Times, Times Roman, Times New Roman, and changing printers, etc.

[Jim Owens]

My Windows system has Times (Type 1), Times New Roman (Type 1), and 
Times New Roman (TrueType).  The Times font is listed in the Fonts 
window under the name "Times Roman", but when I view it, it is entitled 
"Times (Type 1)".

When you view a font selected from the Fonts window, you see the upper 
and lower case alphabets, the numerics, and a series of sample sentences 
("The quick brown fox. . .") at different font sizes. Here is what I 
observe on my screen (my printer is an HP with simulated Postscript, so 
I'm not relying on the printouts):

The Times (Type 1) alphabet takes the most horizontal space. The Times 
New Roman (OpenType) alphabet takes less space, by about one character 
over the length of the alphabet. The Times New Roman (Type 1) takes the 
least space, by about two characters over the length of the alphabet 
compared to Times.

Notwithstanding this, there is almost no discernible difference in the 
length of the Times (Type1) and Times New Roman (Type 1) sample 
sentences, while the Times New Roman (OpenType) sample sentences are 
about two characters shorter over the length (the "0" falls roughly 
under the "8" of the other two).

The leading between the sample sentences differs. The samples in Times 
(Type 1) take the least vertical space. The Times New Roman (OpenType) 
samples take more (the top of the 72pt "T" aligns roughly with the top 
of the Times 72pt "e"), and the Times New Roman (Type 1) takes the most 
(the top of the 72pt "T" is just a little higher than the horizontal 
line in the Times 72pt "e").

The Times (Type1) face has the largest x-height. The other two have the 
same x-height, as far as I can tell. The contrast between the thick and 
thin portions of the letters is greatest for Times, less for Times New 
Roman (Type1), and least for Times New Roman (OpenType).

My overall impression is that Times (Type1) is the easiest font to read 
at 12pt. If I may veer into completely qualitative analysis, it has a 
traditional, rather calm feeling. The Times New Roman (Type1) has a more 
efficient, urgent feeling, and is slightly less legible. The Times New 
Roman (OpenType) is the least pleasant font; it has a cramped feeling.

Hope this helps.






> 
> In short, any information would be appreciated, and will help me to
> communicate to the printer support people in my organization what the
> issues are. Right now they just regard me as the troublemaker who uses
> Framemaker...
> 
> Thanks,
> Paul
>