The Font Wars

Early computer fonts were bitmapped, i.e. the letters displayed at a single, fixed resolution. This meant that a separate font file was required for every different type size needed in a job. PostScript Type 1 fonts, developed by Adobe, were based on vector outlines for each character. As vectors are not resolutiondependent, the lettering in a single font could be scaled to whatever sizes were required. PostScript fonts are made up of two files: one to produce a screen image (the printer font metrics, or pfm file) and the other (the printer font binary, or pfb file) to send the vector outline information to the printer. A huge boost for this format came in 1985 when Apple adopted Adobe’s PostScript page description language (PDL) for the Apple LaserWriter printer. So, first we can see Apple and Adobe benefiting from helping each other out: Adobe by coming up with the PostScript format in the first place, and Apple for adopting it, for a suitable fee, as the format of choice.

Unfortunately, PostScript fonts are not cross-platform compatible, so there was still room for improvement. Not surprisingly, bitmapped fonts could not compete against the advantages of scalability and soon vanished forever.

Apple, Microsoft, and (later) IBM all realized that, unless there were new developments in type, Adobe’s monopoly would continue forever. Apple was the first of the three to come up with a solution in the form of TrueType. Apple traded its new technology with Microsoft in exchange for the latter’s TrueImage PostScript clone technology—despite the fact that it was bug-ridden at the time. So, this second major development saw a partnership between Microsoft and Apple.

TrueType characters are also scalable vector outlines, but they differ from PostScript in that the fonts are made up of a single digital file. Typographical purists will notice that PostScript characters have a slightly cleaner outline than their TrueType equivalents, but this of course only becomes apparent when they are printed large enough to see each individual outline in great detail. For most work, either will do.

Originally it could sometimes cause problems if a designer used both PostScript and TrueType fonts in the same file. While these early problems were quickly overcome, it is still the case that you should avoid having both TrueType and Type 1 fonts with exactly the same name installed on the same system, whether it is a PC or a Mac.

Multiple Master (MM) font format is an extension of the PostScript Type 1 format. Basically it allows a designer to select two different weights of the same typeface and combine them into a single font at any weight between the two.

The next serious advance in type, OpenType fonts, has seen a partnership between Adobe and Microsoft who, as part of their agreement, have licensed TrueType and PostScript font technologies to each other. OpenType fonts are unique in that the same file will operate on both PC and Mac systems. Previously, sending a job from a PC to a Mac imagesetter either required PostScripting first, so that the font information was embedded in the PostScript code that the imagesetter understood, or that the font used on the PC was also installed on the Mac. Even then, reflow of text has been a common and serious problem.

As well as being cross-platform compatible, OpenType fonts have the ability to support widely expanded character sets and layout features. They use a single font file for all of the outline, metric, and bitmap data, and while all the major graphics applications can make use of OpenType fonts, users of Adobe InDesign can also access OpenType layout features that will automatically substitute alternate glyphs such as automatic ligatures, small capitals, swashes, and old-style figures.