Loading Type 1 Fonts on XP

[Bigdawg]

I sent a disk off to for some color output and they can't load my Type 1 fonts. I use ATM so they aren't a problem for me and this is the first time I have had a vendor with a problem.
They don't have ATM loaded... is there another way to load Type 1's into XP?? I can translate the font, but there is a lot of letter kerning to fit in the area and I am worried if I send a translated font it will not set exactly the same as the original.

 

[myronb]

Why not just convert the text to curves or paths?

 

[Bigdawg]

It's a print job in Pagemaker... not an option. ANd I can't do a PDF because it throws the margins off when they print. It's an invitation I designed as a donation and the printer is donating the output so going somewhere else isn't an alternative.

 

[Bobby H]

What specific fonts are being used? I ask because certain Type 1 fonts can behave in a very flaky manner or just simply not work under Windows XP.

I've never had any problem with Type 1 fonts sold by Adobe, Font Bureau, House Industries or a number of other reputable type foundries. However, I have run across fonts supplied by customers that did not work.

The fonts that glitched out were probably obtained off the Internet and perhaps were Mac fonts converted into PC format without proper care put into generating the .pfm metrics files. I would try to install the font, but get hit with the message "not a valid font file."

Sometimes regenerating the font using Fontographer would work. Other times it still wouldn't.

 

[Bigdawg]

The fonts are the Meta family. They work fine and I have used them with other print companies and no problem. Problem here is vendor does not have ATM and I have no clue how to - or even if you can - load a type 1 font without ATM or something similiar.

 

[Fred Weiss]

Installing a Type 1 font is built into XP. It looks for the PFM file and will install a combined single file made from the PFM and PFB using the Control Panel Fonts Installer. The combined file will have a PFM extension. Unlike ATM, it will not see the font if you have a PFB and an AFM only, instead of the PFM.

So your service bureau should be able to install your fonts if you supply the PFM and PFB file for each font.

What I don't know is how Windows might change it in the process. The important thing is that your Pagemaker file matches up with what you send the service bureau. The only way to do that would be to uninstall your fonts from ATM and reinstall them using the Control Panel. Then open your Pagemaker document and inspect the spacing, kerning and, especially, the line spacing. This last is usually the biggest difference between TrueType and Type 1 fonts on a Windows system.

 

[Bobby H]

It would seem if the Meta fonts are able to load in your installation of Windows XP then they should be able to load on the service bureau's end as well...provided they're using the same version of PageMaker and the same version of Windows XP.

I seem to remember one of the service packs (I think SP1) did something to break Type 1 font support in some applications. Since PageMaker is a Postscript-based application I wouldn't think that would be a problem. But you never know. Might be good to ask if they're running SP2.

Why not just convert the text to curves or paths?

PageMaker doesn't have much of any ability to convert type to outlines -at least my old license of PM6.5 didn't. Adobe InDesign will allow you to convert large passages of text to outlines. It also allows files to be exported that can be opened fairly easily in other graphics programs -a pretty unique trait not copied by most page layout applications. ID is really nice.

 

[Bigdawg]

Thanks Bobby - but the problem boils down to the fact that I use ATM and they don't. I'm going to try Fred's suggestion tonight - if that doesn't work I'll convert to TrueType and redo the kerning if needed and send them all new files.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

hard to believe a printer can't load atm on their machine. It's free, and unobtrusive. And how can you be in the business of outputting customer print files and not support ps fonts? Like a carpenter without a hammer.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

from Adobe's webpage. If they are on xp, atm shouldn't be an issue....

PostScript font support is built directly into Windows 2000/XP, and ATM Light is not required for basic font installation and rendering on these platforms. However, you must install ATM Light on Windows 2000 or XP if you use Adobe's multiple master typefaces and want to create custom font instances. ATM Light is required for previous versions of Windows, including Windows 95, 98, and NT 4.0.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

Stacy, are these Mac fonts? I thought you used a Mac. If they are Mac fonts, ps fonts are not interchangleable between platforms. Only TTF and Opentype (OTF).

 

[Bobby H]

I was also under the impression Stacy was working from a WinXP machine.

Mac-based Type 1 fonts will not install on any WindowsPC. The only way around that is by exporting PDF. PageMaker's built in PDF creation is okay, but the AdobePPD print to file step and conversion to PDF in Acrobat Distiller works better. You can have the fonts embed in the document and save in a cross platform compatible manner.

But it is generally agreed that OpenType and True Type are both more cross platform friendly -with OpenType being directly designed for such use.

Applications like FontLab and Fontographer have ways to convert Type 1 fonts to work across multiple platforms (even UNIX). There is a number of other font conversion utilities in existence that work with varying degrees of success.

I plan to purchase FontLab Studio 5 fairly soon (after I pay off my truck in about a month). That application has numerous OpenType creation features and can open a wide variety of existing faces.

 

[gROUND cHUCK]

Just to mention: If they happen to have Corel Suite 12 it comes with Bitstream's FontNavigator. It will install type 1 fonts just by dragging and dropping from any drive....

 

[bob]

I sent a disk off to for some color output and they can't load my Type 1 fonts. I use ATM so they aren't a problem for me and this is the first time I have had a vendor with a problem.
They don't have ATM loaded... is there another way to load Type 1's into XP?? I can translate the font, but there is a lot of letter kerning to fit in the area and I am worried if I send a translated font it will not set exactly the same as the original.

Here is the definitive answer.

XP can install Type 1 fonts with no problem, the ATM is built into XP, all editions of XP. The standard Start->Settings->Control Panel->Fonts->File->Install New Fonts will work just fine for Type 1 fonts.

But whether or not the Type 1 fonts show up on a font list in any program depends on this...

Start->Settings->Control Panel->Fonts->Tools->Folder Options->True Type Fonts

Once you're here the answer will be obvious. But just in case it's not, make sure the box labeled "Show only True Type fonts in programs on my computer" is not checked.

 

[Bigdawg]

Sorry guys - should have posted the system. It can get confusing we run both front ends. This is a pure PC job generated in Pagemaker 7 on the PC with PC Type 1 fonts.
Company outputting the job is a local printer with a primo digital color copier... he doesn't know much about the computer end though... he is one of my prepress customers so normally he would call me to come in and fix problems like these when he has them - instead I created one!!!