Each font that appears in an application’s Font menu is provided by a file or
files within the Fonts folder inside the System Folder. Any files outside of the
folder can be enabled by quitting all applications and dragging them into it.
Font Basics
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  Files in the Fonts folder should match the type of printer you’re using. If you’re
using a domestic device, such as a StyleWriter, you can use the TrueType suitcases
provided by the System Installer — to get more fonts just add the extra suitcases.
If you have a PostScript printer, such as a LaserWriter, possibly with access to other non-PostScript printers, it’s often best to remove the TrueType suitcases provided by the System Installer. If equivalents to these fonts aren’t within the printer itself you should add suitable files for each PostScript font to the Fonts folder. Each font’s PostScript suitcase contains its screen fonts whilst the outline font files, also known as PostScript Type 1 files, are used for printing. You should also install Adobe Type Manager (ATM) to ensure good presentation of fonts on the screen and on any non-PostScript device.
TrueType and PostScript fonts can be used at the same time, but often leads to complicated problems — it’s better to decide one way or the other and stick to the one system. You should also avoid moving font files continuously in and out of the Fonts folder — in some instances this can cause documents to be printed with the wrong fonts! Pick some really classy fonts and then leave them well alone!
If you follow this advice you may not need to read the rest of this chapter!
Ï The word ‘font’ on the Mac means a font family or typeface. For example, the
Geneva ‘font’ actually contains 96 font faces, including 16 combinations from the
Style menu and at least 6 font sizes.
Ï Font size is measured in points, where one point is 1/72 of an inch.
Ï Most fonts look rough on a screen due to its relatively poor resolution.
History
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The two font systems used on the Mac are largely a result of history. PostScript, developed by Adobe and introduced with the first LaserWriter, provides high-quality fonts for professional desktop publishing (DTP). Apple subsequently confused things by introducing their TrueType fonts for low-cost non-PostScript devices. Both give similar results but PostScript has the edge and is now well established.
OpenType has been proposed as a future replacement for TrueType and PostScript fonts.
Font Suitcases
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  A suitcase usually contains one font family and is often named after the font
name that appears in Font menus. The font name itself is stored inside the font
resource within the suitcase and can changed with ResEdit or a similar utility.
If a suitcase lacks resources for a certain style the system modifies the plain font by adding 10% to the width for bold or by slanting it 11° right for italic — it’s not always pretty!
Unwanted suitcases can be moved to the Fonts (Disabled) folder in the System Folder. This folder name is used by utilities such as Symbionts and ExAminer. You can create a folder yourself if it doesn’t exist!
  Each suitcase contains one or more font files — one for each style or size, such as
Espy (bold) or Geneva 9. Here’s a view of the inside of the suitcase for Times,
showing the individual font files:-
 
When you open a font file you’ll see it’s characters as text:-
 
This doesn’t make much sense with a dingbat font:-
 
Ï A damaged suitcase can cause crashes and other problems. If you suspect a suitcase
just look inside — it should all display all the fonts as normal.
Suitcase Rules
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The following points are important:-
z A suitcase can contain any number of fonts but all the font files for a particular
font family must be in the same suitcase.
z You can have up to 128 suitcases in your System Folder with any number of fonts.
For more suitcases you must use a font utility such as Suitcase — this lets you keep
suitcases anywhere on hard disk.
z If you drag a suitcase into another suitcase the font files from the first suitcase are
merged into those already in the second suitcase! However, all of these fonts will
appear as usual in Font menus.
z You can’t put suitcases within other folders inside the Fonts folder.
And:-
Ï Leave suitcases alone if you’re happy with the fonts!
Ï Suitcases can’t be moved in or out of the System Folder and fonts can’t be moved
in or out of suitcases whilst any application is open. You must quit all
applications before adding or removing fonts but you don’t need to restart your
Mac to use the new selection of fonts.
Screen Font Files
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  A screen font is a bitmap image of fixed size, often with a 72 dots per inch (dpi)
resolution, used for a fast display on the screen. A screen font file is identified by
the font size in its filename and its single-letter icon.
In the Classical suitcase below, there are 8 screen font files:-
 
Screen Font Sizes
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Suitcases don’t always contain font files for all sizes in the Size menu. Adobe suitcases often contain screen fonts for 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18 and 24 point — other suitcases include 9 point instead of 6 and 8. If a screen font can’t be found the system stretches the nearest font to fit — they’ll look much better if you install Adobe Type Manager (see below).
You can check the available screen fonts by looking inside the font’s suitcase. In the Classical example above there are 14- and 18-point screen fonts.
The Size menus also shows which screen fonts are present:-
12 point No
14 point Yes
In old systems the style of a bitmap was shown in the Font menu by a prefix:-
B Bold L Light
Bk Book N Narrow
Blk Black O Oblique
C Condensed P Poster
D Demi S Semi
E Extended Sl Slanted
H Heavy U Ultra
I Italic X Extra
K Kursive
Screen Fonts and Printing
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A suitcase containing only screen fonts is often limited to 72 dpi. For high-quality printing it must be accompanied by appropriate PostScript Type 1 font files — and you must use a PostScript printer or Adobe Type Manager (see below).
The bitmap city fonts of London, Monaco, Geneva, San Francisco, Venice, Chicago, Los Angeles, Athens and Cairo were used for printing in older systems. In Draft mode an ImageWriter printer didn’t use these fonts — it simply spaced characters to match the font. In Best mode it scaled down a twice size font to give 144 dpi. If a twice size font couldn’t be found it would use a 4 times size and so on. The ImageWriter LQ used three times size fonts, or multiples thereof, to give 216 dpi! The city fonts have been replaced by TrueType versions in modern systems.
TrueType Font Files
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  A TrueType font is scalable to any size in a particular style and can represent
thousands of character types. TrueType fonts are also used for Windows on a PC.
Their suitcases often include screen fonts to speed up the screen display.
Here’s the Times suitcase:-
 
  A file with a multiple-letter icon is a TrueType font.
  A file with a single-letter icon is a screen font.
Modifying TrueType Suitcases
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You should avoid modifying suitcases — it’s better to leave them untouched and use Font Control (see below) instead.
However, for accurate screen positioning (with reduced speed and font clarity) you could remove the screen font files from a suitcase. Conversely, if you’re creating material for on-screen viewing and need to save disk space, you can remove the TrueType font files.
TrueType GX Font Files
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  With QuickDraw GX installed you can use any scalable font, such as TrueType,
TrueType GX or an enabled PostScript Type 1 font (see below).
Applications that use QuickDraw GX include LightningDraw GX, Poster GX and SimpleText. In some of these applications you can morph or modify the characteristics of TrueType GX fonts. The latter aren’t limited to simple styles — they include intelligent ligatures and pair kerning — and can accommodate up to 65,000 different characters.
To use a PostScript Type 1 font with QuickDraw GX it must be converted into a form that GX can understand. The process, known as enabling, happens automatically during installation of QuickDraw GX. Manual enabling requires the Type 1 Enabler (see below).
√Ö A scalable font file can contain a TrueType, TrueType GX or an enabled Type 1 font
(see below). The type of font within a file can’t be easily identified!
√Ö GX fonts can crash a non-GX application if QuickDraw GX is not installed.
√Ö Font utilities such as PopChar may crash if any GX fonts are active. Enabled Type 1
fonts don’t usually give problems.
PostScript Type 1 Fonts
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  PostScript is a description language that defines anything from a font to an entire
page in a PostScript file. PostScript fonts are the universal standard for desktop
publishing (DTP). Times and Palatino were originally published in this form.
PostScript fonts always print perfectly at any size but screen fonts may not be present for all sizes (see above). The fonts are stored in a set of PostScript outline font files that are kept alongside a suitcase containing the matching screen fonts.
Ï PostScript Type 1 fonts can only be used with a PostScript printer or with a standard
printer in conjunction with Adobe Type Manager (see below).
Ï Most laser printers use PostScript.
Ï PostScript outline font files aren’t kept inside suitcases.
Ï It’s advisable to remove PostScript duplicates of TrueType fonts as this may cause
some software confusion — the fonts may also look slightly different!
PostScript Outline Font Files
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There are three kinds of PostScript outline font files:-
Type 1 The standard version that works with Adobe Type Manager (see below).
It’s locked by an encryption process to stop you altering it and includes hinting
information for high resolution printing.
Type 2 An improved version that was never released.
Type 3 An obsolete version without locking or hinting. Fonts smaller than 9-point
can look rough on high quality printers.
FontMonger can convert Type 1 or Type 3 fonts into TrueType versions, or vice versa.
Type 1 Font Files and Suitcases
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Unless you’re using QuickDraw GX you’ll need the following files for each font inside the Fonts folder:-
z Type 1 outline font files for printing. There are usually two to four of
these, all with related names, and each representing a particular style.
z Font suitcase containing screen fonts.
Here’s an example the files required for a single font:-
 
There are two Type 1 files, one for Roman style and one for Italic.
Missing Font Files
If an outline font file is missing the Mac tries to create the style from the plain font. To replace a boldface Type 1 font it creates a bold character by adding 30% to the width. To replace an oblique font it creates an italic form by slanting characters to the right by 15°.
Ï The terms boldface and oblique refer to exclusively to specific Type 1 fonts whilst
bold and italic refer to modified plain fonts, and also TrueType or bitmap characters.
Type 1 File Naming
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The first 5 to 8 letters of the name for a Type 1 file are usually equivalent to the font’s name in the Font menu. The latter is defined inside the suitcase containing the matching screen font. The suitcase itself often has the same name!
These letters may (or may not!) be followed by one of the following suffixes:-
Bd Bold Lig Light
Boo Book Lit Lite
Bla Black Med Medium
Bol Bold Nor Normal
Con Condensed Obl Oblique
Dem Demi Reg Regular
Ext Extra or Extended Rom Roman
Hea Heavy Sem Semi
It Italic Thi Thin
Ita Italic Tit Titling
Kur Kursive Ult Ultra
° Type 1 files must NEVER be renamed
Downloading Fonts
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All PostScript printers come with permanent fonts in ROM. Extra fonts can be taken from the Mac’s Fonts folder and sent to the printer during printing — but it’s faster if they’re in the printer’s RAM before printing begins. To do this you must use the LaserWriter Utility to download fonts into the printer.
Sending fonts to a printer can take time. If you use lots of fonts you can attach the printer to a SCSI hard disk drive that can store all your extra fonts. Some LaserWriters also accept a Printer Font Expansion card — this gives you extra fonts without the need for a drive.
Ï Errors often occur if there’s less than 2 M of RAM in the printer.
Ï Extra RAM is necessary for FinePrint software, used in some Apple printers, or for
PhotoGrade software used some LaserWriters.
LaserWriter Utility
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As well as font downloading (see above) LaserWriter Utility performs other font-related tasks. In the following list, printer drive refers to any drive attached to the printer:-
Download selected fonts from the Mac to the printer
Print or view a list of fonts in the printer or printer drive
Copy a specific font from the Mac to a printer drive
Delete a specific font from a printer drive
Backup from one printer drive to another
Backup from a printer drive to diskettes
Remove all TrueType fonts from a printer drive
Initialise a printer drive
√π See the PostScript chapter for more about the LaserWriter Utility
Using Type 1 Fonts with QuickDraw GX
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To use Type 1 files with QuickDraw GX they must be converted into a form that GX understands — a process known as enabling.
When QuickDraw GX is installed it automatically enables any Type 1 fonts residing in the System Folder. In the process it:-
z Puts the original suitcases and Type 1 files into an archive folder.
z Creates new versions of the suitcases, each containing scalable fonts
derived from the original Type 1 files.
z Puts the new suitcases into the Fonts folder inside the System Folder.
The Type 1 Enabler
  Type 1 Enabler converts Type 1 fonts into suitcases containing scalable fonts.
It must be used to enable fonts that weren’t enabled during the installation of
QuickDraw GX.
° Before you begin make sure every font family has its own suitcase!
Å The Enabler doesn’t work with Type 3 fonts or hybrid fonts such as old versions of
Optima or ITC Eras.
Ï You don’t have to be running QuickDraw GX to use the Enabler!
To convert the fonts just select the folder or suitcase containing the Type 1 fonts and proceed as indicated. Although the original Type 1 fonts may have been limited to only one or two sizes the updated versions are fully scalable.
Restoring Type 1 Files
If you remove QuickDraw GX you can easily restore your Type 1 files. First you must trash the enabled suitcases. Then drag the original suitcases and Type 1 font files from the archive folder back into the Fonts folder.
Adobe Type Manager
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Printers of the non-PostScript variety are often wrongly called QuickDraw printers. In reality, the Mac processes images itself using QuickDraw and then sends a bitmap version to the printer. Type 1 fonts can only be used on a non-PostScript printer when Adobe Type Manager (ATM) is installed. ATM rasterises the files to create bitmaps for the screen and printer — and you don’t get those nasty jagged characters!
The ATM Control Panel
This adjusts various ATM settings, such as switching it On or Off, adjusting the Character Cache Size and setting the option for preserving Line Spacing or Character Shapes. A bigger Cache size speeds up screen fonts but also uses up more RAM.
Smooth Font Edges on Screen uses intermediate colours to blend a font into its background — a technique also known as anti-aliased text. Not all applications support this (some may use their own system) and it can’t be used when QuickDraw GX is active.
Precision Character Positioning prints each character more accurately on a line, but only if you’ve selected Fractional Widths for the current printer.
The ATM Font Substitution Database file must be present in the System Folder for Font Substitution — the ability to provide reasonable results even when a document’s original font is missing. It also requires the Adobe Sans MM and Adobe Serif MM suitcases (and matching Type 1 fonts) in the Fonts folder.
Ï ATM doesn’t support any of the graphics abilities of PostScript.
Ï ATM Deluxe can manage Type 1 and TrueType fonts in custom sets.
√Ö There can only be one version of the ATM panel on your hard disk at any one time.
To use a new panel you must trash all the old copies and the ~ATM 68020/030/040
file that resides in the System Folder.
Å GX-compatible forms of the ATM panel don’t allow font substitution (see below) —
this means you can’t use QuickDraw GX with some Adobe products. Acrobat Reader
(2.01 or earlier) or Acrobat Exchange give the message:-
The ATM Font Database must be installed to use Acrobat.
The program will now quit.
ATM and QuickDraw GX
  A GX-compatible version of ATM can rasterise any Type 1 font file or a suitcase
containing a TrueType or an enabled Type 1 font.
Ï You don’t have to install QuickDraw GX to use ATM, even for enabled Type 1 fonts.
Ï If a Type 1 font suitcase isn’t enabled you must provide a Type 1 font file instead.
Font Substitution
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With this printing option selected the fonts in a document are replaced by Type 1 fonts in the printer. The document fonts of New York, Geneva and Monaco are replaced by the Type 1 fonts of Times, Helvetica and Courier respectively. In older systems New York, Geneva and Monaco were nasty bitmap fonts — in modern Macs they’re in TrueType form.
Some versions of ATM don’t support font substitution (see above). Most forms of ATM can use their own Adobe Sans MM and Adobe Serif MM font suitcases (and matching Type 1 fonts) to replace any other fonts that are missing.
Å Some substitution fonts, as supplied with Illustrator or SuperATM, don’t work with
QuickDraw GX.
Font Protocol
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Screen Display
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The screen display picks the first font file in the sequence:-
z Screen font of exact size
z TrueType version
z Type 1 version — if ATM is present
z Scaled version of the nearest size of screen font
Printing Protocol
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The printing process picks the first font file in the sequence:-
1) Type 1 font file in the printer:-
z ROM — a font provided as part of the printer
z RAM — one you’ve downloaded or recently used
z Hard disk — if it’s got one!
2) Font file in the Mac’s Fonts folder:-
z Type 1 version
z TrueType version
Printing Solutions
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Jagged Printing
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This can be caused by:-
z Missing Type 1 files in the Fonts folder
z Type 1 font on a non-PostScript printer without ATM.
z Type 3 font in use with ATM.
You can convert the Type 3 into a Type 1 font using Metamorphosis Professional.
Printer Resolution
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The smallest font a printer can reproduce is determined by its resolution:-
Printer Resolution (dpi) Minimum Font Size
72 9 point and some 8 point
300 6 pointand some 5 point
360 5 point or less
Other Problems
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Ï If text appears in Geneva or Helvetica, both on the screen and when printed, the
document needs a font that isn’t in the Fonts folder.
Ï If you select Font Substitution on a PostScript printer whilst printing city fonts, such
as New York, Geneva, and Monaco you may think it’s using the wrong font. It’s
actually replacing them by the Type 1 fonts in the PostScript printer!
Ï There can be variations between a Type 1 font file in your Mac and its equivalent in
a PostScript printer. You can overcome this by renaming the Mac font (such as Xourier
in place of Courier) and downloading it as a separate font to the printer.
Ï If your document includes an ASCII value for which the font has no character you’ll
probably see nothing! A missing character box (#) only appears on dot-matrix
printers such as an ImageWriter.
Font Identification Numbers
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When you obtain a document from another Mac it may use the wrong fonts as a result of different font identification (ID) numbers being used in the two Macs.
Unfortunately each time you install a new font the system gives it an arbitrary ID to prevent clashes with existing fonts. If you keep moving fonts in and out of each Mac’s system the problem gets worse!
The effects can be minimised by only using the fonts provided by the System Installer — and by leaving them alone! In difficult cases the only solution is a font utility such as Suitcase. Some applications don’t suffer from this problem — they identify fonts by their font names instead of IDs.
Ï If you’re using an application that identifies fonts purely by name it can get confused
if TrueType and Type 1 fonts have the same name!
Reserved Fonts
Many of the fonts supplied with the Mac have fixed IDs that are reserved by Apple — which means they don’t suffer from the problems described above!
They are:-
ID Font Name
0 Chicago
3 Geneva
4 Monaco
14 Bookman
15 N Helvetica Narrow
16 Palatino
18 Zapf Chancery
20 Times
21 Helvetica
22 Courier
23 Symbol
33 Avant Garde
34 New Century Schlbk
Some systems use an ID of 2 for New York
An ID of 1 is reserved for the application font
The Geneva font is actually part of the System file and can only be replaced by an alternative (such as ProFont) by means of a utility such as FreeGeneva.
Default Fonts
The default font and font size in an application are sometimes set by two data bytes inside the application file — the default font may be identified by ID or by name. In some applications the default is kept as an EFNT resource. You may be able to change the default using ResEdit.
Font Printing Utilities
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With a high-resolution printer, such as a StyleWriter, you can get extra control of printing using a font printing utility such as Font Control. This comes as an FKEY resource that you add to your System file or launch via a utility such as OtherMenu. You can use it just before printing in any application. The following options are available:-
Fractional Widths — gives correct character alignment when printing, the opposite to the default for many printers. Since the screen can’t show these properly some characters may appear truncated!
You don’t need Font Control for fractional widths on a LaserWriter.
Font Scaling — stretches a bitmap font if a TrueType or PostScript version isn’t available. If disabled the bitmap font appears smaller but correctly spaced.
Always use TrueType instead of bitmaps — gives the best print quality. The Mac’s Font Manager can default to bitmap fonts!
Preserve Glyphs — avoids distorting glyphs as a result of stretching characters.
