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Fonts can be one of the most frustrating elements of desktop publishing. You have them on your computer, and they look wonderful. You print out samples, and proudly send them off to your print service provider. And yet somehow, when you get your proof back, your lovely fonts have become garbled alien creations, determined to ruin your design efforts.
The truth is, fonts can be managed, but you have to keep what you're doing in mind from the very beginning of your project.
Your first step is to coordinate with your print service provider and find out what font formats they can accept. Obviously whatever they need is going to be your best choice to insure that the job will run on their systems.
Traditionally Adobe's PostScript fonts have been the industry standard. However recently the Open Type standard has surpassed PostScript fonts because they are cross platform (work on both Mac & PC computers,) and they need only one file, as opposed to the PostScript font's two separate files. So if you have a choice between multiple font formats, Open Type fonts are a good decision.
Collecting Your Fonts to Send to a Print Service Provider
Some design software has a "Collect for Output" feature which will gather up all the resource files and put them together in one folder. If your software supports this feature, it is always a good idea to use it, so that you can be certain you have collected all images and fonts required for your document to print correctly. These programs also print a handy report, which lists all fonts used in your document. This report can be very helpful to your print service provider.
If your software does not support font collection, you will need to gather the fonts manually and supply them along with your document.
For Windows 95/98/NT/XP:
Type 1 (PostScript) Fonts:On your hard drive there should be a directory called \psfonts which contains [filename].pfb files. Within that directory is a directory called pfm\. This contains the [filename].pfm files. For each font send both the .pfm and the corresponding .pfb file. It is vital to include both files, or the font will not work.
True Type & OpenType fonts: In the 'Windows' directory, open the 'Fonts' folder. Right click on the desired fonts, select "copy" and then paste them into a new folder that you keep with your publication, to be sent to your print service provider.
For Macintosh OS9:
Type 1 (PostScript) Fonts: Copy the screen fonts and printer fonts out of your System/Fonts folder. It is vital to include both files, or the font will not work.
True Type & Open Type Fonts: Copy the True Type font out of the System/Fonts folder.
For Macintosh OSX
OSX stores fonts in several folders, and font management in OSX is too large an issue for this guideline to address. If you have trouble finding the fonts used in a document, contact your Technical Support provider and request assistance. As with OS9, you need to provide both screen and printer fonts if you are using Type 1 PostScript, and only one file if you are using TrueType or OpenType fonts.
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