Fonts on the Mac
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article, Fonts on the Mac, describes current and historical practices regarding the Apple Macintosh’s approach to typefaces, including font management and fonts included with each system revision.
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[edit] Fonts in Mac OS X
See also: List of fonts in Mac OS X
The primary system font in Mac OS X (all versions) is Lucida Grande. For labels and other small text, 10 pt Lucida Grande is typically used. Lucida Grande is almost identical in appearance to the prevalent Windows font Lucida Sans, but contains a much richer variety of glyphs.
Mac OS X ships with a number of high-quality typefaces, for a number of different scripts, licensed from several sources. According to Apple, Mac OS X "includes over $10,000 worth of high quality Roman, Japanese and Chinese fonts". It also supports sophisticated font techniques, such as ligatures and filtering.
Many of the classic Mac typefaces included with previous versions are still part of Mac OS X, including the serif typefaces New York, Palatino, and Times, the sans-serif Charcoal and Chicago, Monaco, Geneva and Helvetica. Courier, a monospaced font, also remained.[1]
In the initial publicly released version of Mac OS X (March 2001), font support for scripts was limited to what was provided by Lucida Grande and a few fonts for the major Japanese scripts. With each major revision of the OS, fonts supporting additional scripts have been added.
Zapfino is a calligraphic typeface designed by and named after renowned typeface designer Hermann Zapf for Linotype. Zapfino utilizes advanced typographic features of the AAT "morx" table format, and is included in OS X partially as a technology demo. Ligatures and character variations are extensively used. The font is based on a calligraphic example by Zapf in 1944. The version included with Mac OS X is a single weight. Since then, Linotype has introduced “Linotype Zapfino Extra” which includes the additional “Forte” weight and even more options and alternates.
Several of the GX fonts that Apple commissioned and originally shipped with System 7.5 were ported to use Apple Advanced Typography (AAT) instead (see below) and shipped with Mac OS X 10.2 and 10.3. Hoefler Text, Apple Chancery and Skia are examples of fonts of this line of heritage. Other typefaces were licensed from the general offerings of leading font vendors.
The LastResort font is a font that is invisible to the end user, but is used by the system to display reference glyphs in the event that real glyphs needed to display a given character are not found in any other available font. The symbols provided by the LastResort font place glyphs into categories based on their location in the Unicode system and provide a hint to the user about which font or script is required to view unavailable characters. Designed by Apple and extended by Michael Everson of Evertype for Unicode 4.1 coverage, the symbols adhere to a unified design. The glyphs are square with rounded corners with a bold outline. In the left and right sides of the outline, the Unicode range that the character belongs to is given using hexadecimal digits. Top and bottom are used for one or two descriptions of the Unicode block name. A symbol representative of the block is centered inside the square. The typeface used for the text cutouts in the outline is Chicago, otherwise not included with Mac OS X. The LastResort font has been part of Mac OS since version 8.5, but the limited success of Apple Type Services for Unicode Imaging (ATSUI) on the classic Mac OS means that only users of Mac OS X are regularly exposed to it.
Of the fonts that ship with Mac OS X, Lucida Grande has the broadest repertoire. This font provides a relatively complete set of Roman, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Thai and Greek letters and an assortment of common symbols. All in all, it contains a bit more than 2800 glyphs (including ligatures).
In Mac OS X 10.3 ("Panther"), a font called Apple Symbols was introduced. It complements the set of symbols from Lucida Grande, but also contains a number of glyphs only accessible by glyph ID (that is, they have not been assigned Unicode codepoints). A hidden font called .Keyboard contains 92 visible glyphs, most of which appear on Apple keyboards. The symbols are not slanted like they are on most Apple keyboards.
[edit] Font management and capabilities
[edit] System 6.0.8 and earlier
In early versions of the system, fonts were stored in the System file. A utility called Font/DA Mover was used to transport fonts out of and into the system file, or any other file, such as a HyperCard stack. While not supported by the standard System 6, a TrueType system extension provided support for outline fonts. Printer fonts should be installed directly in the System Folder.
A reboot was required after installing new fonts unless using a font management utility such as SuitCase, FontJuggler, MasterJuggler or similar.
[edit] System 7 – Mac OS 9
TrueType was supported starting with System 7. Fonts were still stored in the System suitcase but could now be installed using drag-and-drop. To install new fonts, one had to quit all running applications.
In System 7.1, a separate Fonts folder appeared in the System Folder. Fonts were automatically installed when dropped on the System Folder, and became available to applications after they were restarted.
Rules for storing printer fonts varied greatly between different system, printer and application configurations. Typically, they had to be stored directly in the System Folder or in the Extensions Folder.
Starting with Mac OS 8.5, the operating system supported data fork fonts, including Windows TrueType and OpenType. In addition, Apple created a new format, called data-fork suitcases. At the same time, support was added for TrueType collection files, conventionally with the filename extension '.ttc'.
System versions 7 to 9 supported a maximum of 128 font suitcases and each suitcase could store multiple fonts.
Starting with version 7.1, Apple unified the implementation of non-roman script systems in a programming interface called WorldScript. WorldScript I was used for all one-byte character sets and WorldScript II for two-byte sets. Support for new script systems was added by so-called Language Kits. Some kits were provided with the system software, and others were sold by Apple and third parties. Application support for WorldScript was not universal, since support was a significant task. Good international support gave a marketing edge to word-processing programs such as Nisus Writer and programs using the WASTE text engine, since Microsoft Word was not WorldScript aware.
In 8.5, full Unicode support was added to Mac OS through an API called ATSUI. However, WorldScript remained the dominant technology for international text until Mac OS X, because of limited application support for ATSUI.
[edit] Mac OS X
Mac OS X supports a wide variety of font formats. It supports most of the font formats used on earlier systems, where the fonts were typically stored in the resource fork of the file. In addition to the data-fork version of TrueType and the Adobe/Microsoft OpenType fonts, OS X also supports Apple's own data-fork-based TrueType format, called data-fork suitcases with the filename extension '.dfont'. Data-fork suitcases are old-style Mac TrueType fonts with all the data from the resource fork transferred unchanged to the data fork. The system also supports the instances created using the "multiple master" PostScript variant.
Fonts in the /System/Library/Fonts folder and the /Library/Fonts folder are available to all users. Fonts stored in a user's ~/Library/Fonts folder are available to only that user. Mac OS 9 applications running in the Classic environment can only access fonts stored in the Fonts folder in the Mac OS 9 system folder. Those fonts are also made available to native Mac OS X applications.
Mac OS X includes a software rasterizer that supports PostScript, thus eliminating the need for the Adobe Type Manager Light program. The built-in text editing supports advanced typesetting features such as adjustable kerning and baseline, as well as a few OpenType features.
Support for bitmap and QuickDraw GX fonts was dropped in Mac OS X in favor of TrueType fonts using AAT features.
Since 10.3 Panther, a utility called Font Book has been included with Mac OS X allowing users to easily install fonts and do basic font management.
[edit] Third-party font managers
As desktop publishing took off and PostScript and other outline font formats joined the bitmap fonts, the need for unified font management grew. A number of third parties have created tools, such as Suitcase, for managing font sets. For example, they allowed enabling or disabling fonts on-the-fly, and storing fonts outside of their normal locations. Some even allow the use of Windows .ttf font files natively.
[edit] Font technology
[edit] TrueType and PostScript
- Main articles: TrueType and PostScript
TrueType is an outline font standard developed by Apple in the late 1980s, and later licensed to Microsoft, as a competitor to Adobe's Type 1 fonts used in PostScript, which had come to dominate the field of desktop publishing.
The outlines of the characters in TrueType fonts are made of straight line segments and quadratic Bézier curves, rather than the cubic Bézier curves in Type 1 fonts. While the underlying mathematics of TrueType is thus simpler, many type developers prefer to work with cubic curves because they are easier to draw and edit.
While earlier versions of the Mac OS required additional software to work with Type 1 fonts (as well as at least one bitmap copy of each Type 1 font to be used), Mac OS X now includes native support for a variety of font technologies, including both TrueType and PostScript Type 1.
Microsoft, together with Adobe, have created an extended TrueType format, called OpenType. Apple, however, is continuing to develop TrueType. A 'Zapf' table, for example, maps composite glyphs to characters and vice versa and adds other features. The table was named, with permission, after typeface creator Hermann Zapf.
[edit] Proprietary technology
QuickDraw GX was a complete overhaul of the Macintosh graphics system, including the font system, which was rolled out for System 7.5 in 1995. QuickDraw GX fonts could be in either TrueType or PostScript Type 1 formats, and included additional information about the glyphs and their purpose. Advanced features, such as ligatures, glyph variations, kerning information and small caps, could be used by any GX enabled application. Previously, they had typically been reserved for advanced typesetting applications.
Microsoft was refused a license to GX technology and chose to develop OpenType instead. GX typography and GX technology as a whole never saw widespread adoption. Support for GX was dropped in later versions of the system.
Apple Advanced Typography (AAT) is a set of extensions to TrueType which cover much of the same ground as OpenType, developed independently but concurrently with the Adobe/Microsoft format (circa 1995), and is the successor to the little-used QuickDraw GX font technology. It also incorporates concepts from the Multiple Master font format, which allows multiple axes of traits to be defined and an n-dimensional number of glyphs to be accessible within that space. AAT features do not alter the underlying characters, but do affect their representation during glyph conversion.
AAT is also supported in IBM’s open source ICU library, which is being used to implement support for AAT fonts under Linux and other open source operating systems.
[edit] Hinting technology
Hinting is the process by which TrueType fonts are adjusted to the limited resolution of a screen or a relatively low resolution printer. Undesired features in the rendered text, such as lack of symmetry or broken strokes, can be reduced. Hinting is performed by a virtual machine that distorts the control points that define the glyph shapes so that they fit the grid defined by the screen better. Hinting is particularly important when rendering text at small pixel sizes.
Hinting is part of the TrueType specification, but Apple holds three patents in the United States relating to the process:
- US5155805: Method and apparatus for moving control points in displaying digital typeface on raster output devices (filed May 8, 1989)
- US5159668: Method and apparatus for manipulating outlines in improving digital typeface on raster output devices (filed May 8, 1989)
- US5325479: Method and apparatus for moving control points in displaying digital typeface on raster output devices (filed May 28, 1992)
Apple offers licensing of these patents. Microsoft has access to Apple's TrueType patents through cross-licensing. However, these patents have proven problematic to developers and vendors of open source software for TrueType rendering, such as FreeType. To avoid infringing on the patents, some software disregards the hinting information present in fonts, resulting in visual artifacts. FreeType has developed an automatic hinting engine, but it is difficult to beat the explicit hinting guidelines provided by the typeface designer. The problem of lacking hinting can also be compensated for by using anti-aliasing, although a combination of the two produces the best result.
[edit] Subpixel rendering
Apple has started using subpixel rendering in recent versions of Mac OS X. Version 10.2 introduced subpixel rendering of type and Quartz vector graphics. This feature is enabled using the System Preferences panel "General" (10.2) or "Appearance" (10.3), by setting the font smoothing style to "Medium — best for Flat Panel". Mac OS X 10.4 introduced an "Automatic" setting which transparently chooses either "Medium" or "Standard," depending on the type of main display. The quality of the rendering compared to Microsoft's ClearType and FreeType is contested, and is largely a matter of reader preference. However, Apple's approach differs from that of ClearType and FreeType in that TrueType hinting instructions are discarded. This results in more consistency of rendering on Mac OS at the expense of allowing type designers a level of fine tuning through hints.
[edit] Fonts of the original Macintosh
With the sole exception of Bill Atkinson's Venice typeface, the fonts included with the original Macintosh were designed by Susan Kare, who also designed most of the Macintosh's original icons.
The Macintosh was the first mainstream computer to use fonts featuring characters of different widths, often referred to as proportional fonts. Previously, most computer systems were limited to using monospace, requiring, for example, i and m to be exactly the same width. Vector-based fonts had yet to make an entrance in the personal computer arena, at least for screen use, so all the original Mac's typefaces were bitmaps.
[edit] Naming
After designing the first few fonts, the team decided they needed to adopt a naming convention. First, they settled on using the names of stops along the Paoli, Pennsylvania, commuter train line: Overbrook, Merion, Ardmore, and Rosemont. Steve Jobs had liked the idea of using cities as the names, but they had to be "world class" cities[2], and so the naming convention of using the names of world cities was chosen.
[edit] Variants
A number of different variants of each font were algorithmically generated on-the-fly from the standard fonts. Bold, italic, outlined, underlined and shadowed variations were the most common, though some applications also included subscript and superscript.
Outline, shadow, and underline are not always supported by modern software and fonts.
[edit] The Apple logo
Apple's fonts, and the MacRoman character set, include a solid Apple logo. One reason for including a trademark in a font is that the copyright status of fonts and typefaces is a complicated and uncertain matter. Trademark law, on the other hand, is much stronger. Third parties cannot include the Apple logo in fonts without permission from Apple. Apple states in the MacRoman to Unicode mapping file that:
- On regular US QWERTY keyboards, the logo character can be typed using the key combination Shift Option K (⇧⌥K). In MacRoman, the Apple logo has a hex value of 0xF0. The Apple logo has not been assigned a dedicated Unicode codepoint, but Apple uses U+F8FF () in the Private Use Area.
[edit] List
- Cairo was a bitmap dingbat font, most famous for the dogcow at the z character position.
- Chicago (sans-serif) was the default Macintosh system font in System 1–7.6. Also seen on LCD screens of earlier iPod models.
- Geneva (sans-serif) is designed for small point sizes and prevalent in all versions of the Mac user interface. Its name betrays its inspiration by the Swiss typeface Helvetica.
- London (blackletter) was an Old English-style font.
- Los Angeles (script) was a thin font that emulated handwriting.
- Monaco (sans-serif, monospaced) is a fixed-width font well-suited for 9–12 pt use.
- New York (serif) was a Times Roman-inspired font. The name alluded to the inspiration, even though the Times for which Times Roman was created was that of London, not New York.
- San Francisco was a whimsical font where each character looked as if it was a cutout from a newspaper, creating an intentional ransom note effect.
- Toronto (slab serif) was a geometric design.
- Venice (script) was a calligraphic font designed by Bill Atkinson.
