Karow· Technology Peter Karow

FontTechnology Methods and Tools

Foreword by Gerard Unger With 306 Figures

Springer -V erlag Berlin Heidelberg New York London Paris Tokyo Hong Kong Barcelona Budapest Peter Karow URW & Type GmbH Harksheider StraEe 102 D-22399 Germany

Authorized Rewording by Bill Horton

Original German title: Schrifttechnologie

CR-Klassifikation (1994): 1.7.2, J.7

ISBN-13:978-3-642-78507-8 e-ISBN-13:978-3-642-78505-4 DOl: 10.1007/978-3-642-78505-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Karow, Peter, 1940- [Schrifttechnologie. English 1Font Technology: methods and tools / Peter Karow. p. cm. Translation of: Schrifttechnologie. ISBN-13:978-3-642-78507-8 (U.S.: alk. paper) 1. Type and type-founding - Digital techniques 1. Title. Z250. 7.K3813 1994 686.2' 21- dc20 94-6963 CIP

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© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1994 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1994

The use of registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

Typesetting: URW Software & Type GmbH, Hamburg Cover design: Konzept & Design, Ilvesheim SPIN: 10085141 33/3140-543 2 10 Printed on acid-free paper. Preface Preface

handful of metal type is tangible evidence of that which A has changed in the type industry over the past thirty years. The early seventies marked the onset of a revolution having had a direct and far-reaching effect on typography. Still very much in progress, this technological revolution transfor• med typography (once a craft with tools that could be picked up and handled) into an activity using essentially abstract tech• niques. Social, cultural and economic factors have also made their mark, altering the entire image of the typographer's craft. The bulk of these changes could not, however, have taken hold as rapidly if new technologies had not enabled designers and typographers to implement their far-reaching ideas. Prior to this revolution, 500 years saw slight change in the typographer's craft. Setting became mechanized in the nine• teenth century, along with the printing press and allied equip• ment. Machines delivered increasing precision as the century progressed. Yet were a typesetter from a previous age - say, from the Venetian workshop of Aldus Manutius in the final decade of the 15th century - to travel through time to the first half of the 20th century, he could still find metal letters to work with, albeit machine-produced ones. The lead-alloy lines of type produced by Linotype machines would have astounded him - all letters being set individually in the 15th century - but our Venetian would not have been at a loss to know how it would be used. Triggering the revolution was the introduction of filmset- Triggering ting machines, with letters existing solely as visible images on the revolution negative film. Digital setting machines soon followed, the first, the Digi• set of Dr.-Ing. Rudolf Hell in 1965. No analog letters were to be found in these machines; having disintegrated into mere com• puter codes. The transitional step from tangible to abstract characters was fraught with problems. V Preface Frequently it was the case that technology makers and users devoted far greater attention to the new machines themselves than to the quality of their resulting products. Typography suf• fered greatly by low resolution, blurred contours of characters, copied that were no longer the work of trained specia• lists. Typographers often had little choice than to use these new tools, since traditional production methods had either evaporated or become too expensive. Many typographers visualized a gloomy future for their craft, seeing no cause for jubilation in new technology. Others, less concerned, attempted to preserve print letters for better times ahead, even restoring some of typography's lost quali• More from new ties. Some even strove to achieve more from new technologies technologies than ever possible with the old. One typographer (for whom than ever possible the title applies honoris causa) of this caliber is Peter Karow. with the old. Since his lKARUS system was first introduced to the world of graphic arts in 1975, he has become, and remains, one of the industry's most prominent pace-setters: a locomotive for change who harnesses new technologies to our current needs. Once the initial furor over new technologies had died down, the typographic arena looked forward to more peaceful times, promising long-sought restoration of quality and further refinements. Even then, a fresh, new revolution was brewing. The soaring popularity of , with its Macin• toshes, pes, PostScript and other far-reaching innovations, is such an oft-told chapter in the history of typography that no further explanation is required here. Still, as it began short time ago, we remain currently in the midst of it. Even the most seeming unshakeable structures of the type craft, in its older forms, have been jolted by recent develop• ments. Some companies, previously supplying metal type, remained in business by converting to photographic and/or digital setting machines, sharing the market with the newly• founded enterprises. Others, less flexible in their thinking, ceased to exist. Yet, typographers still ventured out of their homes or offices for typesetting. Today, many stay at home, purchasing software fonts from manufacturers unknown in the old industry. Typogra• phers can process fonts which either they or others have pro• duced. Old hierarchies and marketing structures have been shaken to the core, some vanishing altogether. Type products VI from globally diverse sources can be used on a range of ma- Preface chines. (Being home-based, can present a problem in itself, though such implications have yet to dawn on many typogra• phers. The machines themselves bind their operators more clo• sely to their desks making typography an even more sedentary job. As this book was not prepared to instruct physical exercise or work-outs, perhaps a suggestion of getting out and about, for instance riding a racing bike, might provide a solution.) Today's developments have engendered still other pro• blems for typographers. Technological innovations augment rather than supplant one another, with typographic possibili• ties continually expanding. Innovations occur so quickly, many people haven't a ghost of a chance of keeping informed. Typefaces can be modified ad infinitum and weights adjusted in such minute increments that some differences are no longer visible to the naked eye. The whole typographic palette - pre• viously white and black - becomes infinitely varied, to be mol• ded, swapped about, modified in color, combined with images and so on. Typography has become a veritable «land of milk and honey». Yet to know the craft like the back of one's hand, a typo- A typographer grapher must be a keen specialist, a task requiring abundant must be a keen information, specialist information. In fact, valuable informa- specialist. tion is spread very thin on the ground. For example, it's amaz- ing how dreadful some technical manuals are, even those for the most frequently used programs. Structure is often illogical, descriptions unclear, specialized technical terms are incorrect- ly applied, to name only a few shortcomings. It appears that our problem is not so much one of mastering those functions and features at our disposal, but of understanding the whys and wherefores of doing so: how do our machines and pro- grams actually work? How often have you wished that some- one might finally explain, clearly and concisely, what is going on? Most of us simply react to what is displayed on the screen, without the slightest idea of underlying hardware or software principles. It is only human, of course, to blindly trust techno- logy without understanding how things work - say to happily cruise along in our cars without a clue of what is happening under the hood! It is reasonable that typographers may not fully compre• hend the ins and outs of all the hardware they use. A well• implemented service contract from the manufacturer should solve hardware-related problems. So much for the motor and VII Preface the hood. (Certain colleagues, incredibly enough, still main• tain as a direct solution to any problem: pull the plug). Soft• ware, replete with its effects on typographic design, is a far dif• ferent matter. It is essential that typographers grasp basic prin• .... , but some ciples. I do not advocate programmer training, but some minimal insight minimal insight into the basic elements of programs is impera• into the basic tive. Again arises the question of where to find the necessary elements of programs information in an easy-to-understand form. This is the book! is imperative. Its author is an experienced software specialist, someone already striving to improve digital typographic quality while it was still in its cradle days. All fields produce specialists - while others have «specia• lized specialists» as well; absolute experts in their specific fields, but blinded to what is happening beyond their own back• yards. Program developers and typographers are no different in this respect. Therefore it is a welcome change to meet a per• son devoting his efforts and attention to computers and typo• graphy alike. This very comprehensive book is the fruit of this combined interest. In one respect, though, it remains the work of a specialist; reflecting the pursuit of knowledge by a man with a predilection for exactness. The book is an across-the• board survey of what our craft - and the letters we use - can gain from careful and systematic examination. One chapter is devoted to legibility, for instance, another to font quality. The latter topic is still somewhat of an anomaly: discussions among typographers on the subject quickly become bogged down, as quality is difficult to measure and very much a matter of «feel• ing». To my knowledge, this is the first time typography has ever been so fully described from a scientific viewpoint. We may count ourselves fortunate that Peter Karow and his URW team have made the findings of their broad spectrum of interests available to us, thus providing us information we urgently need - even those of us unaware of such information before. When we have read this book, we will certainly realize the extent of the previous gap in our knowledge, a gap beauti• fully filled by this work. Thank you, Peter.

Bussum, June 1993 c,U4~ VIII Directory

1. Introduction...... 1

2. Computer, like you and me ...... 7

Competition for the designer ...... 7 Putting type through the mincer ...... 9 Big shots ...... 11 Splines ...... 13 Big brother ...... 14 Prograrruners ...... 15 Machine control ...... 17 The art of math ...... 21 In brief ...... 23 Open questions to GGL ...... 25 Statistics ...... 27 ...... 29 Trapping (shrinking and spreading) ...... 31 Kanji Metafont ...... 33 Sukeringu ...... 35 Machine formats ...... 37 Management ...... 39

3. Typeface Market ...... 41 Typefaces are digital ...... 41 Standards and work division ...... 45 Typeface standards ...... 48 Areas for application of typefaces ...... 50 Typeface prices ...... 53 Typefacemarket ...... 55 Summary ...... 56

4. Font Production in past and present (by G. Flake) .... 59 IX 5. ThirdAbstraction (byRalfFunke) ...... 77 Programmer's estimations ...... 84 6. FontTechnology ...... 85 Hand-digitizing ...... 86 Originals ...... 91 Designing on the screen? ...... 94 Quality ...... 97 Database ...... 103

7. IntelligentFontScaling ...... 105 Commentary ...... 106 List of instructions ...... 113 Rating the various scaling techniques ...... 114 Kind of contour description ...... 117 Conversionspeed ...... 121 Memory requirements for a font ...... 122 Supported font layout ...... 124 Supportedfontmetrics ...... 125 General output quality ...... 128 Effects of scaling techniques on font production ..... 128 Number of available fonts ...... 130 Future improvements for scalers: Universal RIPs ...... 131 Future screen fonts ...... 132 Glossary of instructions ...... 133 Employee and employer ...... 150

8. Effects ofRasterization ...... 151 Resolution capability ofthe human eye ...... 151 Representation of a typeface ...... 154 DTP of the future ...... 171

9. Letter Spacing (by Bodo Kiimmle) ...... 17'3 Inter-letter spaces ...... 174 Legibility and discriminability ...... 175 Traditional spacing ...... 178 First step -basic spacing ...... 179 Optical center ...... 180 X Italic typefaces and serifs ...... 182 Test texts and alphabetlength ...... 183 Block composition ...... 184 Units ...... 185 Kerning - exceptions are becoming the rule ...... 187 Kerning tables ...... 188 Aesthetic tables ...... 189 Long kerning ...... 189 Short kerning ...... 191

10. Display, Text and Poster ...... 193

Text ...... 193 Display ...... 195 Notices and advertisements ...... 196 Poster ...... 198 Graphics ...... 200 Resolving power of the human eye ...... 202 Graphic arts ...... 208 The fiddler ...... 211

11. TypeQuality ...... 213

What is it that accounts for the quality of a type? ...... 213 Whatisquality? ...... 214 Craftsmanship ...... 224 A range of design sizes ...... 262 Optical scaling ...... 267 In conclusion ...... 270

12. Legibility (by Dirk Wendt) ...... 271

What do we mean by legibility? ...... 271 Reading as a confirmation of expactations ...... 273 Some early approaches to the study of legibility ...... 274 Early definitions oflegibility and discriminability ... 276 The most important methods of studying legibility and discriminability ...... 277 The separation of «legibility» and «discriminability» ...... 280 Speed-of-reading as a criterion oflegibility ...... 281 Requirements for a legibility measure ...... 281 The standardization of a speed-of-reading test ...... 282 XI Research findings obtained by means of this test ...... 284 Effect of variation of interword spaces ...... 288 The German version of the speed-of-reading test ...... 291 A practical application: Bodoni -Futura ...... 294 Effects of stroke thickness ...... 299 Effects of slant: upright versus italics ...... 303 Effects oftypeface family: Roman versus sans . 305

13. Biblica (by Dirk Wendt) ...... 307 Problem ...... 307 Method ...... 308 Results ...... 311 Discussion ...... 312

14. GoldenType (by a URW-team) ...... 313

15. Kanji (by Andreas Harms) ...... 321 One image - one word ...... 322 The oldest font tradition in the world ...... 322 The virtues of Kanji ...... 324 Western graphic symbols ...... 325 Ten thousands of characters ...... 327 The elements of Kanji ...... 328 Classifying Kanji ...... 331 Static text composition ...... 335 Kanji styles ...... 336 The long march oftechnology ...... 338 Tedious font manufacture ...... 340 Marketing ...... 342

16. Classifying Typefaces according to DIN (by Karl H. Warkentin) ...... 343 I. VenetianAntiqua ...... 345 II. FrenchAntiqua ...... 346 III. Transitional ...... 347 IV. ModernAntiqua ...... 348 V. Slabserif ...... 348 VI. Sanserifs (Gothics) ...... 350 VII. Display Antiquas ...... 351 XII VII. Scripts ...... 351 IX. Graphics ...... 352 X. Blackletter ...... 353 Summary ...... 356 Order of magnitude ...... 358

17. Copyright (by Peter Rosenfeld) ...... 359 Historical background ...... 359 Character Actin GeTIllany ...... 361 New and characteristic ...... 362 New and characteristic after the Vienna Agreement 362 Civil actions as a result of illegal imitation ...... 365 Criminal prosecution as a result of illegal imitation ...... 366 Additional penalties that can result from illegal imitation ...... 366 Copyright protection in GeTIllany ...... 367 Protection of the typeface name ...... 368 Protection of the trademark ...... 369 Designs Act ...... 369 Vienna Agreement of June 12, 1973 for placing typeface characters in international escrow ...... 372 Placement in international escrow according to the 1960 Designs Agreement at The Hague ...... 374 Activities outside Europe ...... 374 Licensing ...... 375 Summary ...... 375

Appendix

A Typeface Design Grouping accordingtoAFII ...... 381

B Congeniality of Print Types ...... 405 Introduction ...... 405 Method ...... 407 Preliminary experiments ...... 408 Main test ...... 413 Discussion and outlook ...... 422

XIII C Glyph Identifier Register ...... 423 Acknowledgements ...... 423 Preface ...... 424 Introduction ...... 427 Synopsis of all registered Glyphs ...... 429

D Literature ...... 447

E Index ...... 449

XIV