File Preparation: About Fonts

What You Need to Know About Fonts

Font management and usage can make or break a print project. We highly recommend that you always use a font management application, such as Adobe Type Manager™ (ATM) or Symantec Suitcase™ to manage all non-system fonts on your machine.

Missing Fonts
When a document is taken from one computer system to another, matching screen and printer fonts must be on the new system or the document will not print correctly. Version numbers and manufacturer must be identical. The result can be anything from a font substitution to an unwanted font (usually the default is Courier), to subtle changes in line endings.

Macintosh OS and Windows system developers put TrueType fonts into their system fonts (some with the same name as PostScript Type 1 fonts). One result of this situation is that a designer may use a TrueType font unknowingly. Another is that they may include the version of the font they thought they specified, and it is wrong, either causing text to reflow or incurring delays in order to get the right version. Always choose your fonts carefully and be sure to move the correct one(s) with your digital art files to your transport media.

Font ID Conflicts
Occasionally, two fonts with the same name end up in a font menu. An Adobe PostScript Type 1 and a TrueType font may have the same names, for instance, but their metrics, or shape and letterspacing definitions, will be slightly different. Not only can this create type ID conflicts, but if the type does print, it may reflow, causing different line breaks, text wraps, etc.

TrueType Fonts
Whenever possible, avoid mixing TrueType and Type 1 fonts in the same document. Sections of type may print as bitmaps or not at all. Some TrueType fonts can take longer to RIP as well.

Converting Text to Outlines or Paths
This feature in drawing programs is appropriate for small amounts of large sized text, as in headlines or logos. By converting to paths or outlines, a font call is eliminated. It is generally a good idea to convert text to outlines or paths in an illustration or logo. Converting text to outlines or paths may be a way to work with a poorly written font. Converting to paths or outlines is also a handy way to address the miscellaneous picture font or other obscure font you are likely to forget to send with your project. It can, however, be bad for more than a few words or very small type sizes (less than 8pt). For example, outlining tiny type can create shapes too complex to print. Converting text to outlines means edits become more complex since the image is now a graphic instead of a font. Also, the quality of the outlined/pathed font will likely represent a minimal degradation from the original font design.

Applying Style Attributes to Text
In your graphics applications, use the actual stylized typeface if it is available; avoid style attributes such as bold, italic, bold italic, outline, shadow, small caps or all caps (use caps lock for all caps). Results vary depending on the RIP, printer drivers and application being used. Selecting style attributes usually creates a pseudo (artificially stylized) version of the type face, which is a degradation from the original font design. Many newer RIPs, printer drivers and applications ignore pseudo commands, and simply use the plain printer font in its unmanipulated version. If you must use a style attribute, we recommend that you convert the text to outlines in your illustration application and import into your page layout as an outlined EPS text image.

Picture (PI) Fonts
Picture fonts, such as Wingdings or Zapf Dingbats, are frequently forgotten when transporting electronic documents and subsequently print incorrectly. These are often tiny, ornamental elements used infrequently and are easily overlooked. Always remember to collect these fonts with the all others used in your layout.

All Fonts Are Not Created Equally
Poorly written fonts may be node heavy (inefficiently built with too many points), have bad kerning pairs or incomplete character sets. They should be avoided. If there is a cool, inexpensive typeface you just absolutely must use, we recommend that you convert the text to outlines in your illustration application and import it into your page layout as an outlined EPS text image.

Using Customized Fonts
Font creation programs allow a user to modify an existing font into a customized typeface. This process creates a new screen and printer font for the custom font. These fonts must accompany the document when printing to an imagesetter. All typefaces should have unique names for both screen and printer versions to avoid conflicts with industry standard names. Go wild - use your own last name (unless it’s Garamond or Times) as a way to avoid conflicts.

When any modifications are made to the screen or printer fonts that you created, you must provide us with the updated, modified version of the screen and printer fonts. Also, let us know if you have altered kerning tables for a font. Any newly customized font should be tested thoroughly on an imagesetter before committing it to a project. Yout should also provide us with a hard copy of the keyboard map of the custom or altered typeface, in the event it becomes required to re-typeset any text.

Foreign Language Fonts
Fonts are available for many languages, such as Lithuanian, Hebrew, Kanji or Vietnamese. These usually require a keyboard file to work correctly. If this file is not installed correctly, characters may appear OK on screen but may fail to print. Send a keyboard map along with your file. This will be a must if we need to make edits. For fail-safe imaging of foreign language text, we recommend that you convert the text to outlines in your illustration application and import it into your page layout as an outlined EPS text image.

Click here to learn how to properly collect fonts for output.

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