Font Management in Publishing...

Report · Mar 11, 2009

Hi everyone,

Above the subject line is our project title. I am much interested to do the project for this title. The project is going to cover by five units. I have knowledge about fonts and its types, font caches, font hierarchies for both MAC and Windows platforms. I am doing my Printing Technology Engineering as part time. As well working in e-publishing concern as a Lead Technical in R&D Team. For this project we have three reviews. First review got finished. In this review we just give an introduction about the fonts. Remaining two reviews is there. Our motive is to find font related problems in all applications and solutions for it. I need suggestion from you guys that what are all the topics need to be covered in this project and how the project should be.

I need your effective support for this.

Thanks in advance
Thiyagu

Report · Mar 12, 2009

Thiyagu,

>Font Management in Publishing...

>Our motive is to find font related problems in all applications and solutions for it.

I read your post twice, and I'm not quite sure what kind of information you're seeking, how such information will be used or who your audience is.

Are you concerned with specific technical problems that exist in certain fonts? Font design issues? How font corruption and duplicate fonts affect applications? How to organize/activate/deactivate fonts? Use of fonts within specific applications (QuarkXPress, InDesign, Publisher, Illustrator, etc.)? How to select fonts and use them effectively? How fonts output to various devices? Etc.?

There's a lot that can be suggested, but you say "font management" in your topic header, but "font related problems" further on.

Neil

Report · Mar 12, 2009

I'm equally confused....

Report · Mar 12, 2009

Hi Neil,

Thanks for your kind support and help.

Our goal is to achieving good font management in our publishing industry. Font Management in the sense organize, activate & deactivate the fonts in efficient way without duplicates & corruption. WYSIWYG, simply how the screen fonts get viewed and how fonts can be printed as Postscript outlines without problems. If corruption or some problem occurs then how we can find out causes and remedies for it. Also we have to talk about fonts within the specific applications (Quark, 3b2, TeX, & Adobe applications etc...) as you said above. Finally choosing the correct fonts for various devices to achieve the good result. Then only we can achieve the good font management.

I think now its clear for you. If it isn't clear, please suggest me how to formulate these things.

Also suggest me Font Management in Publishing... for this header what are all things we should cover and how make this project very effective.

Regards
Thiyagu

Report · Mar 13, 2009

Thiyagu,
>Font Management in the sense organize, activate & deactivate the fonts in efficient way without duplicates & corruption.

Just install and use a good font manager, such as FontAgent Pro (if you're on a Mac) or Suitcase. Create sets of fonts for your various needs and activate/deactivate those sets or individual fonts as needed. A good font manager can also find duplicate and corrupted fonts.
>If corruption or some problem occurs then how we can find out causes and remedies for it.

If fonts become corrupted, you simply replace them with fresh copies. In a properly set up system using well-engineered fonts from reputable foundries, you should rarely have fonts that don't perform properly.
>Also suggest me Font Management in Publishing...

If you mean which fonts can be accessed across a network (assuming your font licenses allow for multiple workstation installation), you can install fonts centrally and use a server version of font management software.
>WYSIWYG, simply how the screen fonts get viewed and how fonts can be printed as Postscript outlines without problems.

Not sure what you're asking for here. Be aware that font technology has been migrating strongly over to OpenType. For example, Adobe has not produced PostScript (Type 1) fonts for about ten years. Why is PostScript (Type 1) so important here? Also, you don't address TrueType fonts.

Neil

Report · Mar 13, 2009

Thiyagu,
>Font Management in the sense organize, activate & deactivate the fonts in efficient way without duplicates & corruption.

Just install and use a good font manager, such as FontAgent Pro (if you're on a Mac) or Suitcase. Create sets of fonts for your various needs and activate/deactivate those sets or individual fonts as needed. A good font manager can also find duplicate and corrupted fonts.
>If corruption or some problem occurs then how we can find out causes and remedies for it.

If fonts become corrupted, you simply replace them with fresh copies. In a properly set up system using well-engineered fonts from reputable foundries, you should rarely have fonts that don't perform properly.
>Also suggest me Font Management in Publishing...

If you mean which fonts can be accessed across a network (assuming your font licenses allow for multiple workstation installation), you can install fonts centrally and use a server version of font management software.
>Finally choosing the correct fonts for various devices to achieve the good result.

This can be considerably longer than a semester-long design and typography course -- plus years of practice and experience. There are tens of thousands of fonts and millions of possible combinations; the best choices which vary depending upon audience, output device, end use, corporate persona, specific market, product or service, etc., etc.; some of which work better than others in specific circumstances. There is no fixed formula here any more than there is for teaching someone how to paint. And like other creative people, some folks will just never understand why some fonts are better for some needs than others.
>WYSIWYG, simply how the screen fonts get viewed and how fonts can be printed as Postscript outlines without problems.

Not sure what you're asking for here. In modern computer technology, you can easily see the specific fonts you are composing in, in real time. Be aware that font technology has been migrating strongly over to OpenType. For example, Adobe has not produced PostScript (Type 1) fonts for about ten years. Why is PostScript (Type 1) so important here? Also, you don't address TrueType fonts.

Again, who is your audience? Are you writing a book, teaching a class, or merely giving brief instruction on how to use fonts to coworkers? Or? What level of typographic competence and familiarity does your audience have.

Some people need little more than Times Roman and Helvetica. Others can't get along with fewer than 5,000 fonts. I've got the entire Adobe library on my system. And it alone does not meet all my typographic needs.

Neil

Report · Mar 16, 2009

Hi Neil,

Thank you so much. My audience are compositors. Our project is basically a study of one thing or implementing a new thing etc... I am not writing a book, its just like study and implementing, so i going to create a complete documentation for font management. Its completely based on our e-publishing industry. Now its clear for you neil.

Thanks in advance.

Regards
Thiyagu

Report · Mar 16, 2009

Thiyagu,

I'm sorry, but I'm still not sure what you are trying to show to your compositor audience. Perhaps you should take a look at these resources and let me know what else you wish for provide to your audience:

Robert Bringhurst's benchmark book "The Elements of Typographic Style"
http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Typographic-Style-Robert-Bringhurst/dp/0881792063

Insider Software's FontAgent Pro (Mac/Windows), or FontAgent Pro Server 3 (Mac)
http://www.insidersoftware.com
http://www.insidersoftware.com/FA_pro_server.php

Thomas Phinney's "TrueType, PostScript Type 1, & Opentype: What's the Difference?" http://blogs.adobe.com/typblography/TT%20PS%20OpenType.pdf

Neil

Report · Mar 17, 2009

You say your audience is compositors. What kind of work are they doing, exactly? Are they all internal to a company, or do they take outside jobs? Do they have a limited set of corporate fonts, or do arbitrary fonts come in with jobs?

Cheers,

T

Report · Mar 17, 2009

Hi Thomas,

I am very happy to share this with you. Thanks for looking into this. They are doing pagination with different applications like Adobe InDesign, QuarkXpress, 3b2, TeX & Microsoft Word etc... in both MAC & Windows platforms. We are using both corporate fonts as well as arbitrary fonts come in with the jobs.

Regards
Thiyagu

Report · Mar 17, 2009

Hi Neil,

I will check the resources which are provided by you and let you know. Thanks Neil.

Thiyagu

Report · Mar 18, 2009

Not great communications going on here

or, rather, not great assistance coming from the OP.

Report · Mar 19, 2009

Ramón,

No argument -- I'm still not sure what the OP is attempting to do for whom, how, where or why.

Neil

Report · Mar 19, 2009

Ramón,

No argument -- I'm still not sure what the OP is attempting to accomplish for whom, how, where or why.

Neil

Report · Mar 20, 2009

:/

I'm not even sure why he's using the term "font management". I suspect some misunderstanding of the term. I'm sure there's a language barrier here.

Report · Mar 20, 2009

Ramón,
>I'm sure there's a language barrier here.

I also assumed that from the original post as the phrasing is a bit odd and not terribly clear.
But I just don't know how to get the OP to articulate his or her issue succinctly.

Neil

Report · Mar 20, 2009

Ramón,
>I'm sure there's a language barrier here.

I also assumed that from the original post as the phrasing is a bit odd and not terribly clear. But I just don't know how to get the OP to articulate his or her issue succinctly.

Neil

Report · Mar 20, 2009

Hi Neil,

My actual project title is "Font Management" only. There is no confuse. But i have little bit confused, about what are all the things need to be add for this title. We going to introduced the centralized font management system. i.e. all application systems are going to accessing the fonts from one location. For this we going to develop font searching tools, font and it's conversion tips etc... Now its clear to me. Can you please check it and let me your suggestions. Sorry for late reply. Once again thanks for your help.

Regards
Thiyagu

Report · Mar 20, 2009

Well, that's that. :|

Report · Mar 21, 2009

thiyagus,
>We going to introduced the centralized font management system. i.e. all application systems are going to accessing the fonts from one location. For this we going to develop font searching tools, font and it's conversion tips etc...

As I said earlier, what you need is to have your fonts installed on your server, and then use a server-level font manager for the rest.

But I don't know what you specifically mean by "conversion tips". You really don't want to convert fonts from one format or platform to the other (there are possibly technical as well as legal issues here). If you use OpenType fonts with a site license or multiple seat license, they can be accessed and used by Macs or Windows computers.

Neil

Report · Mar 21, 2009

thiyagus,
>We going to introduced the centralized font management system. i.e. all application systems are going to accessing the fonts from one location. For this we going to develop font searching tools, font and it's conversion tips etc...

As I said earlier, what you need is to have your fonts installed on your server, and then use a server-level font manager for organization, search and access to them. But you must have licenses for the fonts that allow them to be installed and used this way.

I don't know what you specifically mean by "conversion tips". You really don't want to electronically convert fonts from one format or platform to the other (there are possibly technical as well as legal issues here). If you use OpenType fonts with a site license or multiple seat license, they can be accessed and used by Macs or Windows computers up to the limit of the license.

Neil

Report · Mar 22, 2009

thiyagus,

Here is another document that may be helpful if you wish to upgrade your PostScript/Type 1 fonts to OpenType: Type 1 ("PostScript") to OpenType font conversion http://www.adobe.com/type/opentype/T1_to_OTF_FAQ.htm

Neil

Report · Mar 22, 2009

Just to clarify: that document Neil links to above is really about what Adobe changed in upgrading its own fonts to OpenType (a process of many person-years of work, not completely automated). It isn't about how to convert your own fonts.

Cheers,

T

Report · Mar 23, 2009

Thomas,

As English does not appear to be the OP's first language, I should have been more clear about the references to "upgrading" and "conversion". Thanks for popping in.

Neil

Report · Mar 23, 2009

What little I can discern from the OP's messages leads me to infer he's referring to Font handling by human operators as opposed to what we understand as software Font Management, i.e. a piece of font-managing software that manages fonts (the font manager) in the sense of activating them and deactivating them either on the fly or manually, the process we know as Font Management.

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Font Management in Publishing...