Font and typography related text, extracted from the various issues of "Woody's Office Watch", may be found below. The Font Pharos Reference page, linked above, may be used to more precisely locate matters of comment contained within the material below. This page contains column content from 1999. Column content from 1998 may be found here - Font Pharos Text from 1998
Font Pharos column content from issues of WWW after March 1999 are in the WWW Archives
Links in the WWW Archives, both pre and post March 1999 are live.
22 March 1999 Vol 2 No 6 (Woody's Windows Watch)
EVOLUTION HARD AT WORK - FONT CREATOR
A couple of columns back (and in another place - WOW issue 4.5)
I mentioned version 1.06 of a new font creation program called
"Font Creator". Six revisions later the product now
stands at version 1.1.1c with much work having taken place. Details
of the revisions are given on the Font Creator site. While the
current version still lacks in online help I found it easier to
move about and edit glyphs in an existing font. We watch the developments
with interest.
RE-ASSOCIATE MICROSOFT DEFAULT FONT VIEWER
As a result of playing with the aforesaid Font Creator program
I discovered that it had, without warning, installed itself as
the default association for TrueType font files. I often use the
trick of opening a ttf font with the right mouse button "Open"
command in order to (briefly) use that font in a document without
doing a full install. To find that the "Open" command
fired up Font Creator instead was somewhat annoying. It was even
more annoying to find that the default association was not reinstated
after using the Font Creator uninstall utility. Should this happen
to you, through using any program which changes the normal TrueType
open association, simply re-associate Fontview.exe, to be found
in the Windows folder, with the .ttf extension. This can be done
by going to Windows Explorer | View | Options (or Folder Options)
| File Types, then select the "TrueType Font file" registered
file type, click on "Edit", then select "Open"
and again click on the "Edit" button and finally browse
your Windows folder to find Fontview.exe as the "Application
used to perform action:". A potentially simpler method is
to hold down the shift key when right clicking a true type font
file to find the "Open" command and you will find an
additional alternative - "Open with.." Browse to find
Fontview and check the "Always use this program to open this
type of file" box.
DIXIE'S DELIGHTS CALLIGRAPHIC FONTS
Despite there being a zillion or more fonts "out there"
I am always on the lookout for fonts which display something more
in the way of craftsmanship (or in this case is it craftswomanship?)
than a tired old font which has been manipulated by some automatic
process and presented as something new.
Michelle Dixon has created a well crafted
font which caught my eye - she has called it Beautiful Ink. As
shareware she has bundled (for US$20) a six font calligraphic
set which includes Arrighi Copybook, Broken Letters, London House,
Decorative Italic Initials, Modern Scribe, and Beautiful Ink.
8 March 1999 Vol 2 No 5 (Woody's Windows Watch)
FONT PHAROS
Welcome to my first column in my new home. As most of you know,
The Font Pharos has been a long standing part of Woody's Office
Watch
KLEPTOMANIA
Kleptomania was first mentioned in my column on 25 November 1998
(WOW 3.50) when I said "It is a version 1.0 product which
deserves to be supported, as it has a particularly valuable use
in a fresh new area.". With this nifty product it is possible
to capture text data from Windows Explorer and Outlook folder
trees, application menus, icon names, as well as dialog and message
boxes. Any text you see on the screen can be captured and pasted
into your favorite programs.
We have now seen active work on this product which is at version
1.3. Pavel Senatorov has clearly responded to user input to bring
us his latest version which has added functions such as word counting
to its original premise, if you see some text data on the screen,
you can deal with it. StructuRise, a software development start
up, is located in Moscow, Russia. It's a small world isn't it?
Pavel's site contains quite a bit more information about the product.
TRANSTYPE FROM FONTLAB
The Pyrus \ FontLab folk have released a new utility (which I've
not tested, but would expect it to be up to their usual high standard).
This one is called TransType™ and is a small Mac application
which can convert Type 1 and TrueType fonts between Mac and PC.
Unlike other programs of this kind TransType (it is said) does
the conversion with full respect to code pages, encoding, font
suitcases, bitmap fonts and other features specific to Mac or
PC platform. It also allows the conversion of fonts in batch mode
(two-way conversion is possible as one operation) and produces
absolutely correct fonts. TransType can be used to produce production-quality
fonts. And, I see it is only $50! I also note that the same site
has a new utility, FONmaker, which is a powerful bitmap font creator
which can create Windows screen fonts, Windows font resources,
HP Soft Fonts, and BDF font files with it. Not a requirement for
all of us, but for those who need such a utility - here it is!
A couple of other updates well worth
re-visiting:
Brian Kinkel's Printer's Apprentice is now up to version 7.05.
Peter Theill's FontLister is now up to version 3.4.6.
10 February 1999 Vol 4 No 5 (Woody's Office Watch)
EXTENSIVE FONT LOCATION RESOURCE
The Internet Type Foundry Index is an ongoing project published
by Chris MacGregor to maintain a linked index to the home pages
of type foundries and distributors. This index is organised into
seven main categories to help you find your way around. They are:
New Additions - Listing's that have been added or updated in the last 30 days.
Distributors - Companies that distribute both their own and other foundries' typefaces.
Commercial Foundries A-L - Companies that design and sell their own typefaces.
Commercial Foundries M-Z - Companies that design and sell their own typefaces.
Other Foundries/Design Firms - Shareware foundries and other firms that design their own typefaces.
Type Designer - Designers who have their own page for their own designs
Type Resources - From software companies to type magazines and organisations, links that should be of interest to type lovers. For the index go to http://www.typeindex.com/linkstart.html
FONT CREATOR
A new, and at this time cheap, utility to assist you to modify
a font or modify characters within a font, can be found at http://www.high-logic.com/fcp.html
Now at version 1.0.6 Font Creator is a still developing font creation
program which has limits at this time. The help text is particularly
limited, and while a general tour through the program functions
hints of things to come, in current use its most valuable function
is perhaps the multiple undo. Toolbar button tool tips give the
only clue to some aspects of the program functions. This is one
worth watching to see a number of menu and toolbar items described
in greater detail. Future functionality of Font Creator is foreshadowed
to include, the creation of new .ttf files. Conversion of bitmaps
to glyphs with scanning functionality and the inclusion of a Help
file and other documentation.
MARY FORREST'S FREE FONT FIESTA
I enjoy it when a real sense of fun permeates the presentation
of a web site, and Mary Forrest's Free Font Fiesta site conveys
just that atmosphere. Self described as "Fontmonger to the
Masses" her site contains a range of free fonts, an extensive
list of font related links with the listed locations "reviewed"
(or perhaps better to say, commented upon) in a way which will
help the font surfer be selective about the next port of call.
If you were wondering where to find a font called "Rhoda
Dendron" look no further. Go to http://members.aol.com/mmqchome/fonts/fonts.htm
BUG OR A FEATURE? - FOLLOW UP
Last week I pointed to a "difference" in keystroke behaviour
between Symbol fonts and "the rest" and posed the question
"Bug or feature?" My thanks to those who took the time
to bring their views on this question to my attention. The general
thrust of the answers put to me may be summed up by quoting from
a message received from WOW friend, Nick FitzGerald, who is Editor
of the "Virus Bulletin".
Nick wrote "There is no such thing as a "space character" in a Symbol font! Many Symbol fonts do in fact have a space at the character position conventionally defined as "space" in non-symbol fonts, but there is no guarantee that that position will be occupied with a space - e.g. Adobe's ZapfDingbats has a white "2" on a black circle in the "space" location. Thus a "paragraph" is just a "single word" when set in a symbol font, so the Ctrl-Left/Right keys are working properly! Most interesting though, is that *some* symbol fonts will, in fact still Ctrl-Right, Ctrl-Left as "expected. Using the example above, ZapfDingbats works "as normal" even though the "space" is actually a fairly solid character!"
This may be obvious (wrote Jim S. to me), but when you show your nonprinting characters in a Word document containing Symbols fonts, you will notice that Symbol font spaces are not converted to the nonprintable "dot" character like a non-Symbol font space is. It appears that Symbol font spaces are not at all equivalent to non-Symbol font spaces, but more like a "blank" symbol or a picture of a space.
So we now have it that Type 1 Symbol
fonts behave in a different fashion to TrueType Symbol fonts,
as (some? all?) Type 1 Symbol fonts respond to the usual keystroke
moves. For those of you who are using Woody's Office Power Pack
(WOPR) the WOPR View Characters function (used on TrueType "Symbol"
font characters) produces some really bizarre ASCII codes, like
-3996 when it should have been code 100
for the "d" character. Are you getting confused? Me
too!
Then for something even more confusing try this (also brought to my attention by Jim S.) :- If something is typed using a non-Symbol font, it may be converted back and forth between Symbol fonts and non-Symbol fonts. However, if something is typed using a Symbol font, it can only be converted to another Symbol font. Now is that a bug or a feature? Again I'm open to comment, but please, while you are checking all this out don't let it destroy your working day.
INSERT SYMBOL FUNCTIONALITY - FOLLOW
UP
Bob A. adds this comment to the topic of showing any font in the
Insert Symbol dialogue box - "Just select the font you want
to look at in the main Formatting toolbar, then go to the Insert
Symbol dialog and select (normal text) in the Font name box. This
should display the font in effect at the time the dialog was invoked.
To change to a different font, you do have to close the Insert
Symbol dialog, change the font and re-enter, but it does work.
And don't forget to make use of the Subset selection box that
will appear with appropriate fonts." Thanks Bob. By the way
- guess what happens when you do this with the Type 1 font ZapfDingbats
selected through the formatting toolbar? Absolutely nothing. At
least the other Type 1 fonts I tested in this manner do show up,
although none of my Type 1 "Symbol" or dingbat fonts
will display in the Insert Symbol drop down font list. Why am
I not surprised?
That's enough for this week. I'm developing a real dislike for Symbol fonts!
MORE ON MONOSPACED FONTS
I commented on fixed pitch, or monospaced fonts, last issue and
subsequently received a message from Paul Neubauer on the subject.
Paul has created a vendor-neutral site on the subject where he
has written an extensive article on the circumstances and use
of monospaced fonts. He has also written his own review on about
2 dozen monospaced fonts from a number of sources, both Freeware
and payware. It seems his site is still evolving with even more
monospaced fonts to be reviewed, but as I see it Paul has created
a very handy resource on a niche subject. Visit Paul's site at
http://home.bsu.edu/prn/monofont/ and thanks to Paul for bringing
this to our attention. Paul has also created a page which contains
pointers to design-related information, including technical information
on how to execute typographical design on the World Wide Web,
as well as to sources for fonts that can be used on the Web and
elsewhere. Clearly Paul is a committed student of typography and
his http://home.bsu.edu/prn/type.html#Directory page is also well
worth a visit.
USING ASTROLOGICAL SYMBOLS
A reader sought help on creating a text document in which astrological
terms were to be used. What was wanted was a way to substitute
an astrological symbol for a word, without having to change fonts
and use the Numlock key for number codes. The aim can be achieved
by making use of Word's AutoCorrect facility, by replacing the
chosen symbol with several typed characters to trigger the substitution.
The trick is to have the astrological font loaded, choose that
font, and then the specific character and insert it into a document
- use the insert symbol routine if necessary to find the needed
symbol. Having chosen the required character and selected it,
go to Tools | AutoCorrect... and you should find that the selected
character is in the "With" box to the right of the "Replace"
box. More importantly, the button indicating that the replacement
will be with "Formatted text" should also be chosen.
Decide on the shorthand "word" to trigger the replacement,
enter it into the "Replace" box and click on Add at
the base of the dialogue box. That's it - next time you type the
shorthand trigger and hit the space bar the symbol should appear.
The reader also noted that while Wingdings does contain astrological symbols it has only a very few, far less than what an astrologer needs. For an alternative I suggest a visit to The Dingbat Pages http://dingbats.i-us.com/ then to the Esoteric section. Look for Astro - a shareware font by Laser Printing Solutions, or Astrological - a Freeware font by Peter Rempel.
INSERT SYMBOL FUNCTIONALITY
The Insert | Symbol dialogue in Word has been discussed from time
to time and, to me, it continues to exhibit peculiarities in day
to day use. However one of our astute readers (thanks Judith K)
points out that you can in fact use the Insert Symbol dialogue
box to preview any font and use the character insert features
in the normal way. The trick is simply to copy the desired font
name into the drop down list box and hit enter. The font name
may be copied in by typing it, or by using the time honoured copy
and paste, or Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V from the desired font displayed
on the formatting tool bar. The moment you scroll away from a
font name inserted in this way it will vanish again, so do all
that you will with it, at the time.
UNICODE FONT VIEWING
WOW reader Tim N. has brought to my attention the only font viewing
utility he's found (apart from Word's insert symbol dialog) that
lets you see ALL of a Unicode font. It's H. Eichman's ListFont,
and it's free and may be found at http://sun1.rrzn.uni-hannover.de/nhbieich/software.htm
BUG OR A FEATURE?
The Word Keyboard enthusiasts - those who prefer keystroke combinations
to "mouse-ing" around - may have run across a peculiar
inconsistency when using keystrokes to move about in your Word
document. Control-right arrow moves you to the start of the next
word and Control-left arrow reverses this procedure, doesn't it?
Well sometimes those keystrokes will take you directly to the
end of the paragraph (or to the start as the case may be). What
is it that determines the difference in behaviour? When Yeshe
D. asked me this question I couldn't see why the behaviour would
be font specific, but it is! The aberrant behaviour is, as far
as I can tell, specific to fonts which have been created and marked
as "symbol" fonts, even though they may not be of the
dingbat genus. A quick and dirty check on whether a font is marked
as a Symbol font is to see if it shows up in the Word | Insert
Symbol dialogue box list (although there are some fonts in that
list which are not marked as Symbol fonts - and that's another
story). I have a number of regular textual character fonts which
were created as Symbol fonts and they all exhibit this "funny"
behaviour. My question now is (are the Microsofties listening?)
is this different keystroke behaviour a bug or a feature? If the
latter, I wait with eager anticipation to hear the rationale.
CLEARTYPE TECHNOLOGY
You may have read a little about something called ClearType technology.
For a more complete exposition on the subject go to http://www.grc.com/cleartype.htm
The site description includes the following:- "The Genesis
of these pages was Microsoft's Comdex announcement of their new
breakthrough font rendering technology, dubbed "ClearType".
This announcement gave the industry a much needed wake-up call.
Although Microsoft mistakenly believed that they had discovered
something new, they certainly deserve the credit for helping to
bring years of prior display system research and development into
the forefront of personal computing practice." In particular
that site has a download demo of what is called 'sub pixel technology"
- Free&clear.exe, which provides a quick and very visual explanation
of how it works. Worth a look!
FIXED PITCH FONTS
I am asked from time to time for information on fixed pitch fonts
- that is those fonts which can be used in a document to line
up columns of figures, and so on, without wrecking the appearance
of the page (and without having to resort to using tables or decimal
tabs). Aside from the obvious "Courier", try the range
of fixed space fonts at the Scriptorium site at http://ragnarokpress.com/scriptorium/monospaced/
FONTSHOW
FontShow 3.0 is a small but slick TrueType font viewer created
by Gregory Braun of Software Design and may be found at http://www.execpc.com/~sbd/FontShow.html
The index page of Software Design is also worth a visit as Gregory
has created a series of small utilities which captured my attention,
and perhaps yours if you take a look. The index is at http://www.execpc.com/~sbd/index.html
SOFTY TUTORIAL
The inexpensive font creation package "Softy" has been
mentioned in this column in the past (WOW Volume 3 No 34). If
you are interested there is a neat online tutorial outlining the
use of "Softy" at http://www.netlabs.net/hp/eburke/
This tutorial covers such things as Basics, Ascenders, Kerning,
Scanned, Freehand, Using Antialias, Points, Spacing, Vertical
Fonts, and so on. This is the place to go for Softy information.
THE FONT PHAROS
Shedding some light on the mysterious world of fonts. Comments
or questions? Seek out Peter McDonell, 'The Font Pharos' direct
FontPharos@woodyswatch.com
TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR FONTS
ZDNet Computing magazine PC Computing has an interesting area
called "1001 Tips and Tricks" which in turn has a subsection
called "Take Control of Fonts". This is recommended
reading, and I'm not just saying that because it was contributed
by Woody and Peter [Hi Boss!!], but because of its content - go
to http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/hud0007500a/www.zdnet.com/pccomp/stories/tips/0,5730,369559,00.html
ZDNET's PC MAGAZINE FREE FONT UTILITIES
PC Magazine releases various free utilities from time to time.
In particular, FontViewer and FNTPRN are worth a look. FontViewer
can be found at http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/hud0007500a/hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/info.html?fcode=000Q0T&b=
and FNTPRN at http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/hud0007500a/hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/info.html?fcode=000OEX&b=
The interesting aspect of FontViewer is it's ability to sort your fonts by using filters to show only your choice of Serif or Sans Serif or Script or Fixed Space or Decorative and other font styles. FNTPRN provides a simple interface to create and print a font catalogue comprising your choices of the filter alternatives mentioned above, along with regular, bold, italic and bold italic variants. Under Win95 and Win98 FNTPRN will launch WordPad and the vehicle for composing the catalogue.
EURO IN THE NEWS
All of a sudden the Euro has taken front page and the Euro symbol
is being seen and used in financial circles. By way of recap,
we note that the Euro has been the subject of Font Pharos comment
on a number of occasions. WOW Volume 3 Issues 3 Nos 25, 37, 49,
50 and 53 all contain comment on the Euro. Go to http://www.mcbiz.com.au/FontPharos.html
for the Font Pharos archives. The insert symbol routine provides
the route to the simplest way, in my view, to insert a Euro symbol.
If the typeface being used has been updated to include the Euro
symbol (and if not go to http://www.microsoft.com/typography/faq/faq12.htm
for update information) then using Alt-e to insert the Euro symbol
could not be easier.
A LATE ANNUAL AWARD
And a belated award to one of the most helpful support folk I
have had the pleasure to deal with - Rico Davis at American Megatrends
(the AMIDiag people). If only all the people I contact across
the web had Rico's attitude the world would be a better place
(OK so this is nothing to do
with fonts, but I just had to say that to give my start to 1999
a good feeling).
YET ANOTHER FONT SOURCE
http://www.fontsnthings.com/ is the location of yet another (well
organised) font sourcing site. "Fonts & Things"
claims to provide a collection of the most unusual fonts online.
In particular a number of its pages have fonts cleverly arranged
by theme or subject such as Classic Designs, Cool, Fire &
Ice, Futuristic, Graffiti, Grunge, Handwritten, Hardlines, Hard
to Read, Outlines, Spooky, Stylized Designs, Trendy Designs and
Waves. A lot of nice fonts, and some you wouldn't want to be in
the same room with, but all in all well worth the visit.
PRINTERS APPRENTICE 7.0
Finally I note that Printers Apprentice 7.0 has now been released
after going through quite a long beta gestation period. PA has
been around for years and this latest release is worth a visit.
I have registered this one a couple of times over its development
lifetime, and used it to print out a number of the font catalogues
I still use as references. Go to http://www.igi.net/~btkinkel/pa70.htm
for more information.