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FONT FACTS

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Font Management

PostScript vs TrueType. What’s the Difference?

Postscript Type 1 fonts are the industry standard, and every typeface we sell is available in this format. Postscript typefaces are optimal for high resolution production because the character shapes remain preserved no matter what resolution or size you are printing to. Truetype fonts, on the other hand were developed for office use only, and cannot be effectively printed at higher than 1200 dpi. (Colour separation, by the way, is achieved at 2400 dpi or higher.)

In order to use postscript fonts, users must have Adobe Type Manager installed. While it is unusual for Mac users not to have ATM, Windows users should check for the correct version of Adobe Type Manager in their system.

While practically Postscript typeface is available in both Macintosh and PC formats, most typefaces are not available in TrueType. In situations where installing ATM is not an option, alt.TYPE can usually provide a custom conversion from Postscript type to TrueType format for a small fee.

Adobe® Type Manager® Light - A free download from alt.TYPE
(courtesy of Adobe)
To use Postscript® fonts on either Mac or PC requires the use of Adobe Type Manager (ATM®).
ATM comes in two flavors: Light and Deluxe.
Most Macintoshes come with the light version already installed, so check to see if you already have ATM on your computer (it's usually in the control panel) before trying to load the version below. The light version of ATM is adequate if you just want the ability to use Postscript fonts on your computer, while the deluxe version is a powerful font management program and can be used if you are using many fonts and often change the typefaces you want available in other programs.

If you are trying to load fonts onto your system and your computer doesn't seem to recognize them when installing, there's a good chance you are trying to load Postscript fonts on a computer without ATM. Fear not though, just download the ATM that corresponds to your operating system below and install according to the included instructions (ATM manual requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).

DOWNLOAD ATM LIGHT HERE:

ATM Light 4.6.2 for Macintosh
ATM Light 4.1 for Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP*

* Windows 2000 natively supports Postscript fonts and therefore does not require ATM.

You can, however, still install ATM Light on your Windows 2000 machine so that you can print to a non-Postscript printer.