CompuServe Messages

Tom, I am not a fan of Optima in general, but that has no bearing on my next remark. Which is: I would not trust ANY 300 dpi version of Optima. And it's exactly what you've read about those subtle flares that dooms it. All my following remarks have mainly to do with the use of type for text, although some of it carries over for display type as well. If you want faces that work well at 300 dpi my first recommendation is Adobe's Stone family. It was designed with dtp in mind. It has a large x-height, which gives the counters lots of breathing space. The letterforms are fairly simple, making them easily rendered by a laser printer, with a minimum of jaggies. The sans face has some nice touches, and bears some resemblance to Gill Sans. Whether the style of Stone Sans and Stone Serif will age well remains to be seen, but that's another question entirely. And although the packages cost more because of it, you get three weights (regular, semibold and bold) in each package, which gives you more flexibility. Beyond that some pointers: look for serif faces with distinct, flat serifs. In both sans and serif faces look for a large x-height and open counters. Also look for faces that are slightly squarish looking, and in which the vertical strokes are truly vertical in all the roman characters. Strokes should have a substantial thickness. Taking a quick look through the latest issue of Font & Function I can give a random sampling of nixes, maybes and yeses. New Baskerville: No – although it has a decent x-height, the serifs are concave and too thin. Weiss: No – the x-height is too small, the serifs too diminuitive, it's too round and has many subtle curves and angles that would get lost. Century Old Style: Maybe – the strokes are substantial, although there is perhaps not enough weight difference between the thicks and thins and it could therefore turn into mush. The serifs are flat and substantial and it has a rigourously upright character. There's a vertical emphasis on this face which means it will be a decent space saver if space is an issue. [continued in reply]