Printing, pre-press, publishing and photography services – yesterday, today and tomorrow

Contents:

1. FONTS
2. FONTS AND TYPEFACES
3. PRINTER DRIVERS
4. PRINTER FONTS
5. THE WINDOWS APPROACH
6. TRUETYPE FONTS
7. FINDING YOUR FONTS
8. ENTER POSTSCRIPT
9. TYPE 1 FONTS
10. FONTS AND THE WEB
11. OpenType and TrueDoc
12. FOR MORE INFORMATION

OpenType and TrueDoc
The answer to this conundrum is rather simple-instead of referring to a font file, make the data for the fonts that the author wants to use an integral part of the Web document itself, so that virtually anyone viewing or printing the file would get the same result. The implementation of this solution will be a bit more complicated. A detailed explanation of the competing approaches is beyond the scope of this discussion, especially since the question is far from settled. Nevertheless, here are the key issues and players.

There are two main forces at work in the effort to embed font information in Web documents. One group is Microsoft and Adobe, who together are behind an effort called OpenType. OpenType is a new approach to fonts, that attempts to bring TrueType and Type 1 fonts together, and which will allow font developers to create fonts that could be drawn by the TrueType method, or the Type I method, or both. OpenType will eventually be part of the Windows NT operating system, and it may be incorporated into the HTML standard.

The other group is led by Bitstream Corporation, a long-established font developer. Their solution, called TrueDoc, is another scheme for encoding fonts in Web documents. Bitstream claims that TrueDoc will be more easily adopted than OpenType on platforms other than Windows or Macintosh. Netscape has already licensed TrueDoc to be supported in its new Netscape Communicator product.

Since both of these groups obviously have a vested interest in the subject, read their position papers judiciously, and keep an eye on the computer press for further explanations and developments...