Not those pesky fonts...

[Steve Rickaby]

At 22:55 -0700 19/7/06, John Steiner wrote:

>Rather than remembering/not remembering missing font names, I'd just like to
>install Helvetica, Times Roman, and perhaps a couple other fonts that are
>similarly in the public domain and commonly seen on the UNIX platform.
>However, when I do an internet search on fonts, I get a huge number of
>vendors that want to sell me a package of 7,893 (or so) fonts for 69.95 (or
>so). Basically a flood of dross. Does anyone have any suggestions as to
>where I get just a few of the common fonts that don't come standard on the
>Windows platform (like helv, cour, and so forth)?

Here is a selection of on-line font foundries:

<http://www.myfonts.com/>

<http://www.linotype.com/>

<http://www.fontfinder.com/>

<http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/Interstate>

<http://www.bitstream.com/fonts/buy_fonts.html>

<http://www.fontexplorer.com/index.html>

<http://www.fontfont.com/>

<http://www.fonts.com/>

<http://www.fontshop.com/>

Be aware, though, that cross-platform font work is a total minefield:

. Different flavors of the 'same' font can use different internal names for fonts, for example the many different versions of common fonts such as Arial and Garamond.

. The 'same' font from different vendors can use different internal names for fonts, for example Monotype Frutiger vs. Linitype Frutiger.

. Even the 'same' font from the same supplier but for different platforms can also use differing names.

This can result is situations in which FrameMaker gives 'missing font' messages no matter what you do. It's a mess.

I have read here and elsewhere that sticking to the OpenType format resolves some of these issues, but I've not tried this myself.

-- 
Steve