CompuServe Messages

"The problem then is that the vast majority of font work in the USA is being done by users that are generating these fonts for American TV and video work. Often times they don't even bother with a lower case alphabet!" You're reasonably on the mark, Bill. FontBank typefaces, for example, duplicate precisely the character set found in the original font. Most typefaces don't include international character sets and never have. The whole concept of an "international character set" in a font was introduced only recently with the advent of computers. In the old type world, fonts were highly localized. There were type foundries in every country and each produced fonts localized for the market they served. Many fonts, incidentally, are designed without lower case letters. This is a decision of the designer, not of the renderer. Finally, nearly all typefaces are designed for the printed page, not "American TV or video work". There's a lot more about fonts as well, but I'll spare you the gory details. Characters like the vertical pipe, for example, are computer oriented and are rarely to be found in a commercial typeface. Over the next couple of years, though, I think you'll find that all digital fonts will carry a basic international character set, but not the computer specific symbols. Jerry