"Font" is a Four-Letter Word

I'll admit, I've had a job ruined by a font substitution error. For any designer today, font errors have been a painful fact of life. Its safe to say the more widely a particular font is used, the more imperfect clones of the font exist, leading to several problems on the production floor.

A few issues one might encounter:
• Variation of font type: TrueType, PostScript, Opentype.
• Phantom font's being used in the file.
• Screen version of the font.
• Mac & PC fonts differ, even fonts with the same name by the same manufacturer.
• Apple's dFonts (tip: unload any not vital to the operating system and replace them with OpenType versions).
• Adobe Multiple Master fonts and Type 1 fonts—stopped in 1999, there is not replacement in the new OpenType format.

A solution? OpenType Fonts.

They eliminate all the above mentioned issues. They are identical on Mac and PC, no matter which operating system is being used. They are comprised of a single file, incorporating screen and printer font, as well as ligatures and special characters the designer would want to include. OpenType fonts are developed by Adobe and Microsoft, and first appeared in the late '90's. OpenType makes life for anyone involved in file output easier.

Currently, Adobe features the largest OpenType library available, but there are others out there. Adobe's full library is apprx. $4999 - hopefully with a more widespread use this steep price will drop. Avoiding font problems in your jobs could quickly pay back your investment.

Surely, it won't happen overnight, but moving to OpenType workflows will streamline the process for all involved.

Stephen Beals, "Making the Move to OpenType Fonts," The Big Picture, volume 12 (September 2007), 26.

Did You Know?
Typefaces are designs.
Type designers create typefaces.
Create a typeface—produce a font.
Fonts are the things that enable the printing of typefaces.