For
the rest of us, Apple developed another kind
of font, called 'TrueType', which works as
a vector graphic
like Illustrator,
FreeHand, or a Claris/AppleWorks drawing
module
and
so scales up or down seamlessly.
As
with vector graphics generally,
the font consists of a
description of the angle
of each curve, how long,
proportionally, it goes
on for before changing
direction, and so on:
the computer reads that
information and follows
the instructions, making
a shape which looks as
smooth as the screen can
show, or the printer can
print.
It can also skew them
and/or make them fatter
to produce the impression
of bold, italic and bold
italic, though if you
look really closely you
can see that these are
'cheat' solutions, they
work fine for every day
use but not for serious
graphics - a properly-designed
italic isn't simply a
skewed Roman ...
The
Fontographer team suggests that the TrueType
technology means that bitmap fonts are almost
a thing of the past. Professional designers
working in some special modes still need them,
and for them the bother of having lots of
different fonts for different sizes is worth
it.
there
are lots of tips for fascinating further
reading about TrueType fonts at the
end here
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