Thanks, Dov !!! Actually, neither "Helvetica" as most people know it nor "Arial" nor the "Swiss XXX" variants offer the original Helvetica type face.
The original Helvetica was developed in 1957 with the aim to create a neutral, "grotesk" typeface that had great clarity, no intrinsic meaning in its form, and could be used on a wide variety of signage. In 1960, the typeface's name was changed to Helvetica (derived from Confoederatio Helvetia, the Latin name for Switzerland) in order to make it more marketable internationally (therefore also the Bitstream "Swiss" named variant). See Wikipedia for further details. The version Adobe adopted as a ROM resident font in base 13, base 14 or base 35 PostScript printers (or whichever "base XX") actually wasn't as good as the ones implemented by cathode tupe based imagesetters (i.e. the generation before the laser technology). The type 1 "hinting" was good at that time, but not as good as we can get it today with TrueType outlines. Spacing, ligatures and some other things wasn't optimized (and TrueType didn't exist). Hence, in 1983 Linotype released a "refined" version called "Helvetca Neue" via it's daughter company Stempel AG. "Helvetica Neue" is MUCH better than Helvetica in all of its variants for any purpose, but it's not a free font and MUST be embedded in electronic documents such as PDF. Anyway, it's worth every cent in display previews and print, I believe. And it offers a LOT of more faces than the standard four, 51 to be precise. Best regards / Med venlig hilsen Jacob Sch?ffer? |? Chief Developer Grafikhuset (House of Graphics) Paradis All? 22, Raml?se DK-3200 Helsinge, Denmark Phone: +45 4439 4400 Email: js at grafikhuset.dk Web: www.grafikhuset.net -----Oprindelig meddelelse----- Fra: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] P? vegne af Dov Isaacs Sendt: 22. juli 2009 17:56 Til: framers at lists.frameusers.com Emne: RE: Standard font for technical documentation To set the record straight, whether you like Helvetica and/or Arial or not ... Arial and Helvetica are totally different san serif fonts from different foundries. Arial is from Monotype and not from Microsoft. Microsoft licensed a special version of Arial from Monotype for bundling with Windows and other software (notably, Office). Helvetica was not designed by Herman Zapf. What was "special" about the version of Arial licensed by Monotype to Microsoft was that the "set widths" of the glyphs in Arial were made to match the "set widths" of corresponding glyphs in the version of Helvetica that Adobe licensed from Linotype, thus providing a host-based substitution font for the printer-based Helvetica in Adobe PostScript printers. Similar hackery was performed by a number of CloneScript providers to provide printer-based "work-alike" fonts to substitute for Helvetica, one example being BitStream's "Swiss 721 SWA" family (where "SWA" is "set width adapted" to correspond to the set widths of PostScript base-35 fonts) which was admittedly and unabashedly a knock-off of Helvetica and specifically the Helvetica used in Adobe PostScript. Ironically, for Windows users, the fact that Microsoft used a work-alike font to substitute for Helvetica (and did similarly for other Adobe PostScript base-35 fonts), eliminated a major source of problems that plagues Macintosh users to this day. Apple chose to license Helvetica, Times, Palatino, and ITC Zapf Dingbats with compatible set widths to those in the Adobe PostScript base-35 font set and then convert same to TrueType format and then bundled same with MacOS. Unfortunately, those fonts aren't quite the same as the Adobe PostScript base 35 fonts, but do share identical names. Macintosh users who wish to use any of those base 35 fonts still need to choose whether to use the host-based Apple TrueType fonts (and not install the Adobe Type 1 fonts, simultaneously making sure to always download those fonts to the printer and/or embed same in PDF files) or to install the Adobe Type 1 versions of the fonts and totally blow away the MacOS TrueType versions. You have no idea how many prepress and PDF problems we run into due to this particular conflict due to identical font names. - Dov PS: Remember that "font" is a four letter word beginning with an 'f'. > -----Original Message----- > From: Graeme R Forbes > Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 1:22 AM > To: framers at lists.frameusers.com > Subject: Re: Standard font for technical documentation > > > Syed said: > > "Helvetica for all headers. I used to use Arial, but was clearly shown > (in this list! :)) that Helvetica looks a lot better in larger sizes > (like headers) and in printed form - better curves, etc." > > > I missed this discussion but I'm not surprised. I've read in more than one place > in the typographical literature that Arial was a cheap knock-off of Helvetica that > Microsoft cobbled together to avoid paying royalties (to Herman Zapf or > Linotype?). (This story may be false but it *sounds* true!) Apparently there is no > way that font designers can protect their work -- anyone with the right software > can copy what may have taken months of effort, change the name, and sell it or > give it away. > > Graeme Forbes _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to Framers as js at grafikhuset.dk. Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/js%40grafikhuset.dk Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.