🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <119@ark1.nswc.navy.mil>, dsill@ark1.nswc.navy.mil (Dave Sill)
writes:
> Could somebody give me a nutshell explanation of how fonts work with
> PostScript, not from a PS programmer's perspective, but from a printer
> user's point-of-view?

Well, I'll give it s shot...

> What happens when a PS program requests a font that the printer
> doesn't know about?

This depends on which particular printer you are using.  In particular, the
"findfont" operator is often customized by printer manufacturers in order
to support things like loading fonts in from disk, and so on.  On an Apple
LaserWriter (and many other printers), the printer will send back a message
and return "Courier".  The PostScript program will continue
to execute, but all of the text until the next "findfont" or "setfont" will
show up in Courier.  Other printers may substitute different fonts, or
signal a PostScript error.

> What are the "standard" PS fonts?

As far as I know, there is no official "standard set."  However, the usual
minimum set is:

	Times-Roman
	Times-Italic
	Times-Bold
	Times-BoldItalic
	Helvetica
	Helvetica-Oblique
	Helvetica-Bold
	Helvetica-BoldOblique
	Courier
	Courier-Oblique
	Courier-Bold
	Courier-BoldOblique
	Symbol

This corresponds to the fonts that are built into the original Apple
LaserWriter.

> Are they all copyrighted by Adobe?

The PostScript programs that draw the fonts are.  The character outlines
themselves are usually either licensed from a type company such as ITC or
Mergenthaler, or proprietary to Adobe (the Stone typefaces, for instance).

> What are the differences between built-in and add-on fonts?

Nothing.  The built-in fonts are in ROM, and so you can't update them
when Adobe releases new versions, but aside from that, fonts is fonts.

> Can I add Adobe fonts to a non-Adobe PostScript-clone?

Not that I know of.  There are companies that claim to have reverse-engineered
Adobe's font technology, but as far as I know none of them have put such
a product on the market, out of legal considerations if nothing else.

> Most PS printers come with either 13 or 35 fonts.  What are they?

The 13 are usually the ones I listed above.  The 35-font set usually
corresponds to the font set in the Apple LaserWriter Plus, which also
includes all four style variations of:

	Avant Garde
	Bookman
	Palatino
	New Century Schoolbook
	Helvetica Narrow

as well as
	
	ZapfChancery-MediumItalic
	ZapfDingbats

for a total of 22 additional fonts.

> Is it possible to have one printer that can handle any PS file,
> regardless of the fonts used, perhaps by substituting for unavailable 
> fonts?

Sure.  That's what the LaserWriter does.

Hope this helps,

--
Amanda Walker
amanda@intercon.com