Horizen - Fonts & OS X

Report on Fonts and OS X

Fonts in OS X are pretty interesting. Although some may prefer 4 letter adjectives instead ... And if you thought that fonts were complex before OS X, take a deep breath and read on.

I started this section off as quick summary as many people have asked me about fonts and OS X. Once I started to research the topic though, it just sort of exploded everywhere and I have found it hard to maintain it as a coherent whole, however struggle on as I think I have a few interesting things to say.

The Basics
OS X works on a slightly different premise to OS 9 because of its Unix heritage and takes advantage of several new font formats that OS 9 has no support for. Depending on where you place the fonts in OS X they might be available and in the following priority sequence -

1) To particular users (HD/users/username/library/fonts)
2) All the time (HD/library/fonts)
3) For network users (network/library/fonts) - typically only on network servers
4) System fonts (HD/system/library/fonts) - shouldn't need to touch anything here
5) For use in classic (HD/system folder/fonts) - this is the OS 9 fonts folder, but OS X activates fonts in this folder also
6) To some programs (HD/library/application support/appname/fonts)

Any fonts in the folders described above are loaded after you log into OS X, whether or not classic is running. Item 6 is a bit unknown yet and it likely activates fonts only when a specific program is open. Didn't get time to test it.

The system also prioritises certain types of fonts over others if 2 fonts of the same name are installed - within the limitations of the priority order listed above. True type fonts take preference over postscript for example.

Problems
I see several reasons why most graphic professionals have not made the switch to OS X yet -

1) No native OS X Quark XPress making it necessary to operate in classic mode when using Quark
2) No good solution for switching fonts on and off easily in both OS X and classic (although Suitcase10 makes a valiant effort)
3) The new complexity brought about by the interaction of OS X & classic mode and the increased locations and types of fonts
4) OS 9 scenario is much simpler and it works very well with mature & reliable font utilities.
5) Problems caused by multiple font formats, often for the same font - Helvetica and Times are the main culprits.

For example to turn fonts on and off, not in any of the OS X supported font locations you need Font Reserve or Suitcase installed, but if using classic apps, (ie, Quark or Distiller) then you also need an OS 9 font manager to use your own carefully organised font collection (that typically resides in none of the standard places listed above).

The problem is that OS X IS the future and Apple IS moving on regardless.

If you are not an administrator then you may also have trouble installing fonts into anything but HD/users/username/library/fonts (your own user directory).

Font Types
Also there are more types of fonts now supported in OS X -
1) bit mapped or screen fonts (the original fonts)
2) postscript or printer fonts (Adobe, Bitstream, Linotype, etc.)
3) true type fonts ( combines screen and printer fonts into one single component)
4) dfonts (data fork fonts, avoiding the Mac only resource fork issue)
5) windows true type format fonts (.ttf & .ttc)
6) otf fonts (open type fonts) - http://www.adobe.com/type/opentype/. Worth a careful read, seems to be Adobe's improved version of true type based on unicode.
http://www.unicode.org/unicode/standard/WhatIsUnicode.html

Items 4, 5 & 6 are new to OS X. Items 1, 2 & 3 were used in OS 9 prior to OS X and are still relevant for classic and in many cases OS X also. As if the situation wasn't complicated enough, programs like Quark XPress which operate under classic mode only don't see any OS X fonts at all. There are some further minor variations and OS X also has very good international language support. See http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2024.html for the exact technical details of fonts & OS X. OS X also has no support for type 1 postscript multiple master fonts although this doesn't seem to be an important issue in fonts anyway. It is possible that Adobe's pdf and oft font technology is negating the need for multiple master fonts anyway.

Things to watch out for :
1) Corrupt adobe fonts (use ATM deluxe in OS 9 to scan all your fonts and check for integrity)
2) Copies of the same font installed in multiple places
- helvetica is the classic case. The Mac OS uses true type in preference over postscript. If both are installed then the true type will override anything else. As helvetica true type is installed as a default system font it actually has to be removed if you want to use your postscript version. In OS X this may mean multiple removal from several locations. The use of a helvetica dfont in the OS X system folder complicates the issue also. Helvetica is a standard inclusion in the OS 9 classic font folder also. How does this effect things?
3) Copies of the same font in multiple formats
- related to 2) and in the worst case you may have multiple formats in multiple locations which can get really confusing and make it tough to know which font and in which format is actually being used for display and/or printing.
4) OS 9 and OS X and switching between classic and X. Mainly with Quark.
5) Regularly check ALL your fonts as they do seems to get corrupted easily. Quark seems to be the biggest culprit here.

HD/library/fonts folder seems to be the best place to put fonts to make them available under almost all circumstances in OS X - if you want them to be loaded at login or startup. I have heard mixed reports from people using Suitcase 10 in OS X. My preference has always been forATM Deluxe but Adobe have said that they will not be releasing an OS X version. Go and read the ATM Deluxe on line petition and sign up if you agree ...
http://www.atmforosx.org/

As Adobe Acrobat Distiller is an OS 9 application then you must ensure that all fonts that you want it to use are installed in OS 9. Otherwise font embedding in pdf's can do strange and amazing things.

Adobe postscript fonts seem to be subject to more corruption problems than almost any other font format. Basically just blink at them and they get corrupted. I am particularly impressed with true type as they seem to be virtually indestructible and you only need one font to be both the printer and screen bits, not 2 bits like the Adobe fonts. Most of the bureaus/printers have RIP's that support postscript however. otf fonts could be the saviour here but not sure of printer/bureau support and resistance to being corrupted. With Microsoft and Adobe pushing it then I reckon it will be widely adopted.

You need to be running ATM Light and ATM Deluxe versions 4.6.2 to be able to operate ATM properly in classic mode. There are 4.6.2a version updates, which should also be installed.

Are there limitations in the number of fonts OS X can load without using a font utility? Proabably not knowing unix. If no theoretical limit is there a practical one ? The problem is if you load 500 fonts (or more) then programs do open and work slower and trying to pick the font you want becomes somewhat tedious from such a massive scroll list.

What do we wont to be able to do with fonts :
The best case scenario would be to load all of the fonts you use regularly at startup automatically and to be able to quickly and painlessly load/unload others as and when you require for either permanent or temporary use. Functions like being able to have fonts grouped into families (ie, Adobe Type Reunion), to see a sample or preview of a font and to have the ability to group fonts into sets and to load or unload these set are also important. Being able to auto load fonts for use in specific programs or when particular files are opened would be useful too. And it goes without saying this must be seamless between OS X and OS 9. The ability to check fonts for conflicts and corruption is more important than ever.

How can this be best achieved at present?
There are several common scenarios.
1) If you only use a few fonts and rarely need new ones then you are easy to please. Just leave all your fonts loaded in the standard locations listed above. This is the average business (non graphics) user. OS X and/or classic or just 9 - no problems. You might have issues with OS X but fonts wont be one of them. Lucky me, I'm in this scenario.
2) You need lots of fonts but rarely change them. Consider a font manager, either Font Reserve or Suitcase. But if you find that everything works ok and you are happy with a long scroll list then you don't have to use a font manager. Should be fine in OS X and/or classic. Again use the standard system font folders or if you have a humongous amount of fonts then have them in a separate, well organised, root level Fonts folder and a font manager. This scenario can become a problem but it depends on how often you switch in and out of classic to work, cut and paste, print etc.
3) You use lots (hundreds) of fonts and need to switch them on and off as appropriate for ease of management. If operating in OS X only then Suitcase should be fine. If switching between OS X & classic (probably to use Quark) then use Suitcase to manage fonts in OS X and classic. Some people have had luck with ATM Deluxe in OS 9 and Suitcase in OS X. Scenario 3 is the troublesome one. I recommend having a well organised root, level Fonts folder (for ease of access, backup, etc). Not ideal but about the best scenario, until Quark goes OS X native anyway. The biggest problem with this scenario is that most Quark users find themselves here and it is just too complex and unreliable to manage effectively. Hence people go back to OS 9 - because it works much better, is easier to manage and understand what is going on and crashes less. It seems to be the frequent switching in and out of classic, using multiple programs, cutting and pasting, loading/reloading fonts and printing in both X and classic that brings the whole thing down.

Read These articles for more info :
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2001/07/24/osx_fonts1.html
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2001/08/21/osx_fonts2.html
http://www.macworld.com/2001/06/20/osx-fonts.html
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0110/12.fonts.php
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06751
http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-627.html#lnk3
Some of these are a bit old but still have some good info.

Manufacturers Pages
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/font.html
http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2024.html
http://developer.apple.com/internet/fonts/introduction.html
http://developer.apple.com/internet/fonts/fonts_sizing.html
http://www.adobe.com/type/opentype/
http://www.extensis.com/suitcase/18g.html
http://www.fontreserve.com/products/frmac.html
http://www.insidersoftware.com/fontagentx/
http://www.macility.com/products/popcharx/

Whew, that was tougher than I thought it would be and I still left out stuff. Not as much testing as I would have liked also. But more for the future perhaps...

General Font Hints & Tips
1) Organise
Sooner or later you need to sort out your fonts. Some popular methods -
- Alphabetical within folders, A, B, C, etc.
- By manufacturer, Adobe, Agfa, Bitstream, Linotype, etc.
- By category : serif, sans serif, popular, graphic, commonly used, etc.
- By type : Poscript (usually both screen and printer fonts), true type
- Mixture of above methods.

The one I like the most is :
Keeping manufacturers separate and then having alphabetical folders within each makers folder. Also a separate folder of commonly used fonts is useful as well as any other category that you find necessary. When sorting them out you will need to put the matching screen and printer fonts in the same folder.

2) Check
Once you finally have them sorted out into whatever method you want then you need to check them all, although this can also be done to eliminate corrupt fonts immediately. ATM Deluxe is the best method for this. Every single font collection I have ever checked has had some corrupt fonts.

3) Back Up
If you have hundreds of fonts spread out everywhere it can be a major job to get them all sorted out. One that may even take weeks. Once you have them sorted out back them up onto CD. Or else...

4) Make them work fast
Fair enough to have commonly used fonts always loaded, but only load other fonts at the time you need them. Programs take longer to start and for some menu functions and preferences to open the more fonts you have loaded.
Don't access them via the network, CD, DVD, zip or floppy as this will always slow your Mac down. For best speed have them on your hard disk.

5) Check them again
Check them regularly for integrity. Every time you crash or a program blows up there is the potential for a font or number of fonts to corrupt at the same time. I have fixed many a system by simply disabling damaged fonts.