CONTENTS
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1. MORE ON THAT OPENTYPE PROBLEM
2. HOW A POINT BECAME 72 TO AN INCH
4. TEMP FILES PROBLEM ON MACS
5. INDESIGN ICON HITS UTILITIES
6. XML EXPORT PLUGIN FOR INDESIGN
7. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
8. UTILITIES/UPDATES
9. HINTS
10. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
11. LAST WORD
1. MORE ON THAT OPENTYPE PROBLEM
================================
Our thanks to Thomas Phinney of Adobe for many leads to more information on OpenType. He has also promised to follow up on the specific PageMaker/OpenType problem with Windows 2000 which we mentioned last issue -- even though it seems to be a problem specific to Microsoft OpenType fonts.
He writes: "I think you'll find quite a bit of information at:
<http://www.adobe.com/type/opentype/main.html>
"For technical compatibility issues with OTF (PS-flavored) OpenType fonts, check the OpenType Readme. For general usage, see the OpenType User Guide. The Readme contains every significant compatibility issue we know of, no holds barred."
The OpenType User Guide is a 549kb 8-page PDF linked from that page.
However he adds: "This particular problem doesn't ring any bells for me."
In response to our comment that the fonts which caused printing problems from PageMaker appeared to be TrueType fonts in an OpenType "wrapper", Mr Phinney responded:
"This is certainly true of most of the OpenType fonts shipping with Windows 2000 and Office 2000. Very few of them have any new OpenType features, with the very notable exception of 'Palatino Linotype' which has all sorts of goodies. Most of the core system fonts (Times New Roman, Arial, etc.) do have OpenType features required for their extensive language support, though."
In reference to our mention of a somewhat dated FAQ on the Microsoft site, we were told: "A similar but much more recent FAQ is available on the Adobe Web site at: <http://www.adobe.com/type/opentype/qna.html>"
Among comments in the readme file at <http://www.adobe.com/type/browser/OTReadMe.html> are the following:
In relation to the new version of ATMLite, which is available for free download: "It is not advisable to install ATM Light over an existing older version of ATM Deluxe. Instead, you should upgrade to the corresponding ATM Deluxe version." Cache settings in ATMLite should also be increased. The versions of ATM needed are at least 4.6 (Mac) and 4.1 (Windows).
"Windows 2000 provides native support for OpenType .otf fonts (as well as PostScript© Type 1 fonts) and does not require ATM Light or the Adobe PS printer driver."
With other operating systems you would also need to ensure you are using the latest AdobePS driver.
There's also an intriguing warning about using PDFWriter to create PDFs (which we've warned against anyway for all but the simplest of documents). The ReadMe warns: "OpenType .otf fonts work correctly in PDFWriter 3.0.2 and Acrobat 3.0.2, but don't work correctly in PDFWriter 4.0.5. You can embed western OpenType fonts in PDFWriter 3.0.2 and view in Acrobat 3.0.2, but if you open the PDF document in 4.0.5 you will either get a blank or bitmapped document."
For QuarkXPress 4.1 users on the Mac, the ReadMe warns: "Although OpenType .otf fonts generally work with QuarkXPress, trying to use Quark 4's 'text to box' function fails, with the error message 'cannot turn selected text into a box because the text has no outlines.'"
We've also seen references elsewhere that collecting of fonts through XTensions doesn't work as it should at the moment
Incidentally, several people have reported that many problems can be overcome by creating a PDF and printing from that.
2. HOW A POINT BECAME 72 TO AN INCH
===================================
Several months ago, in our Format email newsletter number 17 <http://www.worsleypress.com/format/format17.htm>, I included, in an item on metric printing measurements, the possibly apocryphal story that the printing size change from a point equalling 72.27 points to an inch to being exactly 72 points to an inch had occurred because the two men who created the PostScript printer language had decided that it should be 72 points -- and nearly everyone in the world had followed.
Last week I came across the CSS Pointers Group website there is an article on typography <http://www.css.nu/articles/typograph1-en.html>, which quoted the item from Format as being a factual source. So I thought I'd better find out. So, on January 7 I sent an email to what I thought would be the email address of John Warnock, the chairman of Adobe.
I wrote:
Mr Warnock...
Quite a while ago, in our Format email newsletter, I reported the possibly apocryphal story on the setting of 72 points to an inch:
"And so the point, of one-seventysecond of an inch, stayed as the base measurement (well actually it was 1/72.27 inch but John Warnock and Charles Geschke set it at 1/72 inch in PostScript, and the rest of the world followed...well almost."
I now find that in a web site article on typography <http://www.css.nu/articles/typograph1-en.html>, we are being quoted as a source of that being fact. If it is an urban legend, I'd welcome being corrected at this stage.
On January 9, I found the following in my inbox:
"The story is essentially correct. We knew the value of the point should be 1/72.27, but for a number of computational reasons (mostly having to do with the speed of machines at the time) we decided to simplify to 1/72 for PostScript. Because fonts had to be recreated for PostScript, we believed that no great harm would be done by making the assumption.
"Hope this helps, -- John Warnock"
4. TEMP FILES PROBLEM ON MACS
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We've mentioned briefly before the problem for some programs caused by the Mac operating system 9 not automatically cleaning up temp files as earlier OS versions did.
Temp files have long been a problem under Windows where they can cause printing problems, and, in extreme cases, stop the program from opening. The solution has been to find where the temp files are, usually in C:/TEMP or C:/WINDOWS/TEMP and delete them. Now it seems the Mac has caught up <g>. However, the temp files are likely to be in a hidden temp folder.
We received a plea for help from computer consultant Darrel Tanter which he had repeated on many forums seeking an answer to why, after operating successfully for a while, PageMaker would then not open beyond the splash screen. We repeat his detailed explanation when he found the answer:
"Gordon Woolf suggested temp files might be the problem. Eventually deleting temp files did do the trick. But only certain temp files. I did a search for tmp. In a hidden Temp folder were ALDTMP00 through ALDTMP99. After some research I found that these temp files are generated by PM during normal operations. Under Mac OS8.x these temp files are regularly deleted at shutdown, but under OS9.0.4 they are not. OS9.1 may fix this problem. Anyway PM cannot handle giving the temp file more than an 8 character name. So when PM attempts to incrementally create ALDTMP100, PM shuts down."
Darrel continued: "Deleting of the files can be done from the Sherlock window or you can use Eradicator, downloaded for free at <http://www.swssoftware.com/> Hope others will learn from my experience."
Incidentally, Eradicator 1.6 (a 464kb free download) adds support for the hidden "Cleanup at Startup" folder, which has been causing problems for users of Photoshop 6.
5. INDESIGN ICON HITS UTILITIES
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Adobe has confirmed that a problem seen by several InDesign users that, on the Mac, the latest 1.5.2 version was causing problems with utilities such as DragThing and TaskMenuBar.
It seems that when InDesign 1.5 is updated, the custom icon bit on InDesign 1.5.2 gets set (which is stored in the Finder's file database, not the 1.5.2 file). Some utilities and portions of the system may not then draw the icon correctly.
If you experience the problem you can use ResEdit <http://developer.apple.com/tools/> (3.3MB download) to turn off "Use Custom Icon". Make sure InDesign is not running. Run ResEdit. Select File: Get File/Folder Info. Select Indesign 1.5.2. Uncheck the Use Custom Icon checkbox. Close and Save.
6. XML EXPORT PLUGIN FOR INDESIGN
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WoodWing Software has started shipping its Smart XML Export plug-in for Adobe InDesign. This enables repurposing an InDesign document's content - text and graphics - without having to learn the intricacies of XML.
Smart XML Export translates standard InDesign styles to XML tags automatically. After designing the page, the user just selects WoodWing XML from the InDesign Export dialog to export XML, without any additional actions.
In addition users can manually tag individual elements through an easy-to-use Element Tag Panel.
WoodWing state that another important feature of Smart XML Export is support for structure. For example, an article might consist of head, byline and body. Another example of structure is an image and its caption. When Smart XML Export is used together with WoodWing's Smart Layout plug-in, this structure information can be defined automatically as part of the XML coding.
Smart Layout for Adobe InDesign v1.5 is available for Macintosh (MacOS 9) and Windows (NT 4, 98, 2000). A demo can be downloaded from <http://www.WoodWing.com>. During January the price is US$149, rising then to US$179.
For system integrators, an SDK is available that offers complete control over the generated XML and allows a seamless integration into existing systems and databases. Smart XML Export can also be used within Adobe InCopy.
7. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
========================
In answer to our method in PageMaker of creating a caption with a picture when text has to run around both (group the picture and caption, then apply text wrap to the group), brought this answer from Jeanne Hubbard at Eugene Print:
"Just to prove that there's always more than one way of doing things... Try placing your caption on a separate layer. Then, when you apply the text wrap to the photo, click the option to 'Wrap text on same layer only.' Then you can expand the wrap beyond the caption without actually affecting it."
We like it.
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A comment on Windows 2000 from Format subscriber Kevin Mack in Melbourne following our mention of the Win2000 font problems: "Dov Isaacs from Adobe (in a recent reply to an unrelated problem) suggested that upgrading to Windows 2000 leaves, in his words, "doggy-doo" all over your system. He recommends a new install, even to the point of a hard disk re-format before using Windows 2000. It may be worth investigation as a possible source of the problems."
------
James Pepper of California wrote to Format: "I have used PM for more than 8 years, and am very fond of it, even with its serious shortcomings. When Adobe bought it I was thrilled. I expected big things from the leader in publishing/graphics technology.
"Years later, I see that not only does Adobe view Windows as a third-rate operating system, used by third-rate desktop publishers, they also view PageMaker as a third-rate desktop publishing program. Sigh, alas, and alack.
"So it is, with heavy heart, I abandon Adobe altogether (as if they care) and will anxiously await the upgrade to PageMaker 6.5, which, for me, will be Corel Ventura 8.0. S'long everybody . . . "
While sharing James's disappointment that there is as yet no sign of PM7, we don't see any sign of what he claims as Adobe's view of Windows.
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David Mazoff, whose problems of strange gutters in printing from a PDF was mentioned in Format 45, writes: "Thanks Gordon for your help. As it turns out, it was a driver problem, and after an INORDINATE amount of time, Toshiba finally fixed it."
8. UTILITIES/UPDATES
====================
If you are using Illustrator make sure you have the 9.02 update, which apparently overcomes some problems introduced with the 9.01 update.
9. HINTS
========
A comment from someone on one of the PageMaker newsgroups: "I am running the Extensis Page Tools toolbar together with the PM 6.5 Plus one with no problem. I modified my old Page Tools bar to remove the items included in the PM tool bar. Works fine. I agree that Page Tools is much better than the PM toolbar." PageTools is no longer marketed by Extensis but we have seen copies available secondhand.
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If your type is looking a bit grey on screen, check that you haven't got antialiasing turned on in more than one place -- we've seen reports that having it on in Adobe Type Manager, and in InDesign for example can cause problems with the appearance within InDesign. On Macs, having "smooth all fonts on screen" checked in the appearance control panel while having antialiasing switched on in ATM.
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If you are getting confused between character and paragraph styles in InDesign, you may want to define a "Null" character style -- one that makes no changes to the underlying paragraph.
10. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
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Graphics List (details at <http://www.graphicslist.org>) "was set up to provide a means whereby professionals and lay people could meet and discuss issues related to the theory, techniques, history, and practice of graphic design." It includes a search engine for fonts and foundries, but little in the "announcements" section when we called in.
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The web page and archives for the typography list is at <https://listserv.heanet.ie>. Scroll down to "TYPO-L, Discussion of Type and Typographic Design".
11. LAST WORD
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Jean-Fran‡ois Porchez has designed a typeface with both serif AND san-serif components, and deems that they should be used TOGETHER, (i.e. on adjacent articles). France's most reputable newspaper "Le Monde" is using it, and Le Monde Journal and Le Monde Sans now herald the news daily to all of France. Porchez also designed the font used in the Paris Metro, so his influence on French life is considerable. We wonder if it will be as influential as another type designed for a newspaper, Times New Roman, created for Stanley Morison's redesign of The Times of London. In an article on the CreativePro site Porchez was mentioned as currently redesigning a group of regional newspapers.
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Would a manufacturer of disks password-protect those blank disks so that buyers can't get into them? It seems to have happened: a member of the QuarkXPress List reported being unable to use a newly opened Jaz disk from a sealed pack and that she eventually found the password on the Iomega website. Launch Iomega's Tools utility, click on the padlock and the word you need is: APlaceForYourStuff
Gordon Woolf
The Worsley Press
Hastings, Australia.
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