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Tips to Avoid Font Conflicts
Among the many things that have changed in design, the instant gratification
of adding a new font to my system is among my favorites. Gone are
the days when type was selected from a book and an order placed
with a typesetter. Now, computer users are able, and required, to
download, install, and maintain hundreds of fonts. Problems arise
when different users – clients, designers, printers, and colleagues
- share files. Each user must have the same fonts (and version)
to ensure that the file will be displayed and reproduced properly.
To
help prevent and resolve font conflicts, keep the following in mind:
- Proofing
-- Many designs are now proofed as emailed .pdf files. PDF stands
for portable document format, meaning you don’t need the
program that created it (i.e., PhotoShop or Illustrator) to view
it, you simply need a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader If a recipient
has an older version of Reader, fonts may not always display properly.
Go to www.adobe.com
to download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. It is
free and available for both Macs and PCs.
- Ownership
-- Fonts are licensed, not purchased. Your designer does not legally
have the right to "give" you the fonts used in the project.
They can be made available on disk to reproduce a specific project,
or you can purchase a license yourself.
- Quality
-- Nothing can crash your computer faster than a corrupted font,
and it can be difficult to diagnose. Cheap or free fonts are disasters
waiting to happen. License your fonts from a reliable source and
always make a back up copy. Load only a few at a time so you can
catch the problem immediately.
- Elements
-- Type 1 PostScript fonts, common in many businesses have multiple
parts. They are made up of one printer font and multiple display
fonts. The printer font is the information that tells the printer
how to create the font for output. The display portion is what
appears on screen and includes files for each weight or style
such as bold or italic. If your type looks jagged on screen, the
display font is missing or damaged, if it looks fine on screen,
but prints badly, the printer portion is the problem. True Type
fonts have only one part that serves for both display and printing.
- Memory
-- Fonts use a lot of memory , both in the space on your hard
drive and the time it takes to process them on screen. If you
use a laser printer, you may eventually have to add memory to
your printer and/or system to avoid errors. For inkjet printers,
additional software can be added to allow PostScript fonts to
print smoothly.
- Font
Families -- Fonts are sold individually and in packages
that include bold and italic versions. While more expensive, having
the true bold is a better choice than selecting bold formatting
in a software program if your file will ever be used on another
computer. Sending the file to a printer or colleague that has
a different system or software version can cause errors or the
loss of formatting.
- Compatibility
-- Macs and PCs can’t use the same fonts. To avoid problems,
instruct your designer, up front, what fonts you already have
(or plan to purchase) so that if you’ll be using the project
on your computer it matches the original design. Make sure when
purchasing fonts that you select the right version for your operating
system.
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