Mac OS® X Leopard™ Bible

Chapter 15. Managing Fonts

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Working with fonts and font formats

• Learning where Mac OS X fonts are located

• Managing fonts in Mac OS X

There is no computer platform that handles typefaces in such a consistent and reliable way as a Macintosh. Many publishing companies and advertising agencies use Macs and Mac fonts to create magazines, books, and other outstanding printed pieces. The Mac single-handedly created the desktop publishing revolution and is still spearheading it with OS X Leopard. One of the most important aspects of that revolution is font management with consistency.

This chapter discusses what exactly a font is and what font technologies the Mac employs. It examines what features are incorporated into Mac OS X Leopard for working with fonts. The font standards supported by Mac OS X are listed and described, and where the fonts reside is demystified. The chapter also looks at managing fonts with font management software and how Font Book fits into the picture, and you can find information on font utilities and some useful tips for working with fonts.

Understanding Fonts

Before the arrival of the Mac and desktop publishing technology, fonts were cast in metal and sets of each character stored in drawers with many compartments. In order to generate the front cover of the New York Times, men with ink-stained hands would pick and choose the individual letters from these drawers and arrange them within a tray, tighten them up with little slivers of lead (thus the term ...