CompuServe Thread

John's Font Sets

9 messages in this thread
#65164From: Christopher TolmieAug 9, 1992 2:31 PM
John, About your font series, I noted that your testing them to be compatible with PPage and FontManager, but how about Post 1.7? I had heard from one user that the fonts don't work with it. Some (not all, don't want to be called presumptious by saying "MOST") users expect to use them with POST. May I make a suggestion? Please also test them for compatibility with POST v1.7 to see if they'll load, before uploading them, AND/OR add a comment in the description mentioning if they will work or not with it? This would save some users frustration, time and money. Thanks Chris
#65403From: John TyrrellAug 11, 1992 6:38 PM
Chris You are the second to mention this to me about Post. It is something I have not tried or had cause to use. I know your frustration – I had to download about 200 fonts to get a little over 110 to work with Pro Page. My decision was to share this effort with other Pro Page users. As stated in my description, I have tested with Pro Page 3.0, and double checked – one heck of a lot of work. I really don't have the time to test with other products that I don't use. However, I will add comments to descriptions for the remaining 14 uploads that these are not tested with other products. Sorry that I cannot be more helpful. John.
#65412From: Christopher TolmieAug 11, 1992 7:01 PM
John, Thanks for the reply. The only thing needed with Post is to see if the Font will load. It takes aprox. a few seconds using Post's GUI. If it isn't going to load, it will give an error message. Post can be left running without taking up to much memory for testing purposes. Just leave its settings to default. Personally I have an enormous catalog of Adobe, Cassidy & Greene and Bitstream Typefaces (75MB) and am trying to convert most of them to work with PPage. It is an enormous task as these are all in Mac format and I must transfer them via AMAX to my hard disk, some have to go through metamorphosis professional for .AFM generation and then FontManagerized. The Bitstreams and Cassidys have caused problems with FM hanging it up. So I don't have the time or need to examine other offerings here in CIS. I just happened to speak to one individual that has d'ld your files, and complained to me that they will not work in POST. Chris
#65417From: John TyrrellAug 11, 1992 7:55 PM
Chris: What is metamorphosis professional? Is it Amiga or Mac? I have been wondering how to convert Mac files – all the ones I've been converting have been from IBM forums here and on Genie. I have been very familiar with FM hanging up on conversion. I seem to find 3 generic problems with conversions not going to completion: First it won't read the .pfb; that is easy to escape from; second – its stope reading part way through the .pfb – again easily escapable; but then ther are the ones that get through to the second part of conversion using the .afm – and the conversions just hangs. I've tried leaving these for 24hrs on a couple of occasions (on my 3000) and no progress is made. Of course, there are those that convert, and give nice big output files, and don't give a full character set – even though the characters do "convert" on the FM test screen. Its a frustrating business – which is why I decided to pass my successes on – and save others a lot of effort. But my focus is narrow – just ProPage. Cheers; John
#65423From: Christopher TolmieAug 11, 1992 8:39 PM
John, "…What is metamorphosis professional? Is it Amiga or Mac?…" MetaPro is a MAC program. It can read a MAC screen font and then from that info it looks for the outline font, first it looks on the postscript device's hard disk, or the device's ROM, and retrieves the outline from it. OR it can be set to look for the outline on the computer's storage device(s). It is really a neat program. It will generate Type1 or Type3 fonts, generate the hinting, generate the .AFM file. Make an IBM version of the .PFB file like Helv____.PFB and the HELV____.AFM files. I've taken Bitstream Type 1s that won't work with FM load them into MetaPRo and regenerate ANOTHER MAC Type 1 and .AFM. I'll move the Type1 using AMAXII file transfer software with the macbinary bullet ON, move the .AFM with the Postscript bullet ON. Then I've been using Mirror Image's freeware program on the Amiga called MI-M2I to read the MAC format font and make a .PFB (it is faster than waiting for MetaPro), but FM can read a MACintosh version of an outline font. Just show it the .AFM file if the names are different. That is on thing that FM should be able to do, look in the directory that has the outline for any .AFM files and check them for the true postscript name that is also in the outline it is converting. Pagestream seems to be able to find the .AFM even if the outline is named HELV____.PFB and the afm is Helvetica.AFM. MetaPRo once made a typeface for me from a font that was only on our typesetter's hard disk, we had lost the outline that was on disk file. It worked great! I would love to see a program like this for our Amiga. I'm just now beginning to play with a program called Font Studio (MAC) with AMAX and I'll let you know if I find it useful. I hate it when FM hangs. I think it chokes on the .AFM file, 'cause usually displaying to screen works, if it hangs during conversion. I've found that when it hangs its only a matter of time before the machine locks up. I think it runs it out of memory. One font that hung it up, I put through Font Studio, and when
#65424From: Christopher TolmieAug 11, 1992 8:41 PM
[CONTINUED] I tried to create a postscript font from it, I received the message, not a true postscript family name. I'm going to try it again, got to read through the docs. I don't want to say that most users of PPage use POST too. That would be a bad, assumption, but I'd like to know what is choking POST from loading otherwise good Type 1 fonts. But POST is an exceptionally good piece of software and I'm hoping that some enterprising programmer will take and make a device driver for it. So you can print directly to the PST: device like PRT: or SER: My non-postscri printer really looks good when Post prints to it. Got to get me another imagesetter. That is quality output! Chris
#65561From: Gracia M. LittauerAug 12, 1992 9:10 PM
Chris, Guess who the other person was, tee hee. Gracia – via Coolwhap
#65565From: Christopher TolmieAug 12, 1992 9:51 PM
Gracia, I know who the other person was… Plus I asked for the description addition of yes/no work with POST for that person. tee hee. BTW how are you doing, did you get your calendar thingie done? Find your Lubalin or whatever it was you needed? ! hiroshige, Chris
#65464From: Roger HandAug 12, 1992 2:47 AM
John: As far as has been determined, fonts made with Fontographer 3.5 won't work with POST. Earlier versions of Fontographer produced fonts that POST can handle with no problem. It would help us POSTers out a lot if we knew if Fonto3.5 was used to make the fonts. -Roger