Deleting TrueType Font Weights (Bold, Italic, Bold/Italic)

• Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.1, 3.11
• Microsoft Windows for Workgroups versions 3.1, 3.11

SUMMARY

For each TrueType font, there are associated files (weights) for the different formatting options (bold, italic, and bold/italic). These are listed in the Fonts dialog box of Control Panel and in the WIN.INI file. For example, the options for Arial appear as follows:

[Fonts] Arial (TrueType)=ARIAL.FOT Arial Bold (TrueType)=ARIALBD.FOT Arial Bold Italic (TrueType)=ARIALBI.FOT Arial Italic (TrueType)=ARIALI.FOT

If you remove the Arial bold weight, the bold option is still available in applications because the Arial font can still generate the various weights, even though the file associated with the bold option no longer exists.

MORE INFORMATION

To maintain the high quality type produced by TrueType fonts, you should keep the different weights (and their associated files) available on your system. If you do not, the type is not the usual high quality associated with TrueType fonts.

Microsoft recommends that these various weights remain available to Windows- based applications to maintain the high quality of TrueType fonts. However, if the quality of the font is not a concern, then disk space used and the number of WIN.INI font entries can be reduced by removing these files. For example, with Arial you can remove Arial Bold, Arial Bold Italic, and Arial Italic from the Fonts dialog box in Control Panel.