Probelms about PostScript file cann't printed in a HP5500 printer

[_jetzhang_]

I convert a simhei.ttf to a Type 42 format font file named a.pfa and then use a.pfa to create a PS file printTest.ps .

When i implement this job under Windows XP using XP's font simhei.ttf , HP 5500 printer can accomplish this print job perfectlly.

But when i implement this job under Windows Vista using Vista's font simhei.ttf , HP 5500 printer does nothing.(No paper is out.)

When i change to use FujiXero printer both of them can be printed perfectlly.

Question:

1. If there are some differences between creating Type42 font from a TrueType font and OpenType font ?(May be it is not the reason why there is no paper out, because i have intest it in XP version using a XP's OpenType font.)

2. If there are some differences between Windows XP's OpenType fonts and Windows Vista's fonts?

3. If there are some different implementations of PostScript language by different printer vendors?If it is true , if it can be said that different implementations of PostScript Language result in the different printing result?

Thanks ahead.

[Thomas Phinney]

First, all this has essentially nothing to do with the Adobe FDK for OpenType; you should probably ask in the PostScript forum where you'll meet more experts on printing and how fonts are sent to printers.

But there is something about your question that is confusing to me, and probably would be to people on that forum as well:

A Type 42 font is essentially a TrueType font with a little bit of PostScript wrapped around it for consumption by a PostScript device.

The ".pfa" extension is reserved for the ASCII/Unix flavor of Type 1, which is also how Type 1 fonts are sent to PostScript devices. It's utterly different from a Type 42 font.

So, saying that you converted a .ttf font to a Type 42 font with a .pfa extension is a bit confusing.

OpenType fonts with TrueType outlines (usually .ttf, though technically one could give them a .otf extension) are functionally the same as TrueType fonts, and are best printed to PostScript devices as Type 42 (unless they are mapping to some font built into the device).

Although we're not talking about them, for other folks I'll just mention that OpenType CFF fonts are the ones with Type 1 style outlines. They have a .otf extension, and are sent to a printer by decompressing the CFF font back to a Type 1 font which is sent to the printer. (CFF with Type 2 charstrings is a lossless compaction of Type 1.)

Cheers,

T