This is an archive of CompuServe forum messages from 1985 to 1995, as saved in transcripts by John Foust.
Search Results (433 messages)
John: LOA can be reached at 415-841-6302 (8-1-N, running up to 9600 baud). The sysop there, Charles Collier, is a very knowledgeable fellow. It's mainly a West Coast crowd (lots of hot tub talk and such) but I noticed last time I was on they had elected David Geller (who…
Blaise: Obviously your message to Earl was mistakenly routed to me. Earl Allen's CIS number is used by a bunch of Altsys people (they have a forum in the APVEND section, by the way, which has some nice Fontographer examples including a freeware font called Crypt that's great for this…
Brad: Nah, I'm all conventioned out. Got to fly to Chicago next weekend for GraphX and the long awaited unveiling of Quadex on a Sun Workstation. Ta da! Had a long chat with one of Cg's product managers for the Sun. Sounds like a hell of a frontend if it…
Tripp: I know a few service bureaus that don't have the full Adobe library loaded on their RIPs because they use multiple libraries. One bureau has enough RIPs that they have Bitstream on one, Adobe on two others and are planning a fourth for URW. Another shop has all the…
Type 1 Specs
Message #13391
Thanks, Pete, for your lucid and well-informed remarks. The Apple/MS coalition _was_ a splash of cold water in Adobe's face; the release of Type 1 information will make life easier for everybody. It really remains to be seen if the new PDL has any inherent advantages in performance. Frankly, I…
Joseph – (A note first – the saying around here is that ALL CAPS is like shouting. That idea's OK, but I simply find it yukky because it makes messages very difficult to read. Upper and lower case is for reading – all caps is for road signs.) After three…
TruForm Stuff
Message #13389
Thanks for sending me the TrueForm Stuff. I am creating a 4D database that will be running on 70 Macintosh's. I noticed in the documentation that there were runtime platforms that were available. Do I need the runtime program for every machine. thanks….. ………..wesley…………..
NEC890 XL
Message #13388
Thanks for the explanation Stephen. I got a less complete version recently from a product manager at Tektronix (manager of the Color printers) who made similar comments about 'theoretically'. By the way, my friend decided not to buy the XL after discovering that it was not yet truly available. So…
Oddly enough, I found an old version of the original Xpress in our dusty files just today. I was playing around with it and one of the first things I found was the Font listing (and font replacing) feature. I thought it was great! I wonder why the feature was…
Nathan- I'm quite confused. In my experience, even on our LaserWriter, if the screen font isn't loaded when an Illustrator document is printing, the font either is substituted (the majority of the time), or, if the font does indeed print, the kerning and spacing attributes are screwed up. I'd be…
#Long pages
Message #13385
Does anyone know of a Postscript printer that will print an 8 1/2" X 17" page? Better yet, how about an 11" X 17" page. Can any Postscript lasers print longer than 14"?
Oops! I think I may have been thinking of the ATF library when I mentioned size-related stroke width scaling, rather than Monotype. I expect we'll see more of this from several vendors in the near future.
Font Harmony Problems
Message #13383
After using Font Harmony, which comes with Suitcase II, the Helvetica type does not show up on the font menu of either Cricket Graph or Kaleida Graph. Is there a solution? Also, a Director Movie that I made on my office machine uses different type (Geneva instead of Helvetica) when…
Thanks for the reply. First off, if you use less words in an article, then there would be a necessity for more illustrations. Tell "them" I would like your thorough descriptions to be more thoroughly illustrated. Before my involvement in Mac DTP I never noticed type. Now I have gained…
#ADVERTISING
Message #13381
A FRIEND OF MINE HAS A LINOTRON AND A 2400/1200 MODEM AND WILL SHORTLY HAVE THEIR BBS SETUP FOR AUTOMATIC RECEIVING OF FILES, AND IS OFFERING $4 PER PAGE FOR OUTPUT WITH A SURCHARGE OF $1.50 PER PAGE SURCHARGE FOR FILM – THE LINO MONTHLY PAYMENT IS EATING THEM ALIVE…
That's a wonderful story. I'm not positive your working definition of 'good type' will withstand all challenges, but it is in the cards for working definitions to take a little buffeting. I, too, learned to set type on IBM systems (I don't count several stints on 1940s/50s vintage Varitypers). The…
Assume the artwork prints fine directly from Illustrator? What output device is this — an L100, by any chance? Which RIP? If PageMaker tries to print documents the printer finds are too complex (sometimes even on a LaserWriter Plus, though not often on a LWII), it will jettison downloaded fonts,…
What sort of political consulting do you do? I do a fair amount of political work, myself. I'm working on a first selectman's campaign right now, in fact. There's nothing more exciting. (And I won't ask why 'Nostradamus,' intriguing though the question, hovering just before my lips, may be.)
Global tracking is definitely limiting, and I assume that's something that will be changed in the future. Tracking should be something you set in the Stylesheet; that way you can make the heads and text fit as they should without a lot of fiddling around I was suggesting that MacUser…
David- To convert AFM files to Ventura WID files is a two step process. You must first convert the AFM file to a VFM file using the AFMtoVFM.exe utility. The VFM file must then be converted to a WID file by using the VFMtoWID.exe utility. This is discussed on page…
Jackie- I spoke with the technical support staff and they agree that you need to get the updated WPRINT6.all file, dated 9/14/89, that includes ITC Clearface. If your .all file is dated 9/14/89 then let me know and we'll investigate from there. Nancy Runge Adobe Systems
PostScript Help!?!?!
Message #13374
Back with a few more quick questions — I have the Adobe PostScript Tutor and Cookbook (the Blue Book) and have typed in the program that is given for creating Outline fonts, but it seems that the fonts are then only available from within the program that I create them…
Certainly what you've written about screen fonts confirms much of what I've read on CIS. Has anyone documented WHY screen fonts get messed up in PM?
I've got some replies to your questions about what the MS-Apple deal will solve. Performance? You bet. No matter how much we may all love Adobe's PS, there's no denying that it's incredibly, and sometimes miraculously, SLOW. Much of the reason for that is probably its "less than admirable" (I'm…
At Altsys, we're fairly certain that different filling and stroking algorithms are used in Type 1. We believe that when a PS outline is rasterized, pixels which the path goes over are turned on only if more than half the pixel would be covered by the fill (in Type 1).…
Yes, I'm a designer. My company is called Nostradamus Advertising (it's a long story…). In addition to straight design, we do some political consulting, marketing consulting, and the like.
47.1 to 49.3 was a PROM change for us, Steve. I still have the old PROMs, too. …mm
One of the current "bit players" (Was that a pun? I'm not sure…) in the high-quality PS font world is Kingsley/American Type Founders, who used to be one of the dominant names in foundry (lead) type. While I haven't personally acquired any of their faces to prove it, they are…
#screen font display
Message #13367
The PM "Preferences" menu may not help all that much. Having gone through many screen drivers (the screen driver change requires reinstalling Windows; if you have hard disk space, try installing two versions, and comparing them for a few days) and printer drivers (average cost to find one major bug:…
#goodtype
Message #13366
Greetings from Mars. The software support is a little thin here, just like the atmosphere…[Who's a lurker?] Let the treaty talks begin. I learned to "set" type on the old IBM MT/ST machines…and eventually came back to the Intergraphics' remote Linotron 202's, which I found all sorts of ways to…
##postscript code (13249)
Message #13365
Greetings from a lurker. Be very wary of the Micrographix drivers. I've been using Designer since v1.0, and paid dearly for every new MGXPS.DRV they wrote. First one rotated text backwards; the next version cut off legal pages down to letter size image (on some devices only); the correction for…
I agree that you could manually go in and kern character-by-character, but my experience with changing the space band parameters has been disasterous because it has a global effect. Changing space band and tracking parameters for just a line or two is a common method for traditional typographers to "cheat"…
Why would Illustrator be substituting Courier, Jon? I've never had that problem since the program works with font names. I've run out files with no idea what fonts it had and everything worked fine. Could it be that the service bureau doesn't actually have all the fonts on-line on the…
Richard, In most cases a PostScript printer would require a board swap. It'll probably be up to each printer manufacturer to incorporate a newer version of a PostScript interpreter and to offer it to their customer base. We've had Linotronic RIPs since 1985, and we've gone from PostScript version 38…
Blaise, With 740K free on your RIP's hard disk, you didn't have much room for anything. You'll probably be able to image larger pages as well because the hard disk is also used to spool strips of the page for complex images. ^Steve^
Ok, thanks again — Now, a few more questions and I will be done (I hope ) I take it that this definition will stay in effect for as long as the machine is on? What happens if I want to set showpage back to normal — simply put in…
I'm afraid I haven't heard anything about a new PostScript interpreter, so I don't have any good rumors to pass on. In the past, Adobe has maintained that version upgrades to printers in the field were the responsibility of the printer manufacturer, so they were unwilling or unable to offer…
Monotype has shown type 1 PostScript fonts that adjust stroke weights according to the size of the finished character, which seems like a good idea. Whether their technique is clever enough to account for global scaling surrounding the text isn't clear, and I haven't gotten any of their new faces…
Chances are that updates would be impossible in existing LW's unless you'd agree to an expensive board swap (might be just as easy to buy the latest LW with the upgrade in it).
Scott Thanks for the reply. I did just what you suggested but still had the same problem with the output. The font was downloaded for the "regular" PageMaker document but the EPS file still used courier for its fonts instead – almost as if it treated the EPS file as…
Kathleen Thanks for your reply but I am using 3.02 and still have the problem. See my reply to Scott R. Leyes. Rob
Jon– Could you post the number for the Linotronic Owners Association BBS? Is the association aimed primarily at service bureaus or can others apply as well? Thanks.
Stephen, Jon, and Steve, Very interesting discussion re Adobe's font mechanisms. I was wondering if one of you could comment about the new PostScript interpreter (if that's what was meant re new font handling routines). How would such an interpreter be added to a LaserWriter or other PostScript device? Thanks,…
Actually, you can too do it in PageMaker, especially on a short line like that, by using the Command-Shift-Delete 'unkerning' stroke (I know, I can hear you groaning all the way from Phillie or Oahu or wherever you are); but it's not literally true that "it can't be done in…
I think MacUser is using PageMaker on a Mac, but can't remember when they started. Before MacWorld, though.
Well, for whatever its worth, I would agree with Mike A bird in the hand and so forth The whole PDL scene is so crazy now I appreciate a few simple standards 'nuff said Blaise
#Fontographer 3.0
Message #13349
Dear Earl, I just got my Fontographer 3.0 upgrade. At first glance it looks very nice but I'l have to wait for my brother's evaluation (he is the expert). First I'd like to say that I'm very impressed with your (Altsys') work. I've seen a fair amount of software in…
Lori anything you say. I'm new around here so I'm not up on forum ettiquette thanks for your patience. Blaise
You know, Steve, the Lino I was working with had 740K free on the disk. bad scene, no wonder we couldn't print more than three fonts. Blaise
Thanks for the lead. I have also called some other people in upstate New York and gotten some prices… I had another question: I saw that you mentioned having written a nifty test strip routine which prints material at diferent resolutions, etc. Can I get a copy of it, is…
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