Information on Windows 3.0 Font Scaling Technology

• Microsoft Windows operating system version 3.0, 3.0a

SUMMARY

This article contains information on third-party font scaling technology for Microsoft Windows version 3.0.

MORE INFORMATION

Several manufacturers supply font scaling packages for the Windows 3.0. A font scaling package uses a scalable font outline to produce various sizes of bitmap fonts for the display and/or printer. This is a major advantage in that it is only necessary to install a single font outline to produce a wide range of sizes of a given typeface.

Windows screen fonts, the default fonts supplied with the Windows 3.00 package, cover a useful range but are somewhat basic. These include Times Roman, Helvetica, and Symbol at 8 through 24 point sizes; and Courier at 10 through 15 points. You may have found instances where Windows did not have a suitable screen font to correspond to the printer font you chose. This prevents true WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) implementation.

The use of a font scaling package can greatly enhance both your printed output and the WYSIWYG capability. This is especially useful when doing heavy word processing or desktop publishing. There are two major types of font scaling packages:

• The fixed-size font creation package
• The real-time font scaling package

The Fixed-Size Font Creation Package

Examples of this type of package include Bitstream Fontware for Windows, Hewlett Packard/Compugraphic Type Director, and ZSoft SoftType. These packages allow you to create fixed-size downloadable fonts for Hewlett-Packard (HP) LaserJet compatibles, and fixed-size Windows screen font (.FON) files that may also be used for dot-matrix or InkJet printing. Both LaserJet downloadables and Windows .FON files are fixed-size bitmap fonts. Some packages are able to create PostScript downloadable outline fonts as well, which, like all PostScript fonts, may be scaled by the printer itself.

When using a fixed-size font creation package, you first install one or more scalable outline fonts, usually in a format that is proprietary to the font package manufacturer. You then choose specific fixed sizes of screen and printer fonts to create. The package generates the requested bitmap fonts by scaling the outlines to the appropriate sizes.

In the case of packages that support PostScript printers, the process is slightly different. First, the proprietary outline font is converted to a downloadable PostScript outline. Then, you may create specific fixed sizes of Windows screen fonts to correspond to the PostScript font.

The fixed-size font creation package is best for situations that require a small number of additional fonts in specific sizes. If you create a number of fixed-size downloadable fonts and/or Windows .FON screen fonts, it's fairly easy to consume a great deal of hard disk space. Also, downloadable fonts can be difficult to manage in a network environment. On the plus side, fixed-size fonts are very fast.

The Real-Time Font Scaling Package

This fairly recent technology is represented by packages such as Adobe Type Manager, Atech Publisher's Powerpak, Bitstream FaceLift, and Zenographics SuperPrint. These packages provide true real-time screen and printer font scaling. They are somewhat slower than the use of fixed-size fonts, but provide the best WYSIWYG feature across a wide range of sizes and type styles without consuming much disk space. For desktop publishing, such a package is quite helpful.

Each real-time font scaling package accepts one or more scalable outline font formats. At the time that you choose a given font, the package renders it as a bitmap on the screen in real-time at whatever size you specified (up to 127 points, a Windows internal limitation). The same outline font can also be scaled and sent to the printer, which produces a direct correlation between the screen and printed output -- true WYSIWYG.

Some printers, such as the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet III series and PostScript compatibles, include printer-resident font scaling technology. In such cases, it is not necessary to have a software package provide this functionality. However, real-time scaled screen fonts are still quite helpful. Some packages can provide scalable screen fonts that correspond to the resident fonts of these printers. In this case, the package does not do the printer font scaling. It allows the printer to scale the printer fonts, while it scales only for the display. The combination of hardware print scaling and corresponding scaled screen fonts is an attractive solution.

Most real-time scaling packages will work with any display, and any printer that can accept raster (bitmap) input (that is, almost anything but a plotter). This means you can use your existing copy of Windows, with any Windows display or printer driver, in combination with the package to produce a WYSIWYG environment. However, some real-time scaling packages use their own display and printer drivers. This is not much of a disadvantage as long as the drivers support your hardware. Check with the package manufacturer to determine if your desired printer and display are supported, before you purchase any package.

The products included here are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.