#ATM -vs- System 7
11 messages in this thread
$300 is NOT cheap if you've already purchased the fonts when you bought your
laserwriter. To pay $300 for the privalege of seeing them on screen is VERY
steep. I'll wait for system 7.0
"$300 is NOT cheap if you've already purchased the fonts when you bought your
laserwriter."
Well, Look at it this way:
The "Plus Pack" fonts, if purchased separately, would run $885 (retail). Yes,
the very same fonts are built into the ROM of your PostScript LaserWriter, but
you did not "purchase" them per se…you paid for the _rights_ to use them _on
a specific printer_, namely the LaserWriter itself. This is the same license
agreement that binds every other Adobe downloadable PS font – the agreement
makes no arrangements regarding other devices/imageing software.
Now, I don't want to get into a long discussion of copyright law and software
licensing; I'm just pointing out what Adobe's stated postition has been.
When you bought your LaserWriter, you paid an extra $1000 or so for
POSTSCRIPT…not only for the fonts, but for the functionality, speed,
compatibility, etc. Noboby has taken that away from you (or anyone else). But
the Macintosh display is a completely different device, and the ability to
image fonts on it is a whole different situation. Add to this the fact that ATM
and the "Plus Pack" will give you the ability to print to non-PostScript
printers, and $300 is a lot less.
As for "waiting for System 7.0", this _probably_ won't help you much. Nobody is
sure that System 7.0's "Royal" fonts will be completely compatible with
PostScript — sure, there will be some sort of conversion, but the character
widths may change, font naming/numbering problems may arise, etc, etc. Besides,
even though System 7.0 will be "cheap" (or free), Apple has stated that they
"will NOT be in the font business" (they expect OTHERS to create the fonts),
and who knows how many "Royal" outline fonts they will release with the System
(or what what they will cost if they don't). No self-respecting typeface
manufacturer is going to GIVE their outlines away.
-Scott Leyes
I had the opposite reaction; I think that System 7, along with some other
developments, will help a great deal. I have more faith in the conversion
process from PostScript to Royal. There is no reason that the Royal versions
couldn't have precisely the same widths, etc., as the PostScript versions. And
with Altsys' Metamorphisis, there will be as many Royal fonts out there as
PostScript fonts (it will do the conversion automatically). Also, ATM won't
support any non-licensed 3rd party fonts, which greatly limits its usefulness.
In addition, I seem to remember hearing that BitStream and CG and all those
guys are busily getting Royal versions ready of their own fonts~ and I doubt
that any self-respecting typeface manufacturer is going to release sub-standard
versions of their faces.
— Pete Mason
Earl,
Adobe's ATM will work with any PostScript true Type I fonts. Currently that
includes those of Adobe and its licensees, Agfa Compugraphic, Varityper,
Monotype, etc. Since Adobe is opening up its Type I specs by the first of the
year, undoubtedly all the vendors who are concerned about quality screen
display, hinting on low resolution printers, speed of rendering, etc. will be
converting their Type III fonts to Type I format. ATM will then work with all
these fonts.
^Steve^
Yes, and all those vendors who are presently vending type III will likely be
using either Metamorphosis or Fontographer to do the conversion to type I.
Earl
Earl,
Quite rightly, too. Your company produces superb font tools!
^Steve^
Earl, What's metamorphosis? (I'm really starting to feel like the loser at a
frat party… Are we having fun yet?) Blaise
Uh, I don't know how to ask such a simple question, but: Isn't ATM for screen
fonts? I mean I thought it was some kind of quickdraw application to make
screen fonts look more like their final (ps) printouts. Is there some
description of ATM with more detail than the ads I've seen in MacUser? Blaise
Blaise,
Adobe Type Manager is a startup application (INIT) and cdev. It is copied into
the System Folder, and is controlled in the Control Panel. It modifies the
system to intercept font calls made by applications. When it does this, it
first looks to see if there is an existing screen font in that size; if there
is, it is used. If there is no screen font, ATM looks to see if there is a
corresponding outline (printer) font in the System Folder. If there is, the
outline is rasterized into a screen font in the appropriate size. If there is
not, the call is passed back to the system, and an existing screen font is
scaled in the usual way.
ATM allows you to set up a portion of memory as a font cache, which speeds the
repetitive drawing of characters. It also allows people who own QuickDraw
printers to get much better output of type, since it can also rasterize type in
the size required by each printer.
^Steve^
You know, Steve, the Lino I was working with had 740K free on the disk. bad
scene, no wonder we couldn't print more than three fonts. Blaise
Blaise,
With 740K free on your RIP's hard disk, you didn't have much room for anything.
You'll probably be able to image larger pages as well because the hard disk is
also used to spool strips of the page for complex images.
^Steve^