Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!rutgers!att!mtuxo!lzfme!jwi From: jwi@lzfme.att.com (Jim Winer @ AT&T, Middletown, NJ) Newsgroups: comp.text.desktop Subject: Re: ventura Summary: Times Roman is lousy at 300 x 300 Message-ID: <1344@lzfme.att.com> Date: 16 May 89 15:29:34 GMT References: <8905160047.AA12857@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> Organization: AT&T, Lincroft NJ Lines: 49 In article <8905160047.AA12857@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu>, mcdonald@UXE.CSO.UIUC.EDU ("J.D. McDonald ") writes: > > I'll agree that 300 d.p.i. is not really publication quality. > > But there seems to be another point too. The output that comes out > of either HP LaserJets using the regular HP Times-like font, > or the Times like fonts from Bitstream, or the output from an > Apple Laserwriter using the built-in fonts, or the blurbs I got > from our Printing Division which were printed on a Linotronic > 300 (1270 or 2540 d.p.i. - who cares) just doesn't look like > a plain ordinary printed BOOK. Somehow, however good they look, > they just don't look "right", by which I mean look like any > ordinary high quality (technical) book printed before, say, 1982. > The letter shapes just don't look "ordinary" and the spacings > don't look "right". Take, for example, "The C Programming > ... > Now for the question - WHY do the typical laser printers using the > typical PC tools not look like books? Why have the typical fonts > used been designed to look different from typical book fonts, > even on the Linotronic. Is it intentional, and if so why? Are there > ways to make things look like a book using desktop publishing tools? 1) Times Roman is a condensed typeface that was apparently designed for hot type (cast lead). It does not work well on laser printers at 300 x 300. It doesn't matter whose typefaces you use of even what size type you use if it's less than about 14 point. If you want readable type use Century Schoolbook or Bookman in the *conventional* postscript faces or Charter or Lucida which have been specially designed for low resolution (300dpi) printers. 2) If you are using Ventura (as the subject line says), you need to make sure that the kerning is turned on. In Ventura 2.0 it must be turned on in each tag name, and in the Chapter menu as well. (Chapter is an override.) If it is off in either place, you will get base spacing but no letter pair kerning. 3) Other PC tools have other problems. The primary need is to understand how to operate the tools that you are using. If you know how to get Tex, use it. But watch out for Times Roman -- it will be okay at 1200 dpi, but at 300dpi it's a lousy face. Jim Winer ..!lzfme!jwi I believe in absolute freedom of the press. Pax Probiscus! Sturgeon's Law (Revised): 98.89% of everything is drek (1.11% is peanut butter). Rarely able to send an email reply sucessfully. The opinions expressed here are not necessarily Those persons who advocate censorship offend my religion.