Re: [Freetype] Autohinting?

[Chris Carlen]

Vadim Plessky wrote:
> Yep. Just returned (on Monday) from countryside, after great week end :-)

Ah good!  Thanks for your reply.


> I think real question with bytecode interpreter is not where your location is, 
> but where you are going to distribute that product.
> So, if you live in US and download RPM from Europe - it's ok. You do not 
> violate any law.

Hmm, I'm not sure I undertstand how this can be true?  I thought that if 
you are simply in the US, and use the patented technology, then it 
violates the patent.  I undertstand that on a practical level, it is 
very improbable that anyone using the bytecode interpreter is going to 
get a knock on the door from the font police, but for someone planning 
to deploy Linux desktop computers in a corporate environment where 
things have to be by the book, then it might be very serious to know for 
sure what can be done or not.

I wonder if anyone knows anything about what Apple would charge for a 
"personal bytecode interpreter license."

> Now about possible solutions to your problem.
> The best is IMO to use *pre-hinted* PostScript Type1 fonts, with anti-aliasing 
> enabled (and do not use auto-hinter, at least for Serif fonts)
> I did several experiments with Arial and Times New Roman, converting them to 
> PostScript Type1 and manually re-hinting them, and I can tell you that 
> results are amaazing!

That is very interesting.  How does one manually re-hint their Type 1 
fonts?  Do you need expensive Adobe software?  Is such software 
available for Linux?  I imagine you are getting a grid on your screen 
with the glyph shown with big pixels, and you can move the dots around 
where you want then write that modified font to a file?

I had actually been wondering about this the other day, if a possible 
way for Linux distributors to get away with shipping good looking fonts 
in the US would be to use the truetype with embedded bitmaps, which I 
suppose could be manually hinted.

> I have to admit here that I do not use StarOffice or OO - they are too slow 
> for my computer (Pentium III/600) and WYSIWYG in those office suits is not 
> very good.

Hmm, 600MHz should be fine.  My wife's computer is 600MHz P3 and it 
works Ok.  Are you on Windows or Linux?  We are using Linux.

> I am not surprised here...
> Font technologies, while perceived as something *given*, are not easy to 
> understand and develop.
> High-quality outlines are rare, and usually copyrighted by big typeface 
> houses.  And hinting process adds another level of complexity to this puzzle.

Intersting subject certainly.

Good day!

_____________________
Christopher R. Carlen
address@hidden
Suse 7.3 Linux 2.4.10