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<h1 id="main-title">LaserWriter: Adobe Font Metrics Information</h1>
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<BR>
TOPIC -----------------------------------------<BR>
 <BR>
This article discusses how to set the actual size (the width and height) of<BR>
the characters of the built-in fonts.  These are the Adobe Font Metrics<BR>
(AFM).  The LaserWriter does not use true fonts for Bold, Italic, and so<BR>
on. Instead it does some algorithmic calculation to create the these fonts<BR>
from the plain typeface.  This is where the discrepancies between the<BR>
LaserWriter documents and some typesetting equipment appears.  One<BR>
typesetter uses the true Bold and Italics, and the LaserWriter uses<BR>
algorithms. As a result, the documents are not quite the same.  <BR>
 <BR>
DISCUSSION ------------------------------------<BR>
 <BR>
Within PostScript, the shape of each character used in a given font is<BR>
described in the Metrics for the character.  There is no size associated<BR>
with the character, only a description of how the character is to be drawn.<BR>
The size of a character is set within a PostScript program using the<BR>
command &quot;scalefont&quot;.<BR>
 <BR>
For example:  /Times-Roman findfont 12 scalefont setfont<BR>
 <BR>
Complete information on how PostScript fonts are scaled is in the<BR>
&quot;PostScript Language Reference Manual, ISBN #0-201-10174-2&quot;, Chapter 5,<BR>
section 5.2, Organization and Use of Fonts.<BR>
 <BR>
The actual PostScript fonts used in the LaserWriter ROMs are available from<BR>
Adobe as downloadable.  When using the LaserWriter fonts in PostScript, the<BR>
font type must be declared (Bold, Italic, Demi, and so on).  Here is a list<BR>
of the proper font names for the LaserWriter Plus:<BR>
 <BR>
Times-Roman<BR>
Times-Bold<BR>
Times-Italic<BR>
Times-BoldItalic<BR>
Helvetica<BR>
Helvetica-Bold<BR>
Helvetica-Oblique<BR>
Helvetica-BoldOblique<BR>
Courier-Bold<BR>
Courier-Oblique<BR>
Courier-BoldOblique<BR>
Symbol<BR>
AvantGarade-DemiOblique<BR>
AvantGarade-BookOblique<BR>
AvantGarade-Demi<BR>
AvantGarade-Book<BR>
Bookman-DemiItalic<BR>
Bookman-LightItalic<BR>
Bookman-Demi<BR>
Bookman-Light<BR>
Helvetica-Narrow-BoldOblique<BR>
Helvetica-Narrow-Oblique<BR>
Helvetica-Narrow-Bold<BR>
Helvetica-Narrow<BR>
NewCenturySchlbk-BoldItalic<BR>
NewCenturySchlbk-Italic<BR>
NewCenturySchlbk-Bold<BR>
NewCenturySchlbk-Roman<BR>
Palatino-BoldItalic<BR>
Palatino-Italic<BR>
Palatino-Bold<BR>
Palatino-Roman<BR>
ZapfChancery-MediumItalic<BR>
ZapfDingbats<BR>
 <BR>
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<div class="mod-date">Published Date: Feb 18, 2012</div>
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