This is an archive of CompuServe forum messages from 1985 to 1995, as saved in transcripts by John Foust.
Search Results (38 messages)
The Apple "Royal" font format uses a somewhat simpler mathematical description of character shapes (quadratics) than PostScript's Bezier equations. This requires more control points to produce the sorts of continuously varying curves that make up real characters, but Apple claims that the simpler computation of their font format will result…
If you have a large file that won't fit in its source form onto a single diskette, you could print it to several PostScript files, choosing a range of pages each time. This way, you could have whatever size of file you (and your service bureau) prefer without having to…
Don't worry unnecessarily. There has been no promise–or even implied promise–of any changes to PostScript that would affect your ability to produce an image on your LaserWriter IINT that will correspond to the output of any other PostScript imagesetter. Indeed, Adobe has been quite insistent that PostScript will remain a…
I haven't looked at the blue book code for some time, but if it's doing what you want within a single job and not remaining available until printer shutdown or reset you can precede it with "serverdict begin 0 exitserver" to make the code resident.
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.
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…
I asked how often this two-master trick was used, and the people I was in contact with thought it was very infrequent. Optima is a very subtle face, and they recommend against its use on low-res devices; for those who insist, they provide a "simplified" version of the outline font…
If you work with a service bureau, ask them for their screen font suitcases. That's the easiest way to ensure that you're compatible with what they're doing. And if they aren't using the PPA screen fonts, recommend that they change over to them.
The royalty paid to Adobe for the PostScript interpreter by a large-volume producer of laser printers like Apple is remarkably small; according to the best reports I've heard it's under $250. If you think that isn't worth it, you don't remember the state of the industry before Adobe. If you…
Adobe type 1 fonts can contain two or more versions, so they could provide separate masters for different size ranges (with the obvious restriction that the widths would have to be the same–the computer doesn't know about size ranges or alternate font metrics). I was surprised to learn about this…
If you're writing PostScript code directly, the easiest way to create a hollow letter is to define the text as a charpath and stroke it along the outline. This will create a uniform-thickness outline rule, which may not be exactly the look you want. If you want something more elegant–a…
If you're depending on your clone laser printer for proofing (using non-Adobe fonts) and expect to run final output on an Adobe-licensed imagesetter (with Adobe fonts), you are depending on more than "good" clone fonts. At a minimum, you would have to have a font library that matches the Adobe…
ATM
Message #13192
For what it's worth, your (sp?) query was well founded. The word you are looking for it "bated," which is related to "abate" and refers to holding back. It's not "baited," as in a trap!
A PostScript debugging program called LaserTalk exists now on the Macintosh, and is announced for release soon on the PC under Windows. This product uses the interactive abilities of the PostScript interpreter in your laser printer to show you line by line the results of your PostScript code, and sounds…
Take a look also at Glypha, which is another "Egyptian" (square serif) face found in the Adobe library. Unfortunately it isn't available in an extra-bold or black weight.
#7557-
Varityper
Message #7561
Amen to the desire for complete font families! Let's hope that Adobe and Linotype are listening. It's entirely too easy to sell numbers of type faces, but for PostScript to become the universal standard for typesetting that it can be, complete font families–including, in some cases, proper masters for various…
At last September's Seybold Seminar, John Warnock of Adobe pointed out that a good font scaling algorithm could be written in PostScript and used by non-Adobe fonts. In fact, he said that Adobe's algorithm was originally created and tested in PostScript code; it was implemented at a lower level in…
I've been connected with the typesetting industry for years. Typesetting shops using Compugraphic, Varityper, or other non-Linotype equipment have had to struggle in the market against the understandable desire of their customers to have "true" fonts–which in almost all cases means Linotype faces with Linotype tradenames. My clients with CG…
PostScript is strongly oriented toward raster output devices (laser printers, laser typesetters, CRT displays, etc.) rather than vector devices like the Sign Maker you describe. It would take a very substantial programming effort to adapt even a limited subset of PostScript to such a device–though it would certainly be nice.…
#7460-
#Filled Outline Fonts
Message #7465
This sort of problem represents the "flip side" to the advantages of Adobe fonts. If one has a lot of special manipulation to do with type, it might pay to invest in Compugraphic's versions of the faces you want to work with, which are shipped with a utility to convert…
I don't disagree with your observations about Adobe versus clone fonts. There are large non-Adobe font libraries available (and Adobe machines can use them, while non-Adobe machines can't use Adobe fonts), and I respect the craftsmanship that Bitstream, URW/The Company, and Compugraphic have applied to creating these fonts. But it…
CG has done a nice job on fonts, given the basic restriction they suffer–not being able to take advantage of the Adobe font scaling "hints" that allow Adobe PostScript fonts to work well in sizes that are small relative to the device resolution. As long as you're in a "closed…
I'm afraid I can't remember the name of LaserTalk's publisher, but there are others here who have referred to it (in its Mac version) and will probably be able to fill us in. Although this program could be used to do screen proofs of PostScript files, you are right in…
#6778-
Display Postscript
Message #6820
The only way to "proof" a PostScript document on your PC's screen is with the soon-to-be-released Windows version of LaserTalk. This program already exists for the Macintosh, and the DOS/Windows version was showed at the Seybold show in September. It uses an attached PostScript printer (like an Apple LaserWriter) to…
#6610-
#Monospace digits
Message #6622
Bookman, like all PostScript fonts (and almost all fonts in the typesetting world), _has_ monospaced numerals. The reason for this is the same one you cite, the need for numbers to align in columns. If your telephone numbers don't have identical widths, the software you're using must be applying pair…
Assuming that you want to create high-quality PostScript fonts, the only reasonable way (presently available to those outside Adobe) is to use Fontographer from Altsys. It is a good product, designed expressly to help you build a consistent look for your entire character set. The folks at Altsys are supposed…
#6281-
Illustrator for PC
Message #6309
There is a version of Illustrator recently introduced for the PC. In features, it falls between the original Mac Illustrator and Illustrator 88. I'm not sure if it's shipping yet, but you might check with some dealers to find out what dates they've been promised.
The PC version of LaserTalk does run under Windows.
Linotype has the right to sell the same fonts as Adobe, and also to create and sell additional "true" PostScript fonts under their own name. This has been true from the beginning of their agreement with Adobe, and I don't think there's been any change since. Certainly there hasn't been…
At the Seybold Seminar last month, John Warnock (president of Adobe Systems) spoke briefly about Japanese (Kanji) PostScript. Apparently they are extending the PostScript language to provide additional features for Kanji. Although these extensions will be available for downloading to current PostScript printers, output will be much faster if a…
The L-200 is fundamentally different from the L-300 in "basic equipment and hardware," since it uses an infrared-light laser diode instead of a red-light gas laser. Because of the longer wavelength of infrared, and poorer imaging quality of infrared-sensitive photo materials, the new generation of diode laser machines produces a…
The list price of the Apple LaserWriter IINT was $4600, and that of the IINTX was $6600, unless they went up in the last round of price hikes. You should be able to find reasonable discounts from list on the Apple printers.
#6064-
#XPress Help!?
Message #6089
You might think about using Pagemaker and modifying Aldus's Laser Prep file to re-scale the coordinate system on output. Add: 72.27 72 div dup scale at an appropriate spot and cause everything to be generated in "real" points instead of PostScript points. I haven't looked at Laser Prep myself, but…
I think Scott was looking for a "characters per pica" average figure for each font/size. This is a common value in commercial typesetting, since it allows a reasonable estimate of column depth–or page count–to be made from a manuscript. It's based on an "average" mix of text, and I guess…
I used to make my living as a typographer, and I don't pretend to any great skill as an artist or illustrator. I'm also just "getting my feet wet" with the Macintosh, and I've never done any real work with Illustrator (old or new). All that said, I am very…
#3437-
Illustrator
Message #3458
A very nice pen that can perform some of the functions of a Rapidograph without (most of) the headaches is the Pentel Ceramicron, which is apparently made by Kyocera. It has a ceramic tip, and comes in 0.3 and 0.5mm diameters. The entire ink cartridge and tip are a single…