• Global community
    • Language:
      • Deutsch
      • English
      • Español
      • Français
      • Português
  • 日本語コミュニティ
    Dedicated community for Japanese speakers
  • 한국 커뮤니티
    Dedicated community for Korean speakers
Exit
0

Only a little bit OT -- would like to hear about OTF fonts and PS printers!

New Here ,
Jan 14, 2005 Jan 14, 2005

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Hi all,

This might be slightly off-topic, but I'd like to know if there's any means to directly download OTF fonts to my good old Apple Laser Writer II NT (1990).

Of course, one can include them into PS files (or PDFs), or just convert them to PFAs (which might be already a legal problem, anyway ;-() and then send them to the printer. But I don't think ordinary PFAs will support full-featured Unicode character sets...

Thus, what I'd like to do is having the full character sets of the "Pro" fonts in the printer's memory (maybe adding some old SIMM modules or even an SCSI HD to the printer).

Any clue on that? BTW, I've got another problem, as the latest Adobe PS driver demands PS level 2, and the Apple printer description files don't work with 1.0.6 for Windows, if I don't declare my printer being a LaserWriter NTX (which is totally wrong for the very moment).

Happy New year to all and best regards,

Christoph
TOPICS
Open Type FDK

Views

900

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Jan 14, 2005 Jan 14, 2005

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Christoph,

OpenType PS (.otf) fonts are always converted to Type 1 fonts when they are printed to a PostScript Level 1 or Level 2 printer. In PDF files, the CFF table (but not rest of the font) is included. For PostScript 3 files, I believe it is possible to include both Type 1 or CFF files.

For PostScript Level 1 printers, I believe the only option is to convert the fonts into Type 1 ASCII (.pfa) and download them.

Adam

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Jan 15, 2005 Jan 15, 2005

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

>For PostScript Level 1 printers, I believe the only option is to convert the fonts into Type 1 ASCII (.pfa) and download them.<<br />
Thanks, Adam (and a Happy New Year, too, even once again ;-).

But what about legal issues? I suspect that font conversion (to PFA or something else) might be a big problem, the more as Bill Gates recently treated as "commies" all those who aren't willing to accept foolish non-sense copyright rules that protect everybody besides of real creators/editors/writers.

I'm myself a commie, and I'm proud of that. But I don't want to be annyoed by US lawyers, and especially, I don't want to have to spend lots of money for useless U.S. (but it will come soon in Europe, too) court trials.

So what should I do? Maybe simply download fonts by the PS driver (whole or truncated character sets)... Of course, this would be PFA conversion, too, but at least it seems to be legal (although my preferred paper format is A4 in Europe ;-)).

Regards,

Christoph

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Jan 15, 2005 Jan 15, 2005

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Well, the license for the font you purchased most likely gives you the right to use the font on a certain number of output devices (printers).

The European copyright normally allows people to perform software modifications to assure interoperability with other software components. In Europe, the contractual provisions may not limit this right. AFAIR, in Adobe's EULAs, if you're in the U.S., it says "reverse engineering prohibited" while in the EU, it says "reverse engineering prohibited except where allowed by law", or something like that 😉

This should give you the right to convert the fonts prior to downloading to the system. After all, if you simply print a document from, say, Word, the the font *will* be converted to Type 1 anyway (by the printer driver, as part of the printing process). And if you're printing to a PCL printer, the font must be converted by the printer driver to a PCL compatible format as well. The only difference between what happens in the printer driver and what you're trying to do is that the printer driver does it implicitly and you would do it explicitly. But then, theoretically, nothing stops you from writing a custom printer driver 🙂

Since I am not a lawyer, don't take my advice in any official manner. My presumption and understanding so far is that in the case you're describing, you should be on the safe side. The details may differ depending on where you obtained the fonts (in the EU or USA), from which foundry they come etc. But I think this problem is of academic matter anyway. I couldn't imagine any lawyer pestering you because you downloaded a font that you legally own to a printer that you own.

Regards,
Adam

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Jun 13, 2005 Jun 13, 2005

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

"" OpenType PS (.otf) fonts are always converted to Type 1 fonts when they are printed to a PostScript Level 1 or Level 2 printer ""

So according to you the only solution to print the .otf fonts is to print them to PostScript Level 3. Is there any way out in which we can still print .otf fonts as .otf if we do not have level 3 printer.

Regards
Ricky Wilson

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Enthusiast ,
Jun 15, 2005 Jun 15, 2005

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

LATEST
Actually, that applies to PostScript 3 as well. The printer driver expands the CFF table back into a full Type 1 font, or for TT-flavored OpenType drops unnecessary tables and puts a wrapper around what's left to make a Type 42 font.

T

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines