Fonts

For all of you who feel you have nowhere to turn to for help, or are looking for a sympathetic ear to share your frustrations, or if you simply find some sick (although warranted) satisfaction in just knowing that there are other people out there just like you, banging their heads neurotically against the face of their computers. Here is your forum! Let us share our misery, bathe our fellow designers in the painful glow of our migraines and find some small ray of sunshine at the end of our design projects. If you have a question, we'll try to answer it. In every issue we'll publish one or two of your questions along with our answers in hope that we can help clear up some of the problems we all seem to have.

If you would like to submit a question this is the place to do it. Click this question mark ? , fill out the requested information and ask away.

Here are a few questions we are asked on a regular basis concerning fonts:

I've created a publication for print in PageMaker with supporting graphics from CorelDraw (department seals and charts). I furnished the contractor all of the postscript fonts (screen/printer) that I used in PageMaker, plus the supporting .eps graphics linked in PageMaker. The contractor indicated that I was missing fonts from my .eps graphics. Do I have to supply fonts for my .eps graphics as well as the page layout program and if so, are there any other options to supplying fonts for .eps graphics?

When a drawing/illustration software program is used to create an image which contains text, you need to furnish all fonts that are used in the design. Examples of these types of software programs include but are not limited to Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand, and CorelDraw. The text contained in the .eps file that you create out of these programs is dependent on the fonts used in the design, this is separate from fonts used in the page layout (with the exception of using the same font in both the page layout and supporting .eps files).

One way to avoid the delays and costs involved with missing fonts from your vector graphic files is to convert all of your text matter to outline or path (depends on the software program as to what it is identified as). What this will accomplish is your text is converted to an actual piece of vector art, therefore it is no longer identified as a font. Utilizing this feature (outline/path) in vector based software programs isn't without potential dangers. Be aware that once you convert your text matter to vector art it may become difficult to edit (typo's or text changes). It is recommended that you save a copy of your file prior to converting, therefore if text changes are necessary you still have an editable file to work with.

I'm only using common fonts that came with my computer, why must I furnish my fonts when I submit files for printing?

I'll try to clear up a few nagging questions regarding this particular "headache". Fonts are available from many different manufacturers and any single font may be available in several versions (even from the same manufacturer). Why is this important to know, I'll tell you. When your files arrive at the contractor's plant the majority of vendors are going to copy all of your furnished files directly to their hard drive. If your fonts have not been furnished a couple of things may happen. First, the contractor may simply substitute out his fonts to replace your missing fonts (here's where it gets tricky). Lets say you used the font "Helvetica". Now when the vendor substitutes, he/she is placing their version and their manufactures copy of Helvetica (which may or may not match your version/manufacturer of Helvetica). This could lead to incorrect letter spacing, size issues and the ever popular reflow of text matter. All fonts are not created equal, just because they are named the same. In addition, he/she may substitute a postscript font and you used a TrueType font (more trouble? You betcha). Second, instead of substituting his fonts for your missing fonts, the vendor puts the job on hold and demands that the fonts be furnished (bye-bye schedule).

Now, I mentioned postscript and TrueType fonts. You should know that postscript is the industry standard language for publishing your files so it goes without saying (I'll say it anyways) that postscript fonts are more apt to work successfully then some other font language (TrueType). A postscript font consist of both a screen font (which allows your monitor to view how the font should look) and a printer font (which instructs the output device as to how the font should appear). You need to furnish both or it defeats the purpose of using postscript fonts (see the sample icons to your left). On the PC platform these fonts contain a .pfm and .pfb extension. Now, with TrueType only a single font file (screen and printer all in one) needs to be furnished, but be aware if you decide to design with TrueType fonts there are still vendors who may not be able to output your files correctly.

My last job was delayed because I didn't supply fonts. Obviously, I'd like to avoid this in the future but I don't know where to find the fonts on my PC to submit them. Can you shed some light on this for me?

On a PC, fonts are in two locations if you have postscript fonts and TrueType fonts both loaded on your system. The TrueType fonts are usually located on the main hard drive in the WINDOWS folder, called "fonts"; the postscript fonts are located on the main hard drive in a folder called "ps fonts". The "ps fonts" folder will contain both the .pfm and .pfb extensions required if you are submitting a job with postrscript fonts. If all else fails you can use your "Find" feature to locate fonts. Locating your fonts is a non-issue if you elect to run Font Management Software.

My overbearing boss asked me why we don't use the "OpenType" fonts he read about. What is OpenType?

You've heard of Postscript and you've heard of TrueType, but have you heard of OpenType? NO, well let me just say it's possible that you'll be hearing alot about it, if not right now then in the near future. Adobe and Microsoft partnered to develop a cross-platform font file format called, you guessed it, OpenType. As if there weren't enough font file formats, but wait, this font format promises to correct a major flaw that reared it's ugly font head when you tried to move fonts across platform (the same font can now be used on both a Macintosh and a Windows computer), which then also leads to a single font that replaces both the postscript and TrueType formats (these formats are still viable and won't be disappearing anytime real soon). At the time of this article, the ePUB group had yet to hear or see of anyone submitting a job for print with OpenType fonts. Could this be the answer to font problems? We'll just have to wait and see. For additional information on OpenType, visit www.adobe.com/type/opentype (This link will take you out of GPO's website).

Ask any Service Provider (contractor), What's the biggest headache with disk jobs?, and each will tell you "Fonts". It's been that way from the beginning and will likely still be the biggest problems for years to come. Rumor has it that the very first copy of Poor Richards Almanac had to be reprinted at Ben Franklins cost because he forgot to supply fonts. Reportedly the book printed using Courier as a substitue font for Times Roman.