PS Fonts 1

[MicahDB]

All,

I'm getting ready to start a website for a law firm I work with. They had a graphic designer do their cards and letter head and she sent me the files she used (fonts and colors). Naturally she did them on a Mac and used postscript fonts.

I don't know all that much about the .ps file format, so I tried to save the fonts in my windows/fonts directory and it says they can't be loaded because they're "invalid or damaged". Can I use a .ps format with a web graphics tool like Fireworks? Is it the file being invalid or is it just PC to Mac conversion?

Any knowledge would be helpful.

Thanks,
Micah

 

[dwarfthrower]

Not really. Aside from some browsers which allow font downloads - you're pretty much stuck with displaying text in whatever fonts the end user has installed on their machine.

You can use CSS to prescribe a descending list of "best fit" fonts - ie Arial, Helvetica, Sans Serif will first try to render the text in Arial font, if that's not found it will attemt to use Helvetica, if it can't find that it will use Sans Serif.

If pixel-for-pixel direct reproduction is required, your only real alternative is to use an image.

[sub]Never be afraid to share your dreams with the world.
There's nothing the world loves more than the taste of really sweet dreams.[/sub]

 

[BabyJeffy]

Can I use a .ps format with a web graphics tool like Fireworks?

Yes you can - and it's probably the only way forward for you at this stage. You can then export the fireworks image and use it on the website knowing it's as close to the real thing as you are going to get.

How?

PS fonts are not Mac specific. They are Postscript Fonts (probably Postscript Level 2). What they are not is Truetype fonts (which is the most common font you see installed on your Windows or Mac machine). If you wish to use the PS fonts, then you will need some extra software that will do that for you.

When I worked for a design studio, we use some software like Suitcase or Adobe Type Manager to do this for us (MacOS8, MacOS9 days). I'm sure there are tools that can do this for Windows - but I don't know their names.

I suggest you ask the designer to export some appropriate JPEGs and GIFs (probably GIFs) for your site. It'll take them moments to do (assuming they have everything set up) and all you'd need to supply would be the dimensions (pixels) of the desired file.

If that's not possible, then you could search google for a truetype version of the font (there may be one available that is the same name, or looks very very similar for free).

If you decide to go down this route, and can't find a free version of the font - post the name of the font family that the designer has used and someone will be able to come up with an alternative (hopefully) that you *can* just drop onto your computer and have work

Cheers,
Jeff

[tt]Jeff's Page [/tt][tt]@[/tt][tt] Code Couch

http://www.codecouch.com/jeff/

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[BabyJeffy]

We've had two recent posts about fonts that might help you in your search:

thread253-1115997
thread253-1124358

Maybe they'd be useful to your search!

Cheers,
Jeff

[tt]Jeff's Page [/tt][tt]@[/tt][tt] Code Couch

http://www.codecouch.com/jeff/

[/tt]

 

[MicahDB]

Jeff, Thanks for the information. But I have a quick point of clarification.

"If you wish to use the PS fonts, then you will need some extra software that will do THAT for you."

By that do you mean software that will convert PS Font to TT Font? I think that's what you're saying, I just want to be sure.

Thanks again.

 

[BabyJeffy]

Not so much converting from PS to Truetype (although there are tools around that can do this) but some software that integrates with the operating system to allow you to use PS fonts. I don't know the "Windows" name for them... old skool MacOS8 and MacOS9 users would call them "Inits" or "Extensions".

Read up on Adobe Type Manager or Suitcase (Font Juggler was another I think) -- all for Mac... this will give you a better understanding of what I am talking about - and from there you can seek out something for Windows.

Cheers,
Jeff

[tt]Jeff's Page [/tt][tt]@[/tt][tt] Code Couch

http://www.codecouch.com/jeff/

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[MicahDB]

All,

I've done some looking and can't find any free versions of the two font familes I'm looking for. I'm looking for a true type font family called Mrs Eaves and one called Meta Plus as well.

Any help would be appreciated. I have found Mrs Eaves for $39 per font type, but there are several that I need. Most important is Mrs Eaves Italic.

Thanks in advance!!!!
Micah

 

[jazz88]

I feel your pain. I have looked for this font (Mrs Eaves) too. I have done an extensive search. You will not find it anywhere for a cheaper price I don't have it either. And there are no free versions, I'm sure about it.

http://www.antemeridiemdesign.com