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mac fonts on a pc?
- Thread starter keptquiet
- Start date
Fred Weiss
Merchant Member
ApexSpeed
New Member
Sorry to step on your toes, Fred, but try good ol' Fontographer... eBay sometimes is a good place to find old copies of it. I have had it for many years, and I used it not only to design and layout fonts I design, but converting PC/Mac fonts, too. It is really nice for making sys9 fonts and suitcases that OSX has trouble reading into something it can worth with, too.
Fred Weiss
Merchant Member
Not stepping on my toes .... I just don't do it for free.
But if Keptquiet is to get what he wants he'll need more than Fontographer (which is what I use) .... he'll also need a Mac to read in the outlines and the bitmaps and the metrics and the experience to understand what he's doing when he generates the PC versions.
I use Fontographer for this particular chore.
If that isn't an option then either he has someone convert the fonts for him or he just goes to wherever they're sold, myfonts.com has them for $21 each, and he can buy the PC versions of Franklin Gothic Demi and Trade Gothic Light.
But if Keptquiet is to get what he wants he'll need more than Fontographer (which is what I use) .... he'll also need a Mac to read in the outlines and the bitmaps and the metrics and the experience to understand what he's doing when he generates the PC versions.
I use Fontographer for this particular chore.
If that isn't an option then either he has someone convert the fonts for him or he just goes to wherever they're sold, myfonts.com has them for $21 each, and he can buy the PC versions of Franklin Gothic Demi and Trade Gothic Light.
Tony Teveris
New Member
Mac Fonts (Adobe Type 1) vs PC
W2K and XP systems support the following "vector" fonts:
TrueType
Adobe Type 1
OpenType
No special software is needed. In the past application like Gerber's Omega ignored Type 1 fonts because user's needed Adobe Type Manager (ATM) and had to make special system "calls" to acess these fonts. This is no longer true with W2K / XP. So future Omega releases most likely will allow the access of the above mentioned font types, as "small text" or font conversion from the above mentioned types to Gerber (GSF).
Just a little bit of info.
W2K and XP systems support the following "vector" fonts:
TrueType
Adobe Type 1
OpenType
No special software is needed. In the past application like Gerber's Omega ignored Type 1 fonts because user's needed Adobe Type Manager (ATM) and had to make special system "calls" to acess these fonts. This is no longer true with W2K / XP. So future Omega releases most likely will allow the access of the above mentioned font types, as "small text" or font conversion from the above mentioned types to Gerber (GSF).
Just a little bit of info.
Last edited:
Fred Weiss
Merchant Member
Yes, but you would still not have any way to install a Mac version of Type 1 or TrueType on a PC no matter what the operating system is.
I do think it's long past due Omega supporting the use of Type 1 fonts.
Now if we could just get you to see that what would be most useful would be supporting them (and TrueType) as normal fonts as well .... even if it means we have to give up our smart edit feature.
I do think it's long past due Omega supporting the use of Type 1 fonts.
Now if we could just get you to see that what would be most useful would be supporting them (and TrueType) as normal fonts as well .... even if it means we have to give up our smart edit feature.
Tony Teveris
New Member
Mac Fonts (Adobe Type 1) vs PC
Explain to me what a Mac Type 1 font looks like, 1 file, 2 files ? I'll have to fire up the Mac we have (cold as ice, sorry to all the MI users) and see whats up.
I understand the use TTF and Type 1 as vector fonts but somewhere and someone does not see this as a priority and it's not me.
There are many things we all would like Omega to do but when you create software to only sell hardware something gets lost in the translation.
Explain to me what a Mac Type 1 font looks like, 1 file, 2 files ? I'll have to fire up the Mac we have (cold as ice, sorry to all the MI users) and see whats up.
I understand the use TTF and Type 1 as vector fonts but somewhere and someone does not see this as a priority and it's not me.
There are many things we all would like Omega to do but when you create software to only sell hardware something gets lost in the translation.
Fred Weiss
Merchant Member
It has the outlines in one file and then a suitcase folder with bitmaps and metric information.
Very similar to the PC side which has outlines in a .PFB file and the metrics in an .AFM (Adobe Font Metrics) or a .PFM (Printer Font Metrics) file. Adobe Type Manager, on PC's, either uses the PFM if supplied or creates one from the AFM when the font is installed. But there is no way ATM on the PC will know what to do with the same files from a Mac version. Fontographer and an assortment of conversion utilities are needed to cross over to the PC platform.
Very similar to the PC side which has outlines in a .PFB file and the metrics in an .AFM (Adobe Font Metrics) or a .PFM (Printer Font Metrics) file. Adobe Type Manager, on PC's, either uses the PFM if supplied or creates one from the AFM when the font is installed. But there is no way ATM on the PC will know what to do with the same files from a Mac version. Fontographer and an assortment of conversion utilities are needed to cross over to the PC platform.
Tony Teveris
New Member
Mac Fonts (Adobe Type 1) vs PC
IN W2K and XP the ATM is no longer needed. But I still have not attempted to locate any Mac fonts. It seems that Adobe and MS have come to an agreement on fonts which now brings us OpenType.
IN W2K and XP the ATM is no longer needed. But I still have not attempted to locate any Mac fonts. It seems that Adobe and MS have come to an agreement on fonts which now brings us OpenType.
Fred Weiss
Merchant Member
Yup ..... but how many people do you think are willing to repurchase their font libraries for this particular convenience?
Tony Teveris
New Member
Fonts
So, have you asked Adobe or MS the same question ? or do you think Gerber can pull a rabbit out of the hat ? Busting ya.
So, have you asked Adobe or MS the same question ? or do you think Gerber can pull a rabbit out of the hat ? Busting ya.
Fred Weiss
Merchant Member
Mr. T .... as you have listened to me countless times .... like a voice crying in the wilderness .... like a single candle glowing in a black abyss .... like a tiny splinter in the toe of a giant ..... OPEN ARCHITECTURE! .... for fonts in both TrueType and Type 1 (for the PC) .... for file types both in and out .... for user friendly options like being able to adopt the keyboard shortcuts for the applications I most often use to make switching between them and Omega less fraught with frustration.
Not even Adobe uses Mac fonts on PC's. That is not the issue. The two operating systems are incompatible in this regard. But the simple fact is that Type 1 fonts are the original format in which most fonts are created. They have only the control points (nodes) needed to describe the vectors. Apple, in their infinite wisdom, when they developed the TrueType standard, decided more control points would be, as my dear friend Martha says, a good thing. In practice the result is slower plotting, reduced quality and occasional glitches after an export/import operation.
Gerber no longer makes much of a market in selling fonts to their customers so there would be no loss of revenue in opening the doors all the way to direct access from within Omega to all font formats .... and not just limited to "small text".
See! Now you got me started. Serves ya right for busting me. :Sleeping:
Not even Adobe uses Mac fonts on PC's. That is not the issue. The two operating systems are incompatible in this regard. But the simple fact is that Type 1 fonts are the original format in which most fonts are created. They have only the control points (nodes) needed to describe the vectors. Apple, in their infinite wisdom, when they developed the TrueType standard, decided more control points would be, as my dear friend Martha says, a good thing. In practice the result is slower plotting, reduced quality and occasional glitches after an export/import operation.
Gerber no longer makes much of a market in selling fonts to their customers so there would be no loss of revenue in opening the doors all the way to direct access from within Omega to all font formats .... and not just limited to "small text".
See! Now you got me started. Serves ya right for busting me. :Sleeping: