ccain@ibmpcug.co.uk (chris cain) (12/21/89)
In article <17448@rpp386.cactus.org> woody@rpp386.cactus.org (Woodrow Baker) writes: > In article <226@dino.cs.iastate.edu>, shaver@cs.iastate.edu (Dave Shaver) writes: > > pollack@toto.cis.ohio-state.edu (Jordan B Pollack) writes: > > > > >Imagine being able to get > > >bitmaps for proprietary fonts back to the host! So I guess its > > >probably impossible without a lot of money. > > ...In stereo where available... > > Yes, provided you have the version of the printer with a DISK. Otherwise > it can't be done. It depends on the grabbing of cached images off the hard > disk. NOTE: the hard disk system is really buggy, so if you have one, be > careful. Is this realy the issue they are woried about ? . I have a program I wrote which takes a type 1 adobe font as input and draws the characters in large type on an EGA screen. I'ts in c and does not even need a postscript printer attached ie it directly decodes the font I would post it if anyone is interested and someone could assure me that I would't be sued by adobe for doing so !! The way the fonts work is realy very simplistic once you get past the rather feeble attempt at encryption on adobes part . An interesting sidepoint to the hinting is that it distorts the font shapes badly enough that in a large number of adobe fonts 2 complete sets of outline data is included one used for devices below 600dpi with a regularised outline and hints and one uses no hints for devices more than 600dpi using presumably the undistorted font shape. What price resolution independance now !. -- Automatic Disclaimer: The views expressed above are those of the author alone and may not represent the views of the IBM PC User Group.
ccain@ibmpcug.co.uk (chris cain) (12/23/89)
In article <1546@adobe.UUCP> mills@adobe.COM (Dan Mills) writes: > > Hogwash. The hints don't distort anything. Nor does the rendering software > which makes use of those hints. The specification of the Type 1 font format, > available 1st Qtr '90, will make this abundantly clear. > > And by the way, the "large number" of fonts with two complete sets of > outline data is exactly 10. That's less than 2% of today's library, and > since we have no intention of creating more such fonts, that percentage will > only decrease. > > Dan Mills > Manager of Typography > Adobe Systems Incorporated I can only ask if the hint's distort nothing why do you need 2 sets of outline data in ANY fonts. I could see only 2 possible reasons either the hinting required some compromise to the outline shape or there were some founts which the hinting needed to start from a distorted outline and then hinted it back to the correct shape. A press release from Bitstream when they released Type 1 fonts suggested that they had not used hints because of the compromises requred to the outline shape to produce the hinted fonts. Now this may have been ad hype on the part of Bitstream and it may have caused me to jump to an incorrect conclusion on seeing the 2 outline fonts but that is part of the penalty you have to pay for having closed technology fonts. People will guess about what you are doing and why you are doing it they may guess wrong but we are all human (mostly) and so make misteaks. I'm sorry about the large number comment it was probably foolish comeing as it did from a sample of about 6 fonts where 2 had double data sets so I must have been lucky (unlucky?) in hitting so high a percentage. I have had a large number of requests for the program so perhaps you can comment on Adobes position on a posting of this program ?. Chris Cain -- Automatic Disclaimer: The views expressed above are those of the author alone and may not represent the views of the IBM PC User Group.