dshr@SUN.COM (David Rosenthal) (03/09/89)
This is the announcement of the Folio font technology that
is in X/NeWS. It means that you'll be able to buy intelligent
scaling fonts for X/NeWS from the type vendors, rather than
from your PostScript language vendor.
David.
The following announcements were made on 3/6/89:
SUN LICENSES OPENFONTS TO LEADING TYPE VENDORS AND DESIGN STUDIOS
SUN INTRODUCES OPENFONTS, INTELLIGENT, NON-PROPRIETARY FONT TECHNOLOGY
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SUN LICENSES OPENFONTS TO LEADING TYPE VENDORS AND DESIGN STUDIOS
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.-- March 6, 1989-- Sun Microsystems today reported
it has signed licensing agreements with five of the leading type
vendors in graphic arts and publishing: Linotype AG, The Monotype
Corporation Plc., H. Berthold AG, ITC and the design studio of Bigelow
& Holmes. The five vendors will license Sun's just-introduced
OpenFonts(TM) technology, thereby making a wide selection of brand-name
fonts available to developers and end-users in a non-proprietary
intelligent outline description called the F3(TM) format.
OpenFonts is a new solution that allows use of the same font on any
type of output device, from low to high resolution. It is comprised of
TypeMaker(TM) software, which automatically creates intelligent
outlines, and TypeScaler(TM) software, for generating bitmaps at any
point size, at any resolution.
Linotype AG is a leading company in the newspaper, magazine, book
publishing and desktop publishing industries. "Their library is
synonymous with high quality," said Scott McNealy, president and CEO of
Sun.
The entire Linotype library will be converted to F3, using Sun's
TypeMaker, beginning with several hundred fonts within the year. It
includes well-known typefaces like Times Roman(R) and Helvetica(R).
Linotype AG has also obtained the right to sublicense Sun's TypeScaler
software to OEMs for inclusion in printer controllers and window
servers.
The Monotype Corporation will convert the entire Monotype Typeface
Library into F3 with TypeMaker. Developed over a period of 90 years,
the Monotype library is one of the finest original typeface libraries
in the world. It includes such classic and popular faces as Rockwell(R)
and Bembo(R). Monotype also acquires the right to sublicense Sun's
TypeScaler.
Sun Microsystems and H. Berthold AG of Berlin have announced that
substantial parts of Berthold's library of typefonts will be available
for use on Sun workstations. As part of this cooperation, the firms
have reported that the Berthold font format is now one of those
accepted by TypeMaker, Sun's automated font processing software.
Berthold will license TypeMaker to produce fonts in Sun's F3 format and
will make those fonts available to Sun customers.
"We are excited by the prospect of being able to offer the Berthold
library to our electronic publishing users and applications," said
Darryl Barbe, vice president and general manager, Sun Europe.
Berhold and Sun expect to finalize agreements that will make the
typefonts available in 1989. H. Berthold AG supplies the publishing
market with software and hardware for professional typesetting and
integrated processing of texts, graphics and images. Berthold's
library of typefonts contains both new creations and revivals of
classic designs for today's publishing market.
ITC (International Typeface Corporation) has licensed its trademarks to
Sun to facilitate the conversion of ITC fonts to F3 format. ITC has
been a leader in bringing a wide variety of typefaces to publishing and
printing markets.
Bigelow & Holmes will be converting its library of fonts to the F3
format using Sun's TypeMaker software. Bigelow & Holmes is the
designer of the Lucida typeface family the first faces designed
specifically for output on laser printers. Lucida also broke new
ground as the first set of serif, sans serif and monospaced faces
designed to work harmoniously on a page.
Sun Microsystems, Inc., is one of the world's leading suppliers of
network-based distributed computing systems, including professional
workstations, servers, and UNIX operating system and productivity
software.
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SUN INTRODUCES OPENFONTS, INTELLIGENT, NON-PROPRIETARY FONT TECHNOLOGY
Will Make Scalable Fonts Widely Available
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. --March 6, 1989-- Sun Microsystems today
introduced OpenFonts(TM) technology, which creates fonts that can be
used on any raster device, from screens to typesetters. Before now,
those who needed scalable fonts were tied to the proprietary technology
of specific vendors. However, OpenFonts will be supported by multiple
type suppliers, making scalable fonts widely available.
To this end, Sun also announced today that it has licensed OpenFonts to
a number of leading type vendors and design studios, including
Linotype, Monotype, Berthold and Bigelow & Holmes. Sun expects that
within a year, more than 700 brand-name typefaces will be available to
end-users and developers, among them Palatino(R), Helvetica(R) and
Times Roman(R) from Linotype and Monotype's Bembo(R), Gill Sans(R) and
Rockwell(R).
OpenFonts is based on technology Sun acquired in September 1988. At
the heart of this technology is an open, intelligent outline font
description called the F3(TM) format. OpenFonts is comprised of two
software tools that reduce or eliminate the need for manual labor in
the production of intelligent outlines. TypeMaker(TM) software
automatically creates F3 fonts, while TypeScaler(TM) software generates
bitmaps for screen, printer and imagesetter at any point size or
resolution and in any orientation.
With OpenFonts, type vendors now have an inexpensive, unrestricted tool
to rapidly bring new fonts to market. This technology will therefore
enable end-users to pick freely from a vastly expanded range of font
choices, while developers can easily incorporate intelligent font
technology into their systems, applications and devices.
Standard Type Format Needed
Leading type vendors are reporting that OpenFonts should have a great
impact on the industry. "This is an important development in printing
technology," said Rene Kerfante, director of typography for Monotype.
OpenFonts solves several of today's problems: a limited choice of fonts
in many incompatible formats and substantial barriers to entry for type
suppliers.
Intelligent outline fonts contain not only information about the
character shapes but also "hints" that describe how the character
should be rendered at small sizes and low resolutions. While character
shape information exists in the libraries of many font suppliers, hints
must be individually created from scratch for each typeface. The usual
method of generating this information involves from two to six
man-weeks of highly trained labor.
Additional specialized labor is needed beyond the generation of the
hints before intelligent outline fonts can be marketed. The reason is
that, in spite of the hints, the characters produced from intelligent
outlines at screen resolutions are seldom acceptable. Bitmap fonts
that match the outlines must therefore be produced -- in a largely
manual process -- and distributed with the intelligent outline fonts
for screen use.
As a result, of the tens of thousands of commercially available
typefaces, only a few hundred are available in any one intelligent
outline format.
OpenFonts licensees expect their costs of producing fonts to
dramatically decrease. This will enable them to create hundreds of
typefaces in the F3 format within a year, they report. Linotype and
Monotype intend to offer their entire font libraries in F3 format in
the future.
"We believe that our alliance with Sun will strengthen our position to
market the Linotype Library for new emerging publishing technologies,"
said Dr. Wolfgang Kummer, chairman of Linotype.
As part of its licensing agreements, Sun will provide a limited number
of fonts with its workstations. This includes all 35 of the typefaces
in Apple's LaserWriter printer, most of which are trademarked typefaces
>from Linotype and International Typeface Corp. (ITC). In addition, Sun
will add a selection of typefaces from Monotype and Bigelow & Holmes.
According to Roger Black, president of Roger Black Inc. and a
world-famous publication designer, "The availability of a much larger
variety of type on off-the-shelf platforms should also have a major
impact on the number of designers using computers. Lack of type has
been the number one excuse."
Sun Microsystems, Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., is a
leading worldwide supplier of network-based distributed computing
systems, including professional workstations, servers and UNIX
operating system and productivity software.
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Press contact:
Cindee Mock
336-3563