Fontbook Help Index

What Fontbook does for you

About Fonts and Typefaces

Selecting Typefaces for Viewing or Printing

Filtering Typefaces

Printing Specimen Sheets

Viewing Typefaces on Screen

Using the Log

Possible Problems


WHAT FONTBOOK DOES FOR YOU

Fontbook is a tool for those who work with type, and need the ability to quickly and accurately assess the quality and style of the typefaces on their system.

PRINT OUT TYPEFACE SPECIMEN SHEETS:

Use Fontbook to automatically print out clean, uncluttered, professional looking 'specimen' or 'sample' sheets of the typefaces on your system.

Fontbook prints out a variety of specimen sheets:

full character set

alphanumeric sets in a variety of points and styles

body text samples

combined headline and body text

alphanumeric sets in 7 typefaces per page

typegauges in any font

Fontbook will do this automatically for all fonts, or any that you choose.

Specimen sheets are an essential tool in any DTP environment. Keep these on hand for customers to view, or for operators to assess the quality and artistic merit of a typeface.

VIEW TYPEFACES ON SCREEN:

For any typeface, see the entire 255 character set on screen  in large, clear letters.

If several typefaces have been chosen, see their alphanumeric sets together on screen, (up to 100 typefaces in a scrollable window) highlighting the differences between similar typefaces, relative character widths etc.

LOG YOUR PRINTOUTS AND FILTER FONT TYPES:

Fontbook allows the user to record typefaces for which specimen sheets have been printed, saving time on large systems to which faces are regularly added or removed. This 'log' or list of typefaces can be printed out and used as an index for the specimen book created by Fontbook. Further, you can filter faces according to type, if for example you wish to work only with TrueTypes.

SHOWS FONTS RESIDENT FOR ANY TYPEFACE:

Fontbook maintains the distinction between typefaces and fonts. For typefaces with more than one font on disk (i.e. roman, bold, italic or bold italic files), Fontbook makes the styles available. Fonts which are synthesized from the Roman are not shown. (see ABOUT TYPEFACES AND FONTS)


ABOUT TYPEFACES AND FONTS

There is confusion over typographical terminology. Although the distinction has been blurred in recent times, the following definitions apply.

A TYPEFACE is a set of printable characters that share a similar fundamental design.

A FONT is single instance of that typeface, having very specific characteristics such as size,

weight and slant.

A TYPEFACE FAMILY is a group of typefaces that have similar appearance, stroke width ratios,

and serif characteristics

.

Thus a FONT is a subset of a TYPEFACE, and a TYPEFACE is a subset of a TYPEFACE FAMILY.

For example, '18 point Bodoni Bold Condensed italic' describes a font that is

in the TYPEFACE 'Bodoni Bold Condensed'

in the FAMILY   'Bodoni'

of which there are several, including 'Bodoni Poster' and 'Bodoni'.

a font, because we have specified the size 18 point, and the style italic.

MS Windows implements typefaces as small, uniquely named files  actually dynamic link libraries.

In many cases, unique files exist for the roman, bold, italic and bold italic font variants of any typeface. However Windows' Graphic Device Interface has the ability to synthesize the size, weight and style attributes of a font from a single file for the typeface, usually the roman. Thus, if only one file for 'Bodoni Bold Condensed' exists, Windows is able to synthesize an italic variant 'on the fly', a process transparent to the user.

Although it is not always the case, most operators believe that far better results are achieved  if the only styles used for any typeface are the ones for which a file actually exists (not those that are synthesized from the roman).

If a file is not found for the requested font style, whether or not this synthesis happens depends upon the font type, the application and the output device. A further complication arises because in some cases a font may be synthesised for the screen, but not for the printer, leading to very disappointing results when a document is printed.

Fontbook maintains the distinction between fonts and typefaces, and shows the operator only the fonts for which a unique disk file exists. In its default mode, Fontbook is oriented towards showing only typefaces, to view or print fonts styles for chosen typefaces choose 'SHOW STYLES WINDOW' from the 'VIEW' menu. A small popup window will appear, showing the font files on disk for the typeface highlighted in the right hand listbox of the main window.


SELECTING TYPEFACES FOR VIEWING OR PRINTING:

The main window of Fontbook has 2 large listboxes. The box on the left lists all faces registered by MS Windows (that is, MS Windows recognises for use within MS Windowshosted applications). The listbox on the right shows faces selected for viewing or printing.

Add typefaces to the listbox on the right by:

1)	highlighting the typeface or typefaces, and clicking the 'ADD' button.

2)	double clicking on any typeface name.

3)	clicking the 'ADD ALL' button, thus adding all faces from the left listbox.

Remove faces from the listbox on the right by:

1)	highlight the typeface in the right listbox and click the 'REMOVE' button.

2)	all typefaces from the right listbox by clicking the 'REMOVE ALL' button.

3)	the 'CLEAR' button removes all typefaces and clears all selections.


FILTERING TYPEFACES:

In its default mode, Fontbook will show (in the left hand listbox of the main window) all typefaces registered by MS Windows, whether TrueTypes (TTF), other vector faces (VEC), bitmap or raster faces (RAS), or device faces (DEV).

By choosing 'FILTER FONTS' from the 'FILE' menu, and checking the required type in the dialog box that appears, you can selectively work with any combination of these types. The dialog box is illustrated below.

Additionally, this menu option allows the user to filter out faces previously printed as specimen sheets (see Using the Log).


PRINTING SPECIMEN SHEETS:

Fontbook can print out a variety of professional quality typeface and font specimen sheets.

Paper size and layout:

A4 portrait is recommended, although Fontbook will automatically adjust for letter, legal or fullscap.

Margins:

You may need to adjust your printer driver for zero (or a very small) margins. Most printer drivers have a 'margins' dialog box, which is automatically overridden by applications, but is used by Fontbook. Default margins will probably be acceptable, but may position the text a little down and to the right.

The printout 'Typegauge'  requires a margin of zero, as it is on a wide measure. When printed correctly, a finely graded scale in 2 point increments should be visible down the extreme right hand side.

Print Handling:

If multiple fonts are selected for printing, Fontbook sends each one as a separate print job. This allow you to cancel certain prints, or interrrupt printing specimen sheets for other important jobs.

Procedure:

Add typefaces or fonts to be printed to the listbox on the right. Fontbook will sequentially print a specimen page for each of the typefaces chosen. From the 'PRINT' menu, choose the specimen sheet as below:

Char Set	Prints the ASCII character set, one typeface per page.

Sample Page	Prints alphanumerics in 6 pt, 12pt, 18 pt Roman, Bold, Italic, Bold Italic,and 36 pt. One typeface per page.

Page of Text	14 pt headline plus several paragraphs of body text, in a point size chosen by user, one typeface per page.

Sample and Text	Prints	18 pt Roman, Bold, Italic, Bold Italic plus several paragraphs of body text in 11 pt.

Multi Face Page	If more than one typeface has been chosen for printout they will be printed at seven typefaces per page, showing the alphanumeric sets, two lines per typeface.

Typegauge	Print typegauges for measuring printed text, in any typeface you choose. Photocopy onto transparent film.

Fonts :

From the 'VIEW' menu choose 'SHOW FONT STYLES' to view individual font styles, (e.g. roman, bold, italic, bold italic) if these exist as distinct disk files. The style highlighted in the resultant popup window will be printed.


VIEWING TYPEFACES ON SCREEN:

Any typeface that has been chosen for printing or viewing  that is, has been added to the listbox on the right of the main window  can be viewed on screen in a popup 'VIEW' window.

Alternatively, if 'SHOW FONT STYLES' has been chosen from the 'VIEW' menu, individual font styles (Roman, Bold, Italic, or Bold Italic) can be viewed, provided the corresponding file exists on disk.

Typefaces are shown with large, clear characters, usually sufficient to allow a designer to choose a typeface 'on the fly'.

FULL CHAR SET:

To view a full character set of a typeface or font, highlight it in the right hand listbox, and from the 'VIEW' menu choose 'FULL CHAR SET', or double click the face name.

To view a font style associated with that typeface, choose 'SHOW FONT STYLES' from the 'VIEW' menu, highlight the desired font style in the popup window, and double click or choose 'FULL CHAR SET' from the 'VIEW' menu.

MULTIPLE TYPEFACES:

To view the alphanumeric sets of up to 100 faces at once (in a scrollable window), move the chosen typefaces to the right hand listbox. Then, from the 'VIEW' menu choose 'ALL FACES TOGETHER'.

View windows can be iconized, maximized or scrolled.


USING THE LOG:

It is possible to filter out typefaces for which specimen sheets have already been printed, so that they do not appear in the listbox of available faces. This can be useful on a very large system, that is, one with several hundred typefaces. Fontbook can be instructed to keep a list of faces (a 'log') for which a specimen sheet of some sort has been printed. By default, this option is disabled, but can be enabled by choosing 'ENABLE LOG' from the 'FILE' menu, and the log will stay enabled through subsequent sessions until 'DISABLE LOG' is chosen from the 'FILE' menu. Once a log is in use, a text file called 'fontbook.log' is maintained in the current  directory.

When logging is enabled, several menu commands are available from the 'LOG' menu, which allow the log to be edited, sorted, kept sorted, and cleared.

By default, when the log is enabled, typefaces listed in the log are not available to Fontbook, however this can be temporarily reversed by selecting 'FILTER FONTS' from the 'FILE' menu, and in the resultant dialog box deselecting the 'EXCLUDE FACES ALREADY IN LOG' checkbox (see FILTERING TYPEFACES ).

The log file ('fontbook.log') can be printed out, using a word processor or ascii editor such as notepad, and used as an index to a specimen book produced by Fontbook.


POSSIBLE PROBLEMS:

MY COMPUTER CRASHES:

Fontbook has been thoroughly tested, crashes are more likely to be occuring because of a bad font file. Bad font files are one of the most common causes of system crashes, so use Fontbook or Charmap to track down the bad file and remove it.

THE PRINTOUT IS NOT CENTERED ON THE PAGE:

Most printer drivers come with a preset left and top margin, and a dialog box (often rather well hidden) to change this setting. Because this default margin is automatically overridden by most applications, you have probably never needed to know it was there. Fontbook, however, does not override the driver's margin setting, and expects to use a very small (or zero) left and top margin. If necessary, adjust your printer driver's margin. These can also be increased to allow a left hand binding margin.

Fontbook is designed to print on A4 portrait, although it will automatically adjust to give satisfactory results on US letter or legal paper sizes, or fullscap.

Note that the printout 'Typegauge' is on a wide measure, and will need margins set to zero. When printed correctly a finely graded ruler appears on the extreme right of the page.

PRINTING IS TOO SLOW:

If you are using postscript, try turning postscript off. Printing will be faster but the appearance of the printed text will probably not change.

PRINTING IS UNRELIABLE, OR NOT WORKING:

Fontbook has been tested with a variety of lazer, dot matrix and bubble jet printers; but if a problem exists that cannot be traced to other causes, try disabling the print manager, and/or printing specimen sheets one at a time.

NOT ALL MY FONTS ARE BEING SHOWN:

Check to see if logging is enabled, if so, disable it, by choosing 'DISABLE LOGGING' from the 'FILE' menu, or temporarily override by choosing 'FILTER FONTS' from the 'FILE' menu, and in the resultant dialog box deselecting the 'EXCLUDE FACES ALREADY IN LOG' checkbox.

Fontbook will not show .wfn fonts in Coreldraw.

I GET A 'text file not found' MESSAGE WHEN PRINTING 'PAGE OF TEXT' OR 'SAMPLE AND TEXT':

When the user chooses to print either of these two specimen pages, Fontbook searches for a small ascii file of sample text called 'text.dat', in the same directory as Fontbook. If not found, and error message is presented as above. Either copy the file from disk, or substitute any other text file renamed to 'text.dat'. The text file should be under 4096 bytes in length and should have line breaks only between paragraphs (i.e., very log lines).