Xerox Elixir Forms Development Software Support & Software Merkblatt
2-6
Elixir Technologies Corporation – Technical Support Bulletin
Bulletin Type :
PrintDriver and Windows 2000
Date :
10/16/2002
Author:
Robert Underwood
Robert_underwood@elixir.com
Font Considerations
TrueType and ATM fonts
Point sizes - The PrintDriver only supports conversion of whole point sizes, or half point sizes up to
26.5 points. Conversions of any other fraction point sizes can cause printing problems later on.
Naming conventions for fonts with half points are different than whole points. All half-point sizes use
alpha characters in the third position of the name for the point size. For example: A=1 point, B=2
points, C=3 points... Z=26 points.
An Arial 10.5 normal font would become ARJ5NP (AR for Arial, J for 10 points, 5 for .5 of a point, N
for normal, and P for Portrait).
Expanded or contracted fonts - Take caution not to expand or contract the fonts in the source
application (e.g. in Word, or PageMaker). Try to keep them all "normal". Otherwise you run the risk
of having future documents print with incorrect spacing, or of overwriting a previously existing font
of the same name with slightly different spacing characteristics. (If you must, use a pre-built
condensed or expanded font, such as Arial Narrow, instead of condensing it within the document.)
Stylized fonts - Elixir's PrintDriver cannot convert fonts that have been "stylized" (fonts that have
been altered by that program to look different than the original font) since it gets its information
directly from the source (TTF or PFM) font file. (A typical result of the use of stylized fonts would be
that the final print will misplace or over-type characters.)
In Windows it can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between an actual original font and a
stylized font.
26.5 points. Conversions of any other fraction point sizes can cause printing problems later on.
Naming conventions for fonts with half points are different than whole points. All half-point sizes use
alpha characters in the third position of the name for the point size. For example: A=1 point, B=2
points, C=3 points... Z=26 points.
An Arial 10.5 normal font would become ARJ5NP (AR for Arial, J for 10 points, 5 for .5 of a point, N
for normal, and P for Portrait).
Expanded or contracted fonts - Take caution not to expand or contract the fonts in the source
application (e.g. in Word, or PageMaker). Try to keep them all "normal". Otherwise you run the risk
of having future documents print with incorrect spacing, or of overwriting a previously existing font
of the same name with slightly different spacing characteristics. (If you must, use a pre-built
condensed or expanded font, such as Arial Narrow, instead of condensing it within the document.)
Stylized fonts - Elixir's PrintDriver cannot convert fonts that have been "stylized" (fonts that have
been altered by that program to look different than the original font) since it gets its information
directly from the source (TTF or PFM) font file. (A typical result of the use of stylized fonts would be
that the final print will misplace or over-type characters.)
In Windows it can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between an actual original font and a
stylized font.
For example: when you apply bold and italics to the Arial font, you aren't stylizing it; you are
actually calling separate TrueType fonts. If you look at the font files on your PC you will find:
Arial.ttf = Arial normal
Arialbd.ttf = Arial bold
Ariali.ttf = Arial italic
Arialbi.ttf = Arial italic bold
but when you embolden the font Impact, for example, Word is stylizing it, since there is only
one Impact.ttf.
actually calling separate TrueType fonts. If you look at the font files on your PC you will find:
Arial.ttf = Arial normal
Arialbd.ttf = Arial bold
Ariali.ttf = Arial italic
Arialbi.ttf = Arial italic bold
but when you embolden the font Impact, for example, Word is stylizing it, since there is only
one Impact.ttf.
The alternative is to use ElixiFont to manipulate the font in Elixir (make it darker, lighter, italicize it,
etc.) and place it in the document using ElixirForm.
etc.) and place it in the document using ElixirForm.