Fonts are a vital part of any print project. Once there was a handful of them; Now there are thousands.
To print your job correctly, the printer or service bureau must have YOUR EXACT FONTS, without them your job cannot be output to film.
More that one kind of "times roman" exists and each font set has its own characteristics. Your times roman font looks and prints great. But the when the Printer substitutes his own version, it moves all the paragraphs down one line, or hides the bottom of the paragraphs or worse.It is the designers responsibility to provide the fonts used in the publication whether they are special or very common.
This would also include any fonts used in placed graphics like eps files from Freehand or Illustrator.
One of the biggest font issues of all is this: Don't use the "style button" to create a bold, italic or an bold italic, unless you actually have the italic version of that font. While this may work on your laser printer or inkjet, it will not work in an actual Postscript environment ie. when film is made. - This applies to Type One fonts on the Mac and Windows Platform.
Fonts used in the Macintosh environment:
• Macintosh Postscript -Also referred to as "type 1"This font is made of 2 parts. The screen font, and the printer font.The screen font usually resides in a suitcase shaped folder and lets your computer draw the font on your screen. The printer font is shaped more like a typewriter icon, or a rectangle with the letter "a" on it. The printer font must be kept in the same location as the screen font suitcase for it to work. Both the screen and printer font are needed to print your job.
• Macintosh Truetype. - This font is 1 part only. It also is found in a suitcase shaped folder, but its icon is a piece of paper with several letter "a's" on it.
Fonts used in the Windows environment:
• Windows Postscript (Also referred to as "type 1") Like the Macintosh this font is made of 2 parts. The pfb file, and the pfm file. These fonts are activated and managed by a third-party program such as Adobe Type Manager for Windows. Generally, ATM is bundled with Adobe Products. Consult your documentation for more information or go to www.adobe.com.
• Windows Truetype. - This font is 1 part only. These are the most commonly used Windows Fonts They are installed and accessed through the "Fonts" control panel. These fonts may be used exclusively in your publication or mixed with Type 1 windows fonts. Your Printer will need these Fonts to print your job.
Below are some diagrams of what various font icons look like.
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This is a Windows Truetype Font. It is installed and activated by using your "Fonts Control Panel". | |||||||||||
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| This is a Windows system font. Avoid using or moving system fonts. |
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This is a Macintosh Truetype Font. It is activated by either placing it in the System Folder or using a type utility program. | |||||||||||
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| This is a Macintosh Suitcase, it contains either truetype fonts OR Type 1 screen fonts. It is activated by either placing it in the System Folder or using a type utility program. | ||||||||||||
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| This is a Macintosh Type 1 screen font. It resides within a suitcase container and is activated by either placing it in the System Folder or using a type utility program. | ||||||||||||
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This is a Macintosh Type 1 printer font. It must be in the same location as the suitcase container. | |||||||||||
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These are Windows Type One Fonts, they are also 2-parts; a PFM file and a PFB file. These are both needed to print your job. Windows uses "Adobe Type Manager" to install and turn on these fonts. | |||||||||||