest of the TrueType fonts out there, most are a single weight, so leaving in a bitmap at the font size you use most won't hurt any. > 2. I heard that documents created with TrueType fonts will create > huge postscript files that includes the font description, instead > of just using the printer font. Is this true? If so, how do I > work around this? BTW: I heard that this problem also existed > when using ATM. Rule of thumb: if you are generating postscript files to disk, the computer will assume that you are using a LaserWriter II with no downloaded fonts, no matter if your printer came with 99 fonts and has all 500 that you normally use on an attached hard disk. Which means, if you are printing Times from a TrueType font, the Postscript file will not contain an image of the Times font but will simply reference the Times Postscript font. If your font is either a TrueType font or a Type 1 or Type 3 font not normally found in a LaserWriter II, despite that you may have downloaded it to your particular printer, the driver will generate a description of that font, making your PostScript file huge, whether it is an ATM font or a TrueType font. Therefore, if you want your file to be small, use only the typefaces built in to LaserWriter IIs (Times, Courier, Helvetica, N Helvetica Narrow, Bookman, Palatino, New Century Schoolbook, Avant Garde, Symbol, Zapf Chancery, Zapf Dingbats). If you use any other fonts, expect your file to be huge. > 3. Last question - Is an italicized Times font equal to the Times > Italic font? If not, when should I choose one over the other? You cannot choose which one to use. If you have a bitmap installed at 12 point and you select italic at 12 point, on screen you will get the slanted font. If you select italic at 13 point, you will get the true Italic font for Times. Whichever font the screen uses, when you print you will get the true Italic font for Times, assuming either that (a) you are using a Quickdraw printer and you have Times Italic TrueType installed in your system or in a SuitCaseII suitcase or (b) you are using a PostScript printer with the Times family built in. Chuck c.dubuque@dartmouth.edu