The Neshota font is copyright 1987 by Bradley Poulson.
All rights reserved.
BACKGROUND
The Neshota font was developed with two main concepts in mind. It should be easy to read on the screen and it should be easy to read when printed on a dot matrix printer (such as Apple Computer's Imagewriter, ImageWriter II or ImageWriter LQ).
Traditionally, fonts with serifs (like Times Roman) have been the model of legibility. Unfortunately, these fonts are difficult to read in small point sizes on low resolution computer displays, and they print out poorly in small point sizes when low resolution dot matrix printers are used. Therefore, I elected to search out a sans serif font.
The typeface known as Avant Garde Gothic and a commercial font entitled Montreal came close to fulfilling my needs. Unfortunately, I needed more flexibility (i.e., more point sizes) than were provided, and there were "problems" with the existing versions of the fonts ("problems" from my personal aesthetic point of view). So, armed initially with a limited Font Editing program from Apple Computer, later with Fontastic from Altsys Corporation and finally with Altsys' Fontastic Plus, I started working. A few hundred hours pass by....
The result of my labors is the Neshota font. I had intended to keep it for my own use, and not distribute it in any way. However, several friends have encouraged me to distribute the font. So, I have done so, and after long consideration (and tedious, painstaking enhancement of the font) have made it shareware (as discussed later).
TECHNICAL STUFF AND GENERAL TIDBITS
Neshota has a font ID# of 197. This ID# may be changed by users either directly (with a tool such as Apple Computer's ResEdit) or indirectly (by programs which resolve font ID conflicts). Changing the name of the font might be necessary in certain rare instances. However, it is my preference that the name not be changed by users.
The ID# is the same as Miles' Computings "Montreal" font. And the key layout is quite similar. I did this because Miles used a pretty logical and standard layout and because I had a whole bunch of documents in which I had used their font (I got it as part of Mac the Knife, volume 2, which has a bunch of really good fonts on it). If you used Montreal and wish to convert to Neshota, you should find it a fairly painless procedure. Do check things carefully, though, so you don't have any surprises.
Apple's Key Caps utility nicely shows the extended character set used by Neshota. All the "normal" characters of the Geneva font are included, and there are some extra goodies. Some handy single keystroke fractions are present (following the pattern of Miles' Montreal), a "heavy underline" is there (inspired by Miles, but positioned differently, so that the the standard hyphen, en-dash and em-dash would all be where they belong), and there are some extra characters so that scholars can use long marks on Latin vowels and music fans can correctly spell Janacek and Dvorak. The option-shift-B character serves as a copyright notice; option-shift-N gives the version number.
Note that Neshota's extra characters do not precisely correspond to the extra characters that appeared in fonts provided by Apple for use on the LaserWriter printer. Neshota was developed before the LaserWriter became available.
Neshota is an Indian word (I am uncertain of the tribe or culture from whence it comes) which means "two rivers". I picked the name because it has a nice ring to it, and besides, it fits with where I live.
If you have a Macintosh 512 computer (unenhanced) or a 128K Macintosh computer, do *not* use this font. There will be big problems, as the older Macintosh ROMs will not support the larger font sizes.
NESHOTA FONT VERSION HISTORY
Version 7.1: first released version.
Version 7.2: fixed some minor quibbles. Hyphens, en-dashes and em-dashes completely repaired. The double width underline was moved to option-shift-x (try underlining it for a nice "rule" effect).
Version 7.3: an unreleased interim work version.
Version 8: this one right here. Extensive revision was undertaken where needed, to render characters more visually pleasing and consistent from size to size. All font sizes were completed; i.e., no matter what size of the font you use, all the bizarre characters are available (this was not possible to do with older versions of the system software; Neshota version 8 has been tested with system 4.1, and works fine for me; it might not with earlier system software, and will certainly explode violently on a Mac with "old" ROMs (128, unenhanced 512)). Because of this change, the larger point sizes eat a whole bunch of K. Depending on a program's memory management, switching from 8 point to 72 point might cause some trouble. Although it hasn't for me (I work on a 5 MB Mac ][).
For version 8 a whole bunch of new point sizes have been added. The whole list: 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 24, 27, 28, 30, 32, 36, 40, 42, 48, 54, 56, 60, 64 and 72. The 80 and 96 point versions were eliminated since they couldn't be completed (apparently a font image can't get bigger than 128K).
If the character stroke widths seem too light, you might trying using a Bold styling of the letters (especially in the bigger sizes, and especially on the ImageWriter LQ).
COPYRIGHT AND DISTRIBUTION INFORMATION
The Neshota font is copyright 1987 by Bradley Poulson. All rights reserved.
This font is "shareware", a method of distributing copyrighted works. It is not public domain.
Neshota works fine on my computer system. It may not on yours. No warrantees are implied, and Neshota may not be suitable for any of your purposes. At the time of this writing, I have not tested Neshota on an ImageWriter LQ. I hope that output will be exceedingly beautiful, as I've spent many hours making triple sized font images for that printer. Please let me know if there are any problems, and I will endeavor to correct them.
As author of the font, I choose to place limits on its distribution. But as I'm a generous person, these limits are quite fair (I can even be flexible).
The possessor of Neshota is granted permission to use the font on a single printer for a period of one month. At the end of the month, the possessor must either register as a purchaser of the font (as discussed below), or must cease using the font.
Possessors of Neshota may provide copies of this font, along with all related files, to any user willing to accept the terms of this agreement. This font may be distributed either by floppy disk (or similar magnetic medium) or by electronic means (such as via modem). Neshota may not be sold. Fees can be charged in association with Neshota, however, such as by users' groups for duplicating fees, commercial services for downloading time, etc.
If a user chooses to keep and use Neshota for more than one month, a fee of $10 for the font is due me (at the address below). This fee entitles the registrant to use Neshota as he or she sees fit, so long as it is not used on more than one printer at any given time. This registration fee can be waived if Neshota is simply maintained on a disk (or other medium) for archival or redistribution purposes (i.e., a users' group librarian doesn't necessarily have to pay the fee, nor would a telecommunication service such as CompuServe).
If you're interested in tremendous bargain, you can choose to pay a $20 fee. In return you become a "Brad's Fonts Multiply Registered Individual". As a BFMRI, you will receive from me at least two floppy disks (800K) with latest versions of a number of my fonts, with licenses to use all of these fonts. Some of my fonts are HelveticaFractions (which allows single keystroke, single digit reduced fractions for the Laserwriter), Madison (an all capitals font), Agua Mundo (a relaxed, fun font), ChicagoSymbols (a LaserWriter font with some handy symbols (boxes, the command/squiggle symbol, etc.)), and whatever else I have at hand (like maybe a nifty LaserWriter font of Nordic runes (if I ever get the screen font done...)).
Any questions or payments (U.S. checks or equivalent only, please) can be directed to me at the address below. I'm also fairly readily available on CompuServe, ID 76074,1655. When registering, please include your name and address, and please tell me where you obtained Neshota. Thanks!
