[WinMac] Re: X-platform font wobblies

Leonard Rosenthol(leonardr[at]lazerware.com)
Thu, 16 Sep 1999 11:39:32 -0500

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        It had to happen sooner or later ;).

> You can use the Mac version of Fontographer (part of the
>FreeHand package)
>to convert typefaces between TrueType and PostScript® Type 1, and between
>Windows & Mac versions. Fontographer will "read in" anything you throw at
>it, convert it to its own internal database format, and then generate
>anything you want.

        Didn't know that was how you got Fontographer these days - it
is a great product for font conversion!

> Where the trouble comes in is in the metrics: TrueType has the metrics
>integral with the file; while PostScript Type 1 has the metrics in a
>separate file (.PFM, Printer Font Metrics for Windows; embedded in the
>screen (bitmap) font for the Mac) from the outline typeface (.PFB, Printer
>Font Binary).

        On Windows, that certainly true - the metrics are external to
the font, however on the Mac, they are still internal (well, stored
as resources in the font's suitcase).

        One advantage of external metrics, however, is that they work
better with software designed for x-platform font management, and
also for producing PDF files.

> With today's modern PostScript printers able to comfortably handle
>TrueType typefaces; .AND. the embedded metrics, I'd stick with TrueType.

        Postscript doesn't really "handle TrueType fonts", it handles
something called a Type42 font. A Type42 font is a format that TT
fonts can easily be converted to that only contains the necessary
info that a PS device needs to do the rendering.

LDR

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