CompuServe Messages

[continued] Goudy: No – the serifs are too delicate and it has many subtle curves and angles which will be lost. Serifa: Maybe – the strokes are even, the face is slightly square and the serifs (since its a slab serif face) are strong and flat. Lucida Sans and Serif: Yes/Maybe – this is another face designed for dtp work, and it has all the qualities I've mentioned as desirable: large x-height, open counters, squarish characters, strict vertical strokes, substantial serifs. Unfortunately, I also think it is ugly as sin. Utopia: Yes – this face was also designed by Adobe. It shares some of the characteristics of Melior, but should hold up better to 300 dpi. Not the world's most beautiful face, but not bad, either. And if you order before the end of January from Adobe you get the Expert Collection free. Univers: Yes – this is the face that should have gone into the LaserWriter instead of Helvetica. It has fewer little curves (like those on the lowercase "a" and uppercase "R" in Helvetica) to get scrunched at 300 dpi. It's also squarer and more vertical than Helvetica. I hope my explanations and examples provide you with some guidelines about what to look for. Look up the examples I've given and check their qualities and you'll have a good basis for comparison with other faces. One more piece of advice: If you are using a true PostScript printer, look for hinted fonts. Adobe's are and I'm told Bitstream's aren't. Although type purists will complain that hints distort faces, with the distortions 300 dpi already puts on a face, the hints aren't going to make it worse and they do improve legibility.