Re: Is there a market for a dual-purpose font

[Max Wyss <prodok -at- PRODOK -dot- CH>]

Mark,

I am not surpirsed that the font manufacturers are refusing to create
PostScript Type 3 fonts. Type 3 fonts are well known to produce a mess for
printing and also for PDF output. Therefore, no font manufacturer would
give their name for that.

I have not verified, but I think you could do something what you want with
Adobe MultiMaster fonts. I believe to remember having seen samples where
one of the dimensions was the size of serifs.

However, IMHO, there is a better approach to your problem. Fonts are not
the only difference between on-line presentation and print. So, it would
bring advantages to have one master document, and create variations for the
various delivery methods. Using a document creating software which handles
character, paragraph, etc. formats very well would make it relatively easy
to semi-automatically generate the delivery-specific document.

With this approach, you could be way more consequent in the presentation of
your documents. Using the same presentation on-line and in print would
always be a compromise.

Hope, this can help.


Max Wyss
PRODOK Engineering AG
Technical documentation and translations, Electronic Publishing
CH-8906 Bonstetten, Switzerland

Fax:  +41 1 700 20 37
e-mail:  mailto:prodok -at- prodok -dot- ch    or    100012 -dot- 44 -at- compuserve -dot- com


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_____________




>Like many pubs departments, we've been moving much of our printed matter
>to online form.  I assume that, like us, everyone involved in this
>process hates to keep two sets of docs, one with sans serif font for
>onscreen, and one with seriffed font for print.
>
>A simple solution would be to have the body font in docs be one that
>prints with a serif and appears onscreen sans serif.
>
>(Does anyone know if there is such a thing?)  In asking font foundaries,
>I've found it's theoretically possible in Postscript Type 3 fonts, but
>none of them wants to make the font on spec.
>
>If there's not such a thing, how many pubs departments would be
>interested in one if it existed?  A custom font costs thousands of
>dollars plus licensing.  A commercially available font is much less
>expensive.  Perhaps some of you would like to search for fonts on Yahoo,
>and ask some of the font foundaries to make such a font for you too.
>Maybe we can stir them up so they'll make one...:-)
>
>Regards,
>
>-- mailto:Mark -dot- Dempsey -at- osi -dot- com
>--
>-- Mark Dempsey
>-- Technical Publications
>-- Objective Systems Integrators
>-- 101 Blue Ravine Rd, Folsom, CA 95630
>-- 916.353.2400 x 4777


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