cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) (05/05/89)
Subject: A List Of HP LaserJet Font Cartridges
Newsgroups: comp.laser-printers,comp.sys.ibm.pc
Does anyone have a list of the LaserJet font cartridges that are available,
and what fonts are in each? I believe there is also a 25-in-1 font
cartridge available as well.
I'm considering purchase of a LaserJet (in spite of my emotional
attachment to the flexibility of PostScript), and I want to make
sure that there is adequate font support before I take the plunge.
--
Clayton E. Cramer {pyramid,pixar,tekbspa}!optilink!cramer
Governments that don't trust most people with weapons, deserve no trust.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer? You must be kidding! No company would hold opinions like mine!rick@pcrat.UUCP (Rick Richardson) (05/06/89)
In article <1321@optilink.UUCP> cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) writes: >I'm considering purchase of a LaserJet (in spite of my emotional >attachment to the flexibility of PostScript), and I want to make >sure that there is adequate font support before I take the plunge. There are dozens of typefaces available for the LJ in cartridges. There are hundreds of typefaces available for the LJ in soft font format. Typically, the soft fonts are produced by a font scaler from an outline description of the typeface. Bitstream, SWFTE, and Digi-fonts are the ones I'm familiar with. This lets you use any size font, not just the sizes in a cartridge. The drawback is downloading time. Some WP and typesetting software (not ours!) isn't smart enough to download only the glyphs that are actually used, and instead download the whole font. HP sells both carts and soft fonts (no scaler) of high quality, and even higher price (given the low cost of the LJ). Digi-fonts is interesting, because they sell some 260 odd typefaces for about $350 for the entire libary. I've got Bitstream, the first release of SWFTE's typefaces, and the first release of Digi-fonts. Bitstream is the best looking, followed by Digi-fonts, followed by SWFTE. Both SWFTE and Digi-fonts have released second versions of the typefaces, so the quality rankings may have changed. The original SWFTE scaler was also somewhat buggy. I think SWFTE also has the capability to generate the fonts on-the-fly for a number of DOS based WP programs. -- Rick Richardson | JetRoff "di"-troff to LaserJet Postprocessor|uunet!pcrat!dry2 PC Research,Inc.| Mail: uunet!pcrat!jetroff; For anon uucp do:|for Dhrystone 2 uunet!pcrat!rick| uucp jetroff!~jetuucp/file_list ~nuucp/. |submission forms. jetroff Wk2200-0300,Sa,Su ACU {2400,PEP} 12013898963 "" \d\r\d ogin: jetuucp
robert@hemingway.WEITEK.COM (Robert Plamondon) (05/07/89)
The font situation with LaserJets is pretty confusing. I investigated
the font cartridge situation first, and discovered the following:
1. HP cartridges are expensive.
2. The most useful cartridge for word processing is the 'Z' cartridge,
which lists for about $300, but has many more font sizes than most.
Still, Times, Helvetica, and Courier are all you get, and in not
that many sizes when it comes right down to it.
3. Some companies make cartridges with "all HP fonts in one (or two)
cartridges." I tried the JetWare cartridge. It was a piece of junk;
the fonts were unbelievably ugly and didn't seem to match the sizes
of the HP fonts very well. The Everex 'F' cartrige (a minimalist
word processing cartridge with Times in 8 and 10 point, Times
italic and bold in 10 point, and Helvetica bold in 14 point) was
much better, for about $75 at Fry's Electronics.
4. I've now switched almost entirely to downloaded fonts. I got Swiss
(Helvetica) and Dutch (Times) from with my PageMaker update for
only $50, and then bought Goudy Old Style from Bitstream for list
price ($195) because I think Times/Dutch has no character.
Bitstream has good Windows support (and PageMaker runs under
Windows), and I have no complaints in that department. Bitstream's
support for screen fonts, in particular, seems to be better than
HP's. The fonts DO eat disk space; I have 2-3 MB of fonts on my disk now.
5. It's hard to find Bitstream distributors, and when you do, they
don't have the fonts you want. Deal with them directly via their
800 number (I forget what it is: call 800-555-1212 to find out).
-- Robert
--
Robert Plamondon
robert@weitek.COM
"No Toon can resist the old 'Shave and a Hair-Cut'"john@wa3wbu.UUCP (John Gayman) (05/07/89)
In article <1321@optilink.UUCP>, cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) writes: > Does anyone have a list of the LaserJet font cartridges that are available, > and what fonts are in each? I believe there is also a 25-in-1 font > cartridge available as well. > There is even a cartridge called the "Super Cartridge" or something that has 50 or so fonts. I beleive they advertise as having every single HP font. If you have a need for many many fonts this would be the way to go. I don't have to tell you what purchasing all the HP fonts would cost, not to mention the pain of always swapping them. :-) John -- John Gayman, WA3WBU | UUCP: uunet!wa3wbu!john 1869 Valley Rd. | ARPA: john@wa3wbu.uu.net Marysville, PA 17053 | Packet: WA3WBU @ AK3P
wolfordj@ihlpy.ATT.COM (452is-Wolford) (05/09/89)
OK, I've seen enough Here-say: Pacific Data Products make a 25-in-1 cartridge that contains all the fonts from the HP line. 104 all together. There are several very nice fonts. My only gripe is that they only provide (as HP does) extended fonts at 10cpi (ie the ones that have the PC-graphics and line-drawings characters in them) and not at 12cpi. If people would like I will upload the font names and point sizes. I also have lots of Public Domain / Shareware soft-fonts I would like to trade. Interested send email. Jeff Wolford att!iwsag!jww att!ihlpy!wolfordj harvard-+ | ucbvax--+---- att --+ iwsag!jww | decvax--+