Page 147 - Graphic Design and Print Production Fundamentals

Graphic Design 135
files the manufacturer receives can be different versions of the same font created at different times, but
assigned the same font ID number. For example, one designer uses a 1995 version of Adobe’s Helvetica
typeface and another uses a 2015 version, but the two typefaces have the same font ID number. The
manufacturer’s operating system will not overwrite the first font matrix it cached in RAM, so it is the
first font file that renders the document on screen and will be sent down to the RIP. Usually, there are
few noticeable changes in the glyph shapes. But it is common for font foundries to adjust kerning values
between letter pairs from one version to the next. So if a manufacturer has the wrong version of the
font file cached in RAM, a document can have line-ending changes and page reflows. This is a hard
error to catch. There are programs and routines the imaging manufacturer can implement to clear the
RAM cache, but many times, more ‘garbage’ is generated before the problem is diagnosed. Modern PDF
creation usually includes the production of a uniquely tagged font subset package that only contains the
glyphs used in the document. The unique font subset ID avoids the potential for font ID conflicts.

Managing fonts on a single user computer has its own challenges, and Apple has included Font Book
with its operating systems to help manage fonts in applications on an Apple OS. Adobe offers Typekit
with its latest Creative Cloud software to provide greater access to a wide variety of typefaces from a
reliable foundry. Third-party font management programs like Suitcase Fusion also help graphic artists
manage their fonts for repurposing their documents effectively. It is still the responsibility of individual
operators to know how to use the fonts in their documents. They should also make sure that the fonts are
licensed and packaged to deliver to other computer systems so that they can drive many different RIPs
on a wide variety of output devices.