8. The font wars

While Adobe published the specification of its PostScript PDL 'Type 3' font format in 1984, making it freely available to laser-printer manufacturers, it kept secret the specification of the 'Type 1' font format [1] (which utilised character hinting, essentially instructions to the RIP contained within the font outlines regarding which features ought to be maintained, depending on the desired output). 

Consumer demand to be able to see PostScript 'Type 1' fonts on-screen brought about the release of Adobe Display Post­Script, for which a high licensing fee was sought by Adobe. This close-guarded licensing monopoly created intense compe­tition within the industry to crack the 'Type 1' specification, and led to the awkward partnering of Apple and Microsoft that re­sulted in TrueType, an alternative font language that could dis­play on-screen – as well as in print – outline fonts on either a PostScript- or non-PostScript-enabled printer [2]. With a TrueType rasteriser built into the computer's hardware, TrueType fonts could be rasterised before they were sent to the PostScript interpreter, and rendered on-screen without the use of any third-party software [3].

In response to this strategic offensive, Adobe finally published the specifications of its 'Type 1' font format in 1990, making it freely available to anyone wishing to manufacture a PostScript printer, and announced as its successor a product called Adobe Type Man­ager (ATM) (Shimada, 2006). A system capable of generating on-screen PostScript display graphics [4], ATM theoretically rendered unnecessary the principals of TrueType as an alternative font technology, since Apple and Microsoft users could simply buy the software directly from Adobe, as part of its now formidable range of design applications [5].

Windows 95

 

Notes

  1. The 'Type 1' font format comprises two files: screen (bitmap) and printer (vector) outline fonts. The TrueType format contains its bitmap and vector information within a single file. 

  2. Shimada J., 2006. The font wars. [online]. 

  3. In 1994, Apple collaborated again with Adobe to develop its TrueType GX fonts and produced QuickDraw GX, an extensive graphics library that became a core part of the Mac operating system. 

  4. The technology behind the on-screen display of TrueType and PostScript 'Type 1' fonts evolved in conjunction with the personal computer's processing power, and with the incorporation of 'font smoothing' by Microsoft in its Windows 95. Font smoothing is an anti-aliasing technique that involves black, white and three intermediate shades of grey to smooth the edges of bitmap shapes, improving their appearance on-screen (Shimada, 2006). 

  5. Finally, in 1996, Adobe partnered with Microsoft to develop OpenType, a font technology combining aspects of PostScript and TrueType, to create enhanced fonts able to support non-Latin based alphabets in print and on the web (Pfiffner P., 2003. Inside the publishing revolution: the Adobe story. San Jose: Adobe Press, p.65). 

 
 

Tom O’Reilly worked in the Academic Books Production department of Cambridge University Press, 2007–2014.

This blog comprises excerpts from his book What You See Is What You Get: Desktop Publishing And The Production Revolution at Cambridge University Press (1980–1996).

 
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