CompuServe Messages

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 library in all font metrics–the non-Adobe font vendors are only attempting to match the metrics of the "basic Plus" set of 35 fonts–and if you were using type as a graphic element you would need identical character shapes. These are not realistic expectations, in my opinion. Then you would be confronted with a variety of unpleasant font ID issues, not easy to solve. In general, if you expect to run final output on an Adobe-licensed imagesetter, you're *much* better off doing your proofing with the Adobe fonts on an Adobe-licensed laser printer. High-resolution imagesetters are relatively fragile devices, and one very important criterion for choosing a machine is the service and support available from the manufacturer in your area. Again, I would strongly recommend an Adobe-licensed imagesetter: which one your brother should invest in will depend on the manufacturer's presence and quality in Spain. There are now several non-Adobe-licensed PostScript interpreters that claim the ability to run Adobe fonts, and this trend is likely to grow now that Adobe has announced that it will release the full specification for its font architecture. So clone printers may be a safer bet in half a year or so.