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Posted-By: auto-faq 2.4
Archive-name: fonts-faq/part3
Version: 1.4.1


    This very intresting book looks at the history of letter shapes as
    well font design.

    The Mac is Not a Typewriter, Robin Williams, Peachpit Press.

    A good, clear explanation of what typography is, and how to get it
    from your computer. Mac-specific, but full of excellent general
    advice. I think there's also a PC version. Available at most
    computer bookstores

    Rhyme and Reason: A Typographic Novel, Erik Spiekermann, H.
    Berthold AG, ISBN 3-9800722-5-8.

    Printing Types (2 vols), Daniel Berkely Updike, Dover Press.

    Affordable edition of the most readable history of type, lots of
    illustrations.

    Notes: Both the Dover and Harvard U. P. editions where 2 volumes.
    The Dover editions were paperback and the Harvard hardback. It
    appears that the Dover edition is out of print. Collectible HUP
    editions are not cheap although later HUP editions may be had. Most
    libraries have later HUP and Dover editions. If someone knows of a
    source, please pass it along.

    The Art of Hand Lettering, Helm Wotzkow, Dover Press, reprint from
    1952.

    Looking Good In Print, Roger C. Parker, Ventana Press, ISBN:
    0-940087-32-4.

    Well, as a beginner's book, [ it ] isn't bad. I can't say that I
    agree with the author's tastes all the time, but he at least gives
    some good examples. Also there are some nice _Publish_-style
    makeovers. Don Hosek <dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu>

    Book Design: A Practical Introduction, Douglas Martin, Van
    Nostrand Reinhold, New York: 1989. 206pp.

    Along with Jan White's book (see below), this provides a fairly
    complete guide to book design. Martin's book is somewhat more
    conservative in outlook and also reflects his UK background. Don
    Hosek <dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu>

    Digital Typography: An Introduction to Type and Composition for
    Computer System Design, Richard Rubinstein, Addison-Wesley,
    Reading, Massachusetts: 1988. 340pp.

    An interesting, technological approach to typography which is worth
    reading although not necessarily always worth believing. A not
    insubstantial portion of the text is dedicated to representing type
    on a CRT display and Rubinstein devotes some time to expressing
    characteristics of typography numerically. Don Hosek
    <dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu>

    Graphic Design for the Electronic Age, Jan V. White,
    Watson-Guptill Publications, New York: 1988. 212pp.

    A good handbook for document design. In a well-organized approach,
    White covers the principles for laying out most of the typographics
    features of a technical document. White is a bit overeager to
    embrace sans-serif types and in places his layout ideas seem a bit
    garish, but it's still a quite worthwhile book. Don Hosek
    <dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu>

    Xerox Publishing Standards: A Manual of Style and Design,
    Watson-Guptill Publications, New York: 1988. 400pp.

    Overall, a disappointing book. It is divided into four sections of
    widely varying intent: ``Publishing Process,'' ``Document
    Organization,'' ``Writing and Style'' and ``Visual Design.'' None
    of them is really adequate for the task and all are highly centered
    on the Xerox method for publishing. As a guide to Xerox' process,
    it succeeds, but as a manual for general use, it falls far short.
    In print. Don Hosek <dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu>

    Methods of Book Design (3rd edition), Hugh Williamson, Yale
    University Press, New Haven: 1983. 408pp.

    It is a bit out-of-date as regards technology, but on issues
    relating purely to design it is comprehensive and definitive. Well,
    I suppose it could be argued that printing technology influences
    design -- e.g. some types look fine in metal but lousy in digital
    imagesetting -- and therefore a book that is out-of-date in
    technology can't really be ``definitive'' in matters of design
    either. In any event, _Methods_ is more than adequate for a
    beginner's needs. My paper-bound copy (ISBN 0-300-03035-5) was $
    13.95; cheap at twice the price! Cameron Smith
    <cameron@symcom.math.uiuc.edu>

    The Thames & Hudson Manual of typography, Rauri McLean, Thames &
    Hudson

    An excellent book if you start getting more interested in type.
    Look for Rauri McLean's other books after this one... Liam R.E.
    Quin <lee@sq.com>

    Typography and Why it matters, Fernand Baudin.

    There is no better introduction than [ it ] . It's not a primer on
    subjects such as ``what does Avant Garde look like,'' or ``This is
    a good font for books.'' It is a good primer on the things you need
    to know before the rest should be considered. He's a lovely writer,
    to boot.

    [ My copy is at work, so I may have munged the title--look up
    Baudin in ``Books in Print'' and improvise :-) ]

    Ari Davidow <ari@netcom.com>

    Better Type, Betty Binns

    It's definitely not a lightweight beginner's introduction, but I've
    found [ it ] to be indispensable. It's a large-format hardcover,
    but you can find it remaindered for cheap if you look around. The
    book goes into great detail about how factors like line spacing,
    line length, point size, and design of typeface (evenness of stroke
    weight, x-height, etc.) affect readability. When you've gotten the
    basics out of the way and want to learn more about the fine nuances
    of type color, this book is an absolute must. David Mandl
    <dmandl@bilbo.shearson.com>

    Printing Types: An Introduction..., S. Lawson, (revised) 1990

    I'd also recommend Alexander S. Lawson's books especially /Printing
    Types: An Intro.../ (revised), 1990, which includes electronic
    types now. Bill Ricker <wdr@world.std.com>

    Twentieth Century Type Designers, Sebastian Carter, 1987.

    Discusses adaptaters of old faces to machine caster and film/laser,
    as well as new works. Bill Ricker <wdr@world.std.com>

    Tally of Types, Stanley Morrison, Cambridge University Press.

    A keepsake for CUP on the Monotype fonts he'd acquired for them
    when he was Type Advisor to both Brit.Monotype & CUP (Cambridge
    University Press, Cambs.UK), which discusses his hindsight on some
    of the great revival fonts and some of the better new fonts. Bill
    Ricker <wdr@world.std.com>

    Chicago Manual of Style, University of Chicago Press, 1982; ISBN
    0-226-10390-0.

    The chapter on Design and Typography is most directly relevant, but
    there are a lot of hints scattered all through the Chicago Manual
    on making your words more readable and your pages more attractive.
    Stan Brown <brown@ncoast.org>

    X Window System Administrator's Guide (O'Reilly X Window System
    Guides, volume 8), O'Reilly

    It gives advice about setting up fonts, etc. Liam Quin <lee@sq.com>

    How Bodoni intended his types to look Bodoni, Giambattista. Fregi e
    Majuscole Incise e Fuse de ... Bodoni, Harvard University Library
    (repr).

    Inexpensive collectible, reproduced as a keepsake by the Houghton
    Library at Harvard. [ wdr ]

    The Elements of Typographic Style, Robert Bringhurst, Hartley &
    Marks 0-88179-033-8 pbk $ 15, Z246.B74 1992 0-88179-110-5 cloth, $
    25.

    A typography for desktop publishers who want to absorb some style.
    Informed by the historical european tradition and the desktop
    advertising, tempered by oriental yin-yang and examples. A
    page-turner with repeat-read depth.

    The only book I've seen that discusses page proportions that admits
    there are more than three ways that describes how to find one that
    feels good for your page. [ wdr ]

    Hermann Zapf on the cover-blurb: ``All desktop typographers should
    study this book. ... I wish to see this book become the
    Typographers' Bible.''

    Printing It, Clifford Burke, Ballantine, 0-345-02694-2.

    Manual for the hobby letterpress printer. [ wdr ]

    Twentieth Century Type Designers, Sebastian Carter, Taplinger,
    1987.

    Discusses the talented adaptators of old faces to machine caster
    and film/laser, as well as the designers of new works. Indexed? [
    wdr ]

    Design with Type, Carl Dair, University of Toronto Press,
    0-8020-1426-7.

    In print again (or still?); the ISBN above may be stale.

    A great introduction to the issues of practicality and taste that
    confront the users of type. A prized possession. I only regret that
    the book does not include among the excerpts from his Westvaco
    pamphlets the Seven Don'ts of Typography. [ wdr ]

    Typography 6: The Annual of the Type Directors Club, Susan Davis,
    ed., Watson-Guptill, 0-8230-5540-x.

    Specimens of Type Faces in the U.S. G.P.O., John J. Deviny,
    director., US G.P.O.

    Practice of Typography: Plain Printing Types, Theodore Low De
    Vinne, Century Co./DeVinne Press.

    One of the earlier critical studies, in four volumes of which this
    is my personal favorite, and still a classic reference. If one
    wants to understand 18th and 19th century typography in context,
    this writer lived the transition from eclectic to standard sizes,
    and comments with taste. [ wdr ]

    An Essay on Typography, Eric Gill, Godine, 0-87923-762-7.

    The Alphabet and Elements of Lettering, Frederic W. Goudy, Dorset
    Press (Marboro Books), 0-88029-330-6

    Lovely. A wonderful way to learn Goudy's taste.

    Stanley Morison Displayed, Herbert Jones, Frederick Muller Ltd /
    W, 0-584-10352-2.

    Lovely. A wonderful way to learn Morrison's taste.

    Printing Types: An Introduction..., Alexander S. Lawson et. al.,
    Beacon 1971,?Godine? 1990; (2nd Ed includes electronic types now)

    ``Good introduction to comparisons of typefaces, with a detailed
    history and a key family or face of each general category.
    Denounces rigid indexes of type faces.'' [ wdr ]

    Anatomy of a Typeface, Alexander Lawson, Godine, 0-87923-333-8,
    Z250.L34 1990

    Deep description of the authors' favorite exemplar and its
    influences and relatives in each type category. It follows, without
    explicating, the category system developed in the prior book. [ wdr
    ]

    Types of Typefacs and how to recognize them, J. Ben Lieberman,
    Sterling, 1968

    ``This isn't very good really, but it does give lots of examples of
    the main categories.'' [ Liam ] [ Old bibliographies praised this
    one, but I haven't seen it so I can't comment.-- wdr ]

    Tally of Types ( & other titles), Stanley Morrison, Cambridge U.
    Press.

    A keepsake for CUP on the Monotype fonts he'd acquired for them
    when he was Type Advisor to both Brit. Monotype & CUP (Cambridge
    University Press, Cambs.UK), which discusses his hindsight on some
    of the great revival fonts and some of the better new fonts. [ wdr
    ]

    Rookledge's International Type Finder 2nd, Perfect, Christopher
    and Gordon Rookledge, Ed Moyer Bell Ltd / Rizzoli, 1-55921-052-4,
    Z250.P42 [ 1st Ed was NY: Beil 1983 ]

    ``Lg. trade pb. Indexed by stylistic & characteristic features.
    Shows A-Z, a-z, 0-9 in primary figures, whether lining or ranging.
    Particularly distinctive sorts are marked for ease of comparison.
    Separate tables collect the distinctive characters for assistance
    in identifying a sample.'' [ wdr ]

    English Printers' Ornaments, Henry R. Plomer, Burt Franklin

    Paragraphs on Printing, Bruce Rogers, [ Rudge ] Dover,
    0-486-23817-2

    Digital Typography: An Introduction to Type and Composition for
    Computer System Design, Richard Rubinstein, Addison-Wesley,
    Reading, Massachusetts: 1988. 340pp.

    For people who are disappointed with how the type looks on the
    laser, this book explains the subleties of that medium and of the
    screen that others miss. This is a study of the Human Factors of
    computer typographic systems. [ wdr ]

    The Case for Legibility, John Ryder, The Bodley Head,
    0-370-30158-7, Z250.A4

    The Solotype Catalog of 4,147 Display typefaces, Dan X. Solo,
    Dover, 0-486-27169-2, Z250.5.D57S654 19

    ``Working catalog of a specialty Graphics Arts shop. They use
    proprietary optical special effects techniques to get Desktop
    Publishing effects, and more, without the laser-printer grain.
    Great listing of 19th Century Decorated Types -- probably the
    largest collection in the world. Prices to order headlines from
    them are NOT cheap however. Their services are for professional or
    serious hobby use only. Solo's previous Dover books show some
    number of complete alphabets of a general peculiar style; this one
    shows small fragments of his entire usable collection, important as
    an index. (According to private correspondence, they have more
    faces that have not yet been restored to usable condition.) Not
    well indexed, but indexed.'' [ wdr ]

    Stop Stealing Sheep & find out how type works, Erik Spiekermann &
    E.M. Ginger., Adobe Press, 1993

    Introductory, motivational. If you wonder why there are so many
    type faces in the world, this is the book for you! [ Liam ] [ The
    title refers to the old joke: ``A man who would letterspace
    lowercase would also steal sheep.'' [ wdr ] ]

    The Art & Craft of Handmade Paper, Vance Studley, Dover,
    0-486-26421-1, TS1109.S83 1990

    Letters of Credit, Walter Tracey, Godine Press

    ``I can't recommend this too highly. It's not as introductory as
    the Sheep Book, but conveys a feeling of love and respect for the
    letter forms, and covers a lot of ground very, very well.'' [ Liam
    ]

    Printing Types: Their History, Forms & Use, Daniel Berkely Updike,
    Harvard University Press, reprint by Dover.

    The standard reference. Tour-de-force history of type and
    type-styles. A trifle conservative in its biases, but typography is
    conservative for good reason: readibility. Check the addenda for
    his final words on newer faces. [ wdr ]

    1. I believe the Dover edition to be 3 vols Pbk; both the
    collectable and later Harvard U.P. editions were two vols hbk.

    2. I am informed by my bookseller & Books In Print that the Dover
    edition is out of print. *sigh* If a source be known, let me know.
    Collectible HUP eds are not cheap, although later HUP eds may be
    had. Most libararies have later HUP or Dover eds. [ wdr ]

    Modern Encyclopedia of Typefaces, 1960-90, Lawrence W. Wallis, Van
    Nostrand Reinhold, 0-442-30809-4, Z250.W238 1990

    ``Gives examples of most typefaces, almost all digital, designed &
    distributed in the last 30 years. Cross indexed by foundry and
    designer, and sources and looks-likes. Some historical bits. Shows
    full a-z,A-Z,0-9, a few points (punctuation); and 0-9 again if both
    lining and oldstyle supplied. Only complaint is that it omits small
    caps even from what few fonts have 'em and the accented characters,
    of which most have some but too few. List $ 25.'' [ wdr ]

    About Alphabets: Some Marginal Notes on Type Design, Hermann Zapf,
    MIT Press, 0-262-74003-6

    Hermann Zapf & His Design Philosophy, Hermann Zapf, Society of
    Typographic Arts, Chicago

    ``Anything about, by, or vaguely connected with Hermann Zapf is
    probably worth reading several times :-)'' [ Liam ]

    Manuale Typographicum, Hermann Zapf, MIT Press, 0-262-74004-4

    There are two books of this title (portrait and landscape); this is
    the only mass-market edition of either. Both are Zapf's selections
    of interesting typographical quotations in his inimitable display
    typography. [ wdr ]

    Microsoft Windows 3.1 Programmer's Reference, Microsoft Press.

    Documents the Panose system of typeface classification. Probably
    contains a general discussion of TrueType under MS Windows 3.1.

    Introduction to Typography, 3rd ed, Faber, London, 1962.

    A very good introduction for any beginner. Also discusses things
    like illustrations and cover design, although not in great detail.

    Simon was a purist, as the editor of the 3rd edition remarks. He
    did not mention phototypesetting in his original edition, but some
    observations on its uses and abuses have since been added. Anders
    Thulin <ath@linkoping.trab.se>

    [ ed: additional bibliographic information appears in the file
    ``Additional-bibliography'' on
    ibis.cs.umass.edu:/pub/norm/comp.fonts. I have not yet had time to
    integrate this bibliographic information into the FAQ ]

Subject: 1.19. (En)Coding Standards 

    Unicode Consortium; The Unicode Standard, volumes 1 and 2,
    Worldwide Character Encoding, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.

    Unicode consortium e-mail address is: <
    unicode-inc@hq.m4.metaphor.com>

    To obtain more information on Unicode or to order their printed
    material and/or diskettes

    Steven A. Greenfield

    Unicode Office Manager

    1965 Charleston Road

    Mountain View, CA 94043

    Tel. 415-966-4189

    Fax. 415-966-1637

    Xerox Character Code Standard, Xerox Corp., Xerox Systems
    Institute, 475 Oakmead Parkway, Sunnyvale, CA 94086

Subject: 1.20. TrueType 

    George Moore <georgem@microsoft.com> announces the following
    information regarding TrueType fonts:

    ``I am pleased to announce that there is now one central location
    for all official Microsoft TrueType information available on the
    Internet. The 9 files listed below are available for anonymous ftp
    access on ftp.uu.net (137.39.1.9) in the
    /vendor/microsoft/TrueType-Info directory. The most important of
    those files is the TrueType Font Files Specifications, a 400 page
    book which describes in excruciating detail how to build a TrueType
    font. Other information is also available in the same directory and
    other files will be added from time to time.

    For those people who do not have ftp access to the Internet can
    find the same information available for downloading on Compuserve
    in the Microsoft developer relations forum (GO MSDR) in the
    TrueType library.

    Please be aware that the TrueType specifications is a copyrighted
    work of Microsoft and Apple and can not be resold for profit.

    TrueType developer information files on ftp.uu.net:

   1. ttspec1.zip, ttspec2.zip, and ttspec3.zip

      The TrueType Specification:

      These three compressed files contain the ``TrueType Font Files
      Specifications'', a 400 page book complete with illustrations
      which details how to construct a TrueType font from scratch (or
      build a tool to do so), the TrueType programming language, and
      the complete format of each sub-table contained in the .TTF file.
      These documents are stored in Word for Windows 2.0 format and
      require Windows 3.1 for printing. See the ``readme.doc'' (in
      ttspec1.zip) for printing instructions. Requires 2.5MB of disk
      space after uncompression.

      This manual is a superset of the similar specifications from
      Apple and has added information specific to Windows that is not
      present in the Apple version.

   2. ttfdump.zip

      An MS-DOS executable which will dump the contents of a TrueType
      font out in a human-readable fashion. It allows you to dump the
      entire font, or just specific sub-tables. This tool, combined
      with the specifications above, allows very effective debugging or
      exploration of any TrueType font. For example, to dump the
      contents of the 'cmap' (character code to glyph index mapping)
      table, enter:

      ttfdump fontname.ttf -tcmap -nx

      Entering ``ttfdump'' with no options will give you a help
      message.

   3. ttfname.zip

      Example C source code on how to parse the contents of a TrueType
      font. Although this particular example will open up the file and
      locate the font name contained within the 'name' table, it could
      be readily adapted to parse any other structure in the file. This
      compressed zip file also contains many useful include files which
      have pre-defined structures set up for the internal tables of a
      TrueType font file. This code may be useful for developers who
      wish to parse the TrueType data stream returned by the
      GetFontData() API in Windows 3.1.

   4. tt-win.zip

      A 31 page Word for Windows 2.0 document which is targeted for the
      Windows developer who is interested in learning about some of the
      capabilities TrueType adds to Windows 3.1. Contains many
      illustrations.

   5. embeddin.zip

      A text file which describes all of the information necessary for
      a Windows developer to add TrueType font embedding capabilities
      to their application. Font embedding allows the application to
      bundle the TrueType fonts that were used in that document and
      transport it to another platform where the document can be viewed
      or printed correctly.

   6. tt-talk.zip

      The TrueType Technical Talks 1 and 2. These text files describe
      some of the things that are happening with TrueType behind the
      scenes in Windows 3.1. The first document walks the reader
      through all of the steps that occur from when the user first
      presses the key on the keyboard until that character appears on
      the screen (scaling, hinting, drop out control, caching and
      blitting). The second talk describes one of the unique features
      of TrueType called non-linear scaling which allows the font
      vendor to overcome some of the physical limitations of low
      resolution output devices.

   7. lucida.zip

      This text file contains useful typographic information on the 22
      Lucida fonts which are contained in the Microsoft TrueType Font
      Pack for Windows. It gives pointers on line-layout, mixing and
      matching fonts in the family and a little history on each
      typeface. This information was written by the font's designers,
      Chuck Bigelow & Kris Holmes.''

Subject: 1.21. Unicode Information 

    [ ed: This is a summary of the Unicode info I've gleaned from the
    net recently, the whole Unicode issue needs to be addressed better
    by the FAQ...someday... someday...I'll get to reorganize the whole
    thing ]

1.21.1. Unicode Editing 

    James Matthew Farrow contributes:

    I use `sam' for all by text editing. It is X editor based on an
    editor for the blit called jim. Papers describing sam as well as a
    distribution of sam itself are available for ftp from
    research.att.com. The sam there is a Unix port of the Plan 9
    version. Plan 9 is a full unicode operating system, even around
    before NT! The libraries sam is built upon therefore support 16 bit
    wide characters. The graphics library, supplied with it at present
    does not. However they may be planning to distribute a new version
    which does soon. The library just plugs in replacing the library
    that comes with sam. No modification is necessary. Character are
    stored using the utf-2 encoding.

    All of the files I had before I started working with sam were 7 bit
    ascii so no conversion was needed. Now I have ditched xterm in
    favour of 9term: a terminal emulator in the style of 81/2 (the Plan
    9 interface). This lets me type Unicode characters on the command
    line, as part of filenames, in mail, wherever and most Unix
    utilities cope without modification. This is about to be released.
    I'm looking for beta testers. ;-)

    Is a special keyboard required?

    No. ASCII Characters are typed as normal. Common characters above
    0x7f are typed using two letter abbreviations. The table is similar
    to the troff special character codes, e.g, Alt-12 gives you a 1/2,
    Alt-'e gives you e acute, Alt-bu a bullet and so on. This table is
    hardwired into the library at present but is trivial to change.
    Other codes are accessed by typing their hex value, for instance
    the smiley is Alt-X263a (0x263a being a smiley character in the
    Unicode character set).

    Is roman-to-Unicode conversion available?

    All normal 7 bit ascii characters are encoded as themselves so no
    translation is needed. There are conversion routines in the library
    (runetochar and chartorune) which will do the conversion and it
    should be pretty simple to convert files already in another format.
    You would have to write something to do the transliteration
    yourself. A small patch to the system would let you enter different
    language `modes' for text entry.

Subject: 1.22. Are there PostScript or TrueType fonts available? 

    Apparently there is a version of the Lucida fonts by Bigelow and
    Holmes which support Unicode. This is the information I have on
    them.

    [ ed: quoting another source ]

    [ Windows NT ] will ship with a Unicode TrueType font containing
    approximately 1,500 characters. The font is called "Lucida Sans
    Unicode" and was specifically designed by Bigelow and Holmes for
    Microsoft to contain the following Unicode sets:

  ASCII
  Latin 1
  European Latin
  Extended Latin
  Standard Phonetic
  Modifier Letters
  Generic Diacritical
  Greek
  Cyrillic
  Extended Cyrillic
  Hebrew
  Currency Symbols
  Letterlike Symbols
  Arrows
  Mathematical Operators
  Super & Subscript
  Form & Chart Components
  Blocks
  Geometric Shapes
  Miscellaneous Technical
  Miscellaneous Dingbats

    The bitmap fonts which comes with the utf version of the libXg
    graphics library (the library upon which sam is built) support a
    sparse subset of the full character set. That is, only a few of
    them have glyphs at present. A font editor such as xfedor would let
    you add more. The list of those currently available is pretty much
    as the above list.

    I use 9term and sam as a matter of course now and have for several
    months. I enjoy the convenience of putting special characters and
    accented characters in my mail as well as being able to do some
    phonetic work all in the one terminal/editor suite.

Subject: 1.23. Can I Print Checks with the MICR Font? 

    This comes up all the time: standard ordinary laser toner is
    magnetic and will be read by the banks. The gotcha is that standard
    laser toner rubs off in the *very* high-speed sorting equipment
    that are used, and this makes read rates drop low and the banks
    will hate you.

    I researched check printers for a customer, and was surprised to
    find this. The Troy(tm) printers he bought are basically stock
    Ricoh engines that have slightly tighther paper handling (for
    registration), plus they add a proprietary Teflon-type power
    coating on the output path to coat the checks.

    I saw some examples of checks printed with and without this special
    coating after running through something like 40 passes through
    check processing equipment, and the one without the coating was a
    mess. These require special handling that the banks do *not* like.
    Apparently, they go after companies that issue these kinds of
    checks with special processing fees.

Subject: 1.24. Rules of Thumb 

    It is difficult to set out guidelines for font usage, because
    almost any rule can be brilliantly broken under the right
    circumstances.

    * General guidelines:

       * Never lose track of the kind of work you're doing. An effect
         that would ruin a newsletter might be just the thing for a
         record cover. Know when you can safely sacrifice legibility
         for artistic effect.

       * Keep in mind the final reproduction process you'll be using.
         Some effects (like reversed type, white on black) can be hard
         to read off an ordinary 300-dpi laser, but will work if finals
         are done on a high-resolution printer, such as a Linotronic.
         Will the pages be photocopied? Offset? Onto rough paper, shiny
         paper? All these factors can and should influence your choice
         of fonts and how you use them.

       * Running some comparative tests is a good idea. Better to blow
         off a few sheets of laser paper now than to see a problem
         after thousands of copies are made.

       * No one can teach you font aesthetics; it must be learned by
         example. Look at beautiful magazines, posters, books with wide
         eyes, so that you can see how it's done. Examine ugly printed
         matter critically and consider why it's hard to read.

    * Good rules of thumb:

       * If you need a condensed font, find one that was designed that
         way, rather than scaling an existing font down to a
         percentage. Any scaling distorts a font's design; excessive
         scaling interferes with legibility - this goes for widening as
         well as narrowing. Extended faces do exist, although they
         aren't as common as condensed ones.

       * Many people feel that bold or italic type, or type in ALL
         CAPS, is more legible: ``This is the most important part of
         the newsletter, let's put it in bold.'' In fact, legibility
         studies show that such type is actually harder to read in
         bulk. Keep the text in a normal style and weight, and find
         another way to emphasize it - box it, illustrate it, run it in
         color, position it focally.

       * Too much reverse type - white on black - is hard on the eyes.
         It can be a nice effect if used sparingly. Don't reverse a
         serif font, though - its details will tend to fill in. Stick
         to reversing bold sans-serifs, and remember to space them out
         a bit more than usual.

       * It is always safest to use a plain serif font for large
         amounts of text. Because Times is widely used, it doesn't mean
         it should be avoided. Fonts like Palatino, Times, Century Old
         Style are deservedly popular because people can read a lot of
         text set in such faces without strain.

         Don't expect anyone to read extensive text set in a condensed
         font.

       * As point size gets bigger, track tighter, and (if the software
         allows) reduce the spacebands as well. A spaceband in a
         headline size (anything over 14 point) should be about as wide
         as a letter ``i''.

       * If you only have a few large headlines, hand-kerning the type,
         pair by pair, can make the end result much more pleasing.
         Besides, working with fonts this closely makes them familiar.

       * Column width and justification are major elements in design.
         The narrower the column, the smaller the type can be; wide
         rows of small type are very hard to read. Often it's a better
         idea to set narrow columns flush left rather than justified,
         otherwise large gaps can fall where hyphenation isn't
         possible.

       * Use curly quotes.

       * Don't put two spaces at the end of a line (. ) instead of (. )
         when using a proportionally spaced font.

Subject: 1.25. Acknowledgements 

    The moderators would like to express their gratitude to the whole
    community for providing insightful answers to innumerable
    questions. In particular, the following people (listed
    alphabetically) have contributed directly to this FAQ (apologies,
    in advance if anyone has been forgotten):
                        Masumi Abe <abe@keleida.com>

                       Glenn Adams <glenn@metis.COM>

                 Borris Balzer <borris@boba.rhein-main.DE>

                Charles A. Bigelow <bigelow@cs.stanford.edu>

                    David J. Birnbaum <djbpitt@pitt.edu>

                Tim Bradshaw <tim.bradshaw@edinburgh.ac.UK>

                      Arlen Britton <arlenb@mcad.edu>

                       Stan Brown <brown@ncoast.org>

                Scott Brumage <brumage@mailer.acns.fsu.edu>

                     Lee Cambell <elwin@media.mit.edu>

                 Terry Carroll <tjc50@juts.ccc.amdahl.com>

                        Ari Davidow <ari@netcom.com>

                     Pat Farrell <pfarrell@cs.gmu.edu>

                  James Matthew Farrow <matty@cs.su.oz.au>

                Stephen Friedl <friedl@mtndew.Tustin.CA.US>

                  Yossi Gil <yogi@techunix.technion.ac.IL>

               Timothy Golobic <an314@cleveland.Freenet.EDU>

                   Kesh Govinder <govinder@ph.und.ac.za>

                     Rick Heli <Rick.Heli@Eng.Sun.COM>

                 Jeremy Henderson <jeremy@castle.ed.ac.uk>

                      Gary <Gocek.Henr801C@Xerox.COM>

                    Berthold K.P. Horn <bkph@ai.mit.edu>

                   Don Hosek <dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu>

                     Bharathi Jagadeesh <bjag@nwu.edu>

                Chang Jin-woong <jwjang@krissol.kriss.re.kr>

                       David Lemon <lemon@adobe.com>

                           Jon <jgm@cs.brown.EDU>

                       ??? <vkautto@snakemail.hut.FI>

                       ??? <robertk@lotatg.lotus.COM>

                  David Mandl <dmandl@bilbo.shearson.com>

                 Kate McDonnell <C_MCDON@pavo.concordia.ca>

                    George Moore <georgem@microsoft.com>

                   Robert Morris <ram@claude.cs.umb.EDU>

                   Stephen Moye <SMOYE@BROWNVM.brown.edu>

                 Terry O'Donnell <odonnell@mv.us.adobe.COM>

                   Stephen Peters <speters@us.oracle.COM>

                     Bill Phillips <wfp@world.std.com>

                       Jim Reese <Jim.Rees@umich.edu>

                      Bill Ricker <wdr@world.std.com>

                           Liam Quin <lee@sq.com>

                            Henry Schneiker <?>

                  Bill Shirley <bshirley@gleap.jpunix.COM>

                Cameron Smith <cameron@symcom.math.uiuc.edu>

                     Werenfried Spit <SPIT@vm.ci.uv.ES>

                       Anthony Starks <ajs@merck.com>

                     Ike Stoddard <stoddard@draper.com>

                   Anders Thulin <ath@linkoping.trab.se>

                    Erik-Jan Vens <E.J.Vens@icce.rug.nl>

                      Amanda Walker <amanda@visix.com>

Subject: 1.26. A Brief Introduction to Typography 

    Space, time, and bandwidth are too limiting to provide a complete
    introduction to typography in this space. I'd be very willing to
    make one available for anonymous ftp, if you want to write one, but
    I'm not going to write it--I have neither the time nor the
    expertise. However, the following description of Times, Helvetica,
    and Courier will suffice for a start. For more information, several
    books on typography are listed in the bibliography.

1.26.1. Comments by Laurence Penney: 

    Laurence Penney <L.O.R.Penney@cm.cf.ac.uk> offers the following
    description of Times, Helvetica, and Courier:

    Times is a typeface designed in the 1930s for the Times newspaper
    in London and is now used widely in books, magazines and DTP. Its
    design is based on the typographical principles evolved since Roman
    times (upper case) and the 16th century (lower case). It is called
    a TRANSITIONAL typeface, after the typefaces of the 17th century
    which it resembles. Like all typefaces designed for typesetting
    large quantities of text, it is proportionally spaced: the i takes
    about a third the width of an M. Personally I don't like Times too
    much and prefer the more elegant Garamond and Baskerville, but
    these will probably cost you money... Note: The Transitionals came
    after the Old Styles (like Garamond) and before the Moderns (like
    Bodoni).

    Helvetica is an example of a SANS-SERIF typeface. These first
    appeared in the late 19th century in Germany and flourished in the
    1920s and 30s, when they were regarded as the future of typography.
    It's more a geometric design than the humanist design of Gill Sans,
    but less geometric than Avant Garde and Futura. To my mind it lacks
    elegance, and Adrian Frutiger's Univers shows how this kind of
    typeface should be done. (Just compare the B, R, Q, a, g of Univers
    and Helvetica to see what I mean -- and don't you just love
    Univers's superbly interpreted ampersand ?!) Helvetica is one of
    the few fonts that is improved by its BOLD version.

    Another interesting approach to sans-serif is Optima, by Hermann
    Zapf, which keeps the stroke-weight variations which sans-serifs
    usually reject. Use sans-serif fonts for the same applications as
    Times, above, but where you're less concerned with elegance, and
    more with a functional appearance - they're generally reckoned to
    be slightly less legible than good serifed fonts. They're also very
    suitable for display work.

    Courier is a typeface derived from typewriter styles. It should
    ONLY be used when you want to simulate this effect (e.g. when
    writing letters Courier usually appears ``friendlier'' than Times).
    Like all typewriter fonts, it is MONOSPACED (characters all have
    the same width) and is thus suitable for typesetting computer
    programs. However there are nicer looking monospace fonts than
    Courier (which has oversize serifs), that still remain distinct
    from the text fonts like Times and Helvetica. A good one is OCR-B,
    designed by Frutiger. Note that monospaced fonts are less
    economical on space than proportional fonts.

    [ ed: Following the original posting of this message, Laurence
    Penny and Jason Kim <kim3@husc.harvard.edu> discussed the issue
    privately. The following summary of their discussion may serve to
    clarify some of the more subtle points. My thanks to Laurence and
    Jason for allowing me to include this in the FAQ.

    ------------------------------

    LP-1> The Transitionals came after the Old Styles (like Garamond)
    and before the Moderns (like Bodoni).

    JK> Not necessarily true! Ideologically, yes, but not
    chronologically. I believe, for example, that Bodoni predates New
    Century Schoolbook or some such typeface.

    LP-2> What I meant by ``X came after Y'' was ``the first examples
    of X appeared after the first examples of Y'' -- it's called
    precis. Some people still make steam trains, but you can still say
    ``Steam engines came before diesels.'' This is chronological, not
    ideological in my

    ------------------------------

    LP-1> Another interesting approach to sans-serif is Optima, by
    Hermann Zapf, which keeps the stroke-weight variations which
    sans-serifs usually reject. Use sans-serif fonts for the same
    applications as Times, above, but where you're less concerned with
    elegance, and more with a functional appearance - they're generally
    reckoned to be slightly less legible than good seriffed fonts.
    They're also very suitable for display work.

    JK> Slightly? I have several textbooks typeset by utter fools and
    they are a pain in the ass (and eyes) to read! Please don't
    encourage anyone to use Optima (or any sans serif fonts for that
    matter) ``for the same applications as Times,'' which, need I
    remind you, was designed for *newspaper* work!!

    LP-2> OK, maybe I was a little over-generous to Univers, Helvetica,
    etc., but I think variation is extremely important in typography.
    Have you ever read the British magazine ``CAR'' ? That uses
    Helvetica light (I think) in a very legible and attractive way,
    IMO. I agree, though, Optima is crappy for text, but it's a very
    valuable experiment and looks beautiful when printed in high
    quality for titling, etc. And yes, *books* in Helvtica are
    generally

    ------------------------------

    JK> Serifs have been scientifically shown to be a *lot* easier on
    the reader, as they guide the eyes along the lines.

    LP-2> In all tests I've seen the serifs have always won the day,
    but only with certain seriffed fonts, and fonts like Univers aren't
    far behind. The ``tracking'' advantage for serif fonts is reduced
    when you're talking about narrow newspaper/magazine

    ------------------------------

    JK> You wrote a pretty short and partial history of type. Why
    ignore the roots of type (blackletter) as well as the climax
    (moderns--give an explanation) and subsequent 'post-modern'
    revivals?

    LP-2> I was just talking about the place the 3 most common DTP
    types hold in the history of typography, and a few associated
    pitfalls. It wasn't meant as a ``history of typography'' at all.
    Please feel free to provide such a history yourself.

    JK> I think any short list of specific faces is incomplete without
    mention of Palatino, the most popular Old Style revival in
    existence.

    LP-2> Do you? To my mind Palatino is grossly overused. You must
    agree it looks bad for dense text. It isn't a proper ``oldstyle
    revival'' at all, more of a ``calligraphic interpretation'' of it.
    Zapf designed it as a display face, and wasn't too concerned about
    lining up the serifs (check out the ``t''). And it just *has* to be
    printed on 1200dpi devices (at least) to look good in small sizes.
    OK then, maybe a short list is incomplete without a caution NOT to
    use Palatino...

    JK> Also, if this is meant to be a ``quick history/user guide for
    those fairly new to using fonts on desktop publishing systems,''
    then I would recommend more directions about the proper uses of
    certain faces (e.g., Goudy for shaped text, Peignot for display
    *only*) and styles (e.g., italics for editorial comments, all-caps
    for basically nothing).

    LP-2> Okay, okay. I was only sharing a few ideas, not trying to
    write a book. Surely you agree that the 3 typefaces I chose are by
    far the most commonly used and abused these days? I don't think a
    discussion of Goudy or Peignot fits in very well here, unless we're
    hoping to make a very wide-ranging FAQL. Regarding styles: first,
    italics are used principally for *emphasis* (rather than bold in
    running text); second, all good books have a few small caps here
    and there, don't they? - all mine do...

    JK> Sorry if I come across as critical. I think the idea of making
    a FAQL is a good one, as is your effort. We just have to make sure
    it doesn't give any newbies the wrong impressions and further
    perpetuate the typographical morass we're facing today.

    LP-2> Sorry if I come across as defensive, but I stand by what I
    said and object to the suggestion that I am ``perpetuating the
    typographical morass''. (I don't know if you really intended this -
    apologies if you didn't.)

1.26.2. Comments by Don Hosek: 

    Don Hosek offers the following additional notes:

    The ``Times'' in most printers is actually a newer version of the
    font than Monotype's ``Times New Roman'' which it is originally
    based on. Walter Tracy's _Letters of Credit_ gives an excellent
    history of the face which was based on Plantin and in the original
    cutting has metrics matching the original face almost exactly.
    Another interesting note about the face is that it is almost a
    completely different design in the bold: this is due to the fact
    that old-styles are difficult to design as a bold. Incidentally,
    the classification of Times as a transitional is not firm. It
    likely is placed there by some type taxonomists (most notably
    Alexander Lawson) because of the bold and a few minor features.
    Others, myself included, think of it as a old style. The typeface
    listed in the Adobe catalog as Times Europa was a new face
    commissioned in 1974 to replace the old Times (whose 50th birthday
    was this past October 3rd).

    Hermann Zapf is not particularly pleased with any of the
    phototypesetting versions of Optima. As a lead face, Optima is very
    beautiful. His typeface ``World'', used in the World Book
    Encyclopedia is one recutting for photocomp which improves the font
    somewhat. He is on record as saying that if he had been asked, he
    would have designed a new font for the technology.

Subject: 1.27. Pronounciation of Font Names 

    Below each of the following font names, a suggested English
    pronounciation is given. This information was collected from a
    (relatively) long discussion on comp.fonts. If you disagree, or
    have other suggestions, please let me know.

    1.27.1 Arnold Boecklin

    ``Ar'' as in car, ``nold'' as in ``old'' with an ``n'' on the
    front. ``Boeck'' is tricker. The ``oe'' is actually an umlaut ``o''
    in German, and the closest sound to most English speakers is an
    ``er''. So try ``Berklin'' if you want to come close to the
    original. Otherwise, just say ``Boklin'', with a long o, like in
    ``boat''.

    1.27.2 Benguiat

    Ben-Gat. This according to an ITC brochure.

    1.27.3 Courier

    I would pronounce Courier not like Jim Courier, but the French way:
    Ku-rie, where ``Ku'' is pronounced like ``coo'', only short, and
    ``rie'' is pronounced ``ree-eh''.

    1.27.4 Didot

    Stressed at the last syllable. ``Dee-DOOH'' (not nasal).

    1.27.5 Fette Fraktur

    ``Fet'' as in ``get'' with a ``te'' that rhymes with ``way''.
    ``Frak'' rhymes with ``mock'', and ``tur'' with ``tour''.

    1.27.6 Fenice

    Feh-nee'-chey

    1.27.7 Garamond

    ``Gara-'': Use a french ``r'' instead of an english one. Both
    ``a''s are pronounced like the ``u'' in the word ``up''. ``-mond'':
    the last syllable is stressed, and you don't pronounce the ``n''
    and ``d'', but the whole ``ond'' is a nasal ``o''. Hold your nose
    closed and say ``Ooh'', then you get the right sound. The ``ant''
    in ``Avant-Garde'' is very similar to this sound, it is a nasal
    situated between ``a'' and ``o''.

    1.27.8 Helvetica

    Hell-veh'-ti-ka

    1.27.9 Koch Roman

    Pronounced like scottish `Loch', but with K instead of L.

    1.27.10 LaTeX

    Lamport lists lah'-tech, lah-tech', lay'-tech and lay'-tecks as
    valid on p.4. Last I talked to him he'd settled into lay'-tech
    which has always been my pronunciation as well. Somewhere, I heard
    that LL does explicitly rule out L.A.-tech, but he's from northern
    California which explains a lot.

    1.27.11 Mos Eisley

    moss eyes-lee

    1.27.12 Novarese

    No-vahr-ay'-zay

    1.27.13 Palatino

    pa-la-TEEN-oh

    1.27.14 Peignot

    There's some contention here, suggested pronouncations:

    pay-nyoh'

    ``P'' like ``P'' in `Post'', ``ei'' like ``a'' in ``fan'', ``gn''
    like ``n'' in ``noon'' plus ``y'' in ``yes'', ``ot'' -- long,
    closed ``o'' (I don't know English examples), stressed.

    ``P'' like ``P'' in `Post'', ``ei'' like ``a'' in ``many'', ``gn''
    like ``n'' in ``noon'' plus ``y'' in ``yes'', ``ot'' -- long,
    closed ``o'' (I don't know English examples), stressed.

    1.27.15 Sabon

    Sah-bon'

    1.27.16 TeX

    Rhymes with Blech, (as in ``Blech, that tasted awfull!'')

    1.27.17 Veljovic

    Vel'-yo-vitch

    1.27.18 Zapf

    Like ``tsapf''. The ``a'' is pronounced like a short version of the
    well known tongue-depresser vowel ``aaahhh''. Perhaps a better
    English analogy would be the ``o'' in ``hop'' or ``hops''.

Subject: 1.28. What does `lorem ipsum dolor' mean? 

    `Lorem ipsum dolor' is the first part of a nonsense paragraph
    sometimes used to demonstrate a font. It has been well established
    that if you write anything as a sample, people will spend more time
    reading the copy than looking at the font. The ``gibberish'' below
    is sufficiently like ordinary text to demonstrate a font but
    doesn't distract the reader. Hopefully.

    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetaur adipisicing elit, sed do
    eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim
    ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut
    aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in
    reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla
    pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in
    culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum Et harumd und
    lookum like Greek to me, dereud facilis est er expedit distinct.
    Nam liber te conscient to factor tum poen legum odioque civiuda. Et
    tam neque pecun modut est neque nonor et imper ned libidig met,
    consectetur adipiscing elit, sed ut labore et dolore magna aliquam
    makes one wonder who would ever read this stuff? Bis nostrud
    exercitation ullam mmodo consequet. Duis aute in voluptate velit
    esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. At vver eos et accusam
    dignissum qui blandit est praesent luptatum delenit aigue excepteur
    sint occae. Et harumd dereud facilis est er expedit distinct. Nam
    libe soluta nobis eligent optio est congue nihil impedit doming id
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, set
    eiusmod tempor incidunt et labore et dolore magna aliquam. Ut enim
    ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerc. Irure dolor in reprehend
    incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim
    veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip
    ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in
    voluptate velit esse molestaie cillum. Tia non ob ea soluad
    incommod quae egen ium improb fugiend. Officia deserunt mollit anim
    id est laborum Et harumd dereud facilis est er expedit distinct.
    Nam liber te conscient to factor tum poen legum odioque civiuda et
    tam. Neque pecun modut est neque nonor et imper ned libidig met,
    consectetur adipiscing elit, sed ut labore et dolore magna aliquam
    is nostrud exercitation ullam mmodo consequet. Duis aute in
    voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. At
    vver eos et accusam dignissum qui blandit est praesent. Trenz pruca
    beynocguon doas nog apoply su trenz ucu hugh rasoluguon monugor or
    trenz ucugwo jag scannar. Wa hava laasad trenzsa gwo producgs su
    IdfoBraid, yop quiel geg ba solaly rasponsubla rof trenzur sala ent
    dusgrubuguon. Offoctivo immoriatoly, hawrgasi pwicos asi
    sirucor.Thas sirutciun applios tyu thuso itoms ghuso pwicos gosi
    sirucor in mixent gosi sirucor ic mixent ples cak ontisi sowios uf
    Zerm hawr rwivos. Unte af phen neige pheings atoot Prexs eis phat
    eit sakem eit vory gast te Plok peish ba useing phen roxas. Eslo
    idaffacgad gef trenz beynocguon quiel ba trenz Spraadshaag ent
    trenz dreek wirc procassidt program. Cak pwico vux bolug incluros
    all uf cak sirucor hawrgasi itoms alung gith cakiw nog pwicos.
    Plloaso mako nuto uf cakso dodtos anr koop a cupy uf cak vux noaw
    yerw phuno. Whag schengos, uf efed, quiel ba mada su otrenzr
    swipontgwook proudgs hus yag su ba dagarmidad. Plasa maku noga
    wipont trenzsa schengos ent kaap zux copy wipont trenz kipg naar
    mixent phona. Cak pwico siructiun ruos nust apoply tyu cak UCU
    sisulutiun munityuw uw cak UCU-TGU jot scannow. Trens roxas eis ti
    Plokeing quert loppe eis yop prexs. Piy opher hawers, eit yaggles
    orn ti sumbloat alohe plok. Su havo loasor cakso tgu pwuructs tyu
    InfuBwain, ghu gill nug bo suloly sispunsiblo fuw cakiw salo anr
    ristwibutiun. Hei muk neme eis loppe. Treas em wankeing ont sime
    ploked peish rof phen sumbloat syug si phat phey gavet peish ta
    paat ein pheeir sumbloats. Aslu unaffoctor gef cak siructiun gill
    bo cak spiarshoot anet cak GurGanglo gur pwucossing pwutwam. Ghat
    dodtos, ig pany, gill bo maro tyu ucakw suftgasi pwuructs hod yot
    tyubo rotowminor. Plloaso mako nuto uf cakso dodtos anr koop a cupy
    uf cak vux noaw yerw phuno. Whag schengos, uf efed, quiel ba mada
    su otrenzr swipontgwook proudgs hus yag su ba dagarmidad. Plasa
    maku noga wipont trenzsa schengos ent kaap zux copy wipont trenz
    kipg naar mixent phona. Cak pwico siructiun ruos nust apoply tyu
    cak UCU sisulutiun munityuw uw cak UCU-TGU jot scannow. Trens roxas
    eis ti Plokeing quert loppe eis yop prexs. Piy opher hawers, eit
    yaggles orn ti sumbloat alohe plok. Su havo loasor cakso tgu
    pwuructs tyu.

    [ This version was found on CompuServe. It differs from other
    versions I have seen in print, increasingly so as you go along. It
    almost looks computer-generated, doesn't it? ]