Designers Guide to Mac OS X Tiger

Over the years, several font file formats have emerged. Some are Mac only, some are Windows only, and more recently a truly cross-platform font standard has emerged. Let's take a look at the different font types that designers have to deal with.

Tip

Always be sure to check your proofs closely for any type that looks out of place. Type problems can be easy to overlook, but your clients are sure to spot them.

PostScript

Back when the Mac was new, Adobe introduced the PostScript printer language. The company also gave us PostScript fonts, which are designed to work best with PostScript printers. PostScript fonts became the preferred standard in the design industry, and most professional and high-end output devices, such as laser printers, film and plate output systems, and proofers use the PostScript language to process your print jobs.

The biggest benefit of PostScript fonts is that they are vector-based, so they scale to any size and still maintain their high-quality appearance. They include two files for each typeface: a screen font, which represents the typeface on your display; and the printer font, which the printer uses when you output your file. Losing either file breaks the font, so it looks wrong either onscreen or when it prints.

PostScript fonts come in Mac or Windows versions, and the two are never exactly the same. If a client uses the Windows version of a PostScript font to set up a document and then gives you the file, the text will reflow slightly when you use the Mac version of the same font. Sometimes the change is almost unnoticeable, but other times the change can be dramatic.

Mac and Windows TrueType

Apple and Microsoft codeveloped the TrueType format to avoid the high licensing fees that Adobe charged to PostScript font designers. Thankfully, Adobe did away with the fees, but TrueType remained largely because both Apple and Microsoft incorporated the TrueType format into their operating systems. Just like their PostScript cousins, you should see the same print quality regardless of the point size you use. Onscreen display is another thing entirely: If the font designer didn't pay sufficient attention to how each character's outline at various sizes should map to the grid of onscreen pixels, a process known as adding hints to the font, then the font will look rough and blocky at certain sizes. This is just an annoyance, and doesn't affect the font's output quality, so some font designers don't pay much attention to hinting.

Just like PostScript fonts, TrueType fonts are available in separate formats for Mac and Windows. Mac OS X, however, lets you use Windows TrueType fonts, which means that you can use the Windows version of a font without worrying about your type reflowing if your document is opened on a Windows machine.

Tip

If you use TrueType fonts, stick with the included type sizes. Straying outside the available type sizes usually causes output problems when you are ready to make press plates or film. Many of the direct-to-plate and direct-to-film output devices change your nonstandard type sizes to Courier.

OpenType

Designers have complained for years about type-reflow problems when taking documents back and forth between Mac and Windows platforms. In an effort to address that along with some of the other limitations of PostScript and TrueType fonts, Microsoft codeveloped the OpenType standard with Adobe.

The OpenType font format is truly cross-platform, so your documents look the same on a Mac as they do on a Windows workstation. They are scalable without loss of resolution, and can contain far more typeface and type-style information than their TrueType and PostScript counterparts, including ligatures, true fractions, multiple languages, and more. OpenType fonts can contain up to 65,536 individual glyphs, or characters. That's far more than a PostScript or TrueType font can contain.

Not every print shop keeps up with the current technology, so be sure to run a few tests with your printer or service bureau if it hasn't been using OpenType fonts yet. It's always easier to deal with potential problems before you get a client's job on press.

Tip

Applications need to be designed to use OpenType before you can take advantage of this font format. All of the Adobe Creative Suite applications are fully OpenType compatible. QuarkXPress 7 is, but QuarkXPress 6.5 and earlier only partially support OpenType. Partially compatible applications can use only a subset of the available glyphs in an OpenType font.

System (dfonts)

Mac OS X includes its own type of system font that includes the filename extension .dfont. For example, AppleGothic.dfont is a system font, and it is available in any Mac OS Xnative application. This format is based on TrueType and is definitely Mac only.

System fonts can cause lots of headaches because many are named the same as other fonts you may need to use. Helvetica is a perfect example: You may have 20 different versions for various clients, and Tiger's Helvetica may conflict with some of them.

Even though system fonts are professionally designed and look nice, try to stick with the other font formats instead. When you package your job for output, you won't have to worry about the potential for font conflicts once the project is out of your hands, or compatibility problems if your document will be opened on a Windows PC.