Re: FM 5.5.6 install reality check please! (fonts)

[Jay Smith <jay@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Graham,

A couple thoughts for you.

You can see what is PS vs TT very clearly by running ATM and looking at
the "Font List" tab.

Yes, you need some PS fonts.  If you have a PS printer, those are often
bundled with a font pack.  Otherwise, you either have to buy (or borrow,
but that is probably contrary to the licenses).  You can also obtain
free downloadable PS fonts from any number of web sites.  These range
from stolen copies of great fonts (possibly renamed to protect the
guilty) to genuinely created new fonts that either look new or look like
"standard" fonts.  I suggest that you go to
   http://www.yahoo.com
or a similar search engine and search for "font sources" or something
like that.  You will be absolutely amazed.

Also, there are font newsgroups in which people exchange fonts, etc. 
The biggest is probably:
      comp.fonts
Use your news reader to subscribe to it, or if you do not have a news
reader setup, I sometimes use 
    http://www.deja.com 
for searching and browsing newsgroups.

There is one caution with fonts obtained from "non-standard" sources:
NOT ALL FONTS ARE CREATED EQUAL.  Some fonts are downright nasty --
including many that are distributed "free" with PS printers.  "Free"
often means that you have to buy a font editing program such the (really
terrific) FontLab from
   http://www.fontlab.com
but that is real money and a steep learning curve.

So, unless you want to "mess with" fonts, just buy a high quality font
CD from a well-regarded source.

Jay

graham wideman wrote:
> 
> Wow, this list is fast!  Thanks to all... some answers:
> 
> Platform is Windows NT4SP3.
> 
> I installed:
> -- FM
> -- ATM
> -- Acrobat (Catalog/Distiller/Exchange/Assistant)
> 
> The install (or something shortly thereafter) did create a \Psfonts folder,
> but it's empty except for the Ttconv folder, also empty.
> 
> On opening FM, I see lots of fonts on the font menu, but most look like TT
> fonts I already had... and as yet I don't know how to distinguish the TT
> from the ATM fonts on this list.
> 
> Anyhow, Richard Higgins had a good clue... look for some fonts in the
> /Acrobat3/Exchange/Fonts directory (of course! no need to document a little
> detail like that!)... and I did install these via the ATM applet, which
> copied them to the Psfonts folder, and now I can actually open the sample
> docs in FM.
> 
> I'm still looking for the 220 free fonts advertised in the Guide though...
> 
> OK, not to whine but... doesn't it stike you all that in this day and age a
> no-mistakes installation of a big-name product from a CD that's not been
> revised in 12 months really should result in a functioning application that
> doesn't require calling for technical support?
> 
> What gives?  Is this just an abberation, or the tip of the iceberg?
> 
> Graham
> 
> At 11/30/99 10:40 AM, you wrote:
> >Well, a couple of things.
> >
> >Do you have a default printer installed? You don't mention this in your
> >mail. I use an Apple postscript print as my default and it contains most the
> >fonts that are called for in the docs I work on. Aside from that, when you
> >installed ATM, you should have wound up with a /psfonts folder at the root
> >of your PM, assuming your on a Windoze box. If you do have this folder,
> >launch ATM (Start->Programs->Adobe->Adobe Type Manager) and add all of the
> >fonts in the psfonts folder. If you didn't get a psfonts folder, somthing
> >went wrong with the ATM install. Did you install Adobe Acrobat as well?
> >
> >Okay, after installing all of this and rebooting your system each time, when
> >you open Frame you should be able to see which fonts are available through
> >the Format->Font dialog. My screen is filled because I have collected fonts
> >over time. Certain applications,i.e., Corel, Photoshop, etc., install fonts
> >that are applied to the font listing. You should see at least the default
> >Windoze and printer fonts listed.
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: graham wideman [mailto:graham@wideman-one.com]
> >Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 1999 10:28 AM
> >To: Framers@FrameUsers.com
> >Subject: FM 5.5.6 install reality check please!
> >
> >
> >Folks --
> >
> >I'm no dummy when it comes to software (software engineer amongst other
> >things, and I have read the FM 5.5.6 for Dummies book :-), but installing
> >FM 5.5.6 has been a real exercise in guess work, and after 5 hours of
> >floundering I could really use a reality check.
> >
> >The main problem appears to be that FM depends pretty heavily on ATM fonts,
> >so of course I installed the included ATM.  However, that didn't install
> >any fonts, so far as I could tell, and FM won't open a doc without
> >complaining that all its fonts are missing.
> >
> >The Getting Started booklet talks about a Type On Call CD that looks like
> >maybe it's supposed to be included in the FM box... but since there are
> >other discrepancies between the docs and the CDs, I'm not sure. Anyhow, I
> >didn't get one.
> >
> >So I tried calling Adobe... and calling, and holding and calling and
> >holding (25 minutes and counting).  One thing I know for sure "a product
> >specialist is not yet available to take my call".  And at 7 am Pacific time
> >the tech support number claimed that this was outside the normal business
> >hours of 6am to 5 pm Pacific time.  Wonder which part of the Pacific
> >they're refering to??
> >
> >I did finally talk to someone at the Adobe number for Type On Call, and
> >they claimed that the Type On Call CD is discontinued, and no longer
> >included with any Adobe products.
> >
> >Yeah but... doesn't FM depend on it?
> >
> >OK, at this point I'm good and confused...
> >
> >Graham
> >
> >
> >---------------------------------------------------
> >Graham Wideman
> >graham@wideman-one.com
> >www.wideman-one.com
> >
> >

> Graham Wideman
> graham@wideman-one.com
> www.wideman-one.com
> 

-- 
Jay Smith

e-mail: Jay@JaySmith.com

Jay Smith & Associates
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