Q How do I find out what languages your fonts support?
A
Click on the button "Encyclopaedia" on the homepage. Then put in the word "languages" and click on the button "search". The list produced shows the languages supported by various Production First software products. Then check on the top of a showings page to see if the typeface is a multibyte font by looking for a 'U' designation (the LanguageSuite). The previous list indicates languages supported by each LanguageSuite.
Q Must each language script be licensed separately?
A
No. There are preselected combination packages available (U0, U1, U5, U14, etc.). The content of these can be viewed by clicking on the homepage button "Catalog", then "explanitory notes", then "Typographic International Language Suites". Most (but not all) scripts can also be licensed individually, but there is a tremendous saving if LanguageSuites are licensed. Please note that not all LanguageSuites listed are currently available, and that not all typeface packages have the same LanguageSuites available. Availability of LanguageSuites for a particular typeface is indicated near the top of a showings page by a U0, U1, U5, etc. Click here to see Typographic International Language Suites.
Q If a font supporting a certain language suite is licensed, and then it is desired to add additional languages, is there a way to upgrade to a higher language suite?
A
For Production First Software PostScript Type 0 and 6 formats, it is possible to upgrade a LanguageSuite capability by simply installing additional outline font blocks and replacing the metric and root font files. PostScript CID-keyed, OpenType, and TrueType format fonts, however, must be completely rebuilt. This could conceivably be done by a utility, but such a utility is not currently available. Production First Software plans to offer an attractively priced upgrade mechanism in the future; but it will require deinstalling the old fonts and reinstalling the new fonts, until software is available to automate the upgrading process on the customer's computer system or network.
Q When will CJK fonts be available?
A
Production First Software Unicode(tm) CJK fonts are projected to be available in about six months. The content of these can be viewed by clicking on the homepage button "Catalog", then clicking on "explanitory notes", then clicking on "Block Set Contents for Typographic International Ultrafonts".
Q I don't want to pay for both Mac and Windows formats. Why don't you license Mac and Windows formats separately, like all the other font sellers?
A
Production First Software retail package pricing is more than competitive even for only one format; but with our packages, you get a variety of formats at no extra charge even with the licensing of only one font package; and we hope this sets a trend in the font and software industries. In today's world, as customers upgrade their computers, they may add additional operating systems or not replace their machines with the same platform. Production First Software feels that customers should not be ripped-off by having to repurchase software just because they move to a different operating system or platform. Sooner or later, all software will be licensed in this manner (Java should help).
Q How often is this Web site updated?
Q Why don't you offer more variety in styles?
Q What does "CPP" and "MS" designate at the top of a showings page?
Q If your fonts are properly kerned, why do you offer more than one kerning option?
Q Why don't some of your TrueType fonts look as good on-screen as your PostScript fonts for the same typeface?
Q Which of your fonts have IPA alphabetic characters available? Do I need to purchase special IPA fonts?
Q (Your question here.)
A
This Web site usually has been updated several times per week.
A
Production First Software is not a typeface mill, cranking out new unrefined designs every month, just to push sales. The idea is to advance the derivative art of typography and the art of typeface design with new, worthwhile designs. It takes a long time to research and design multilingual (multiscript) typefaces, which we feel are necessary to provide this multicultural world with ever-increasing international communication ability. Production First Software also spends a good deal of resources on software research to make improvements in software architecture related to the usage of fonts. This maximizes the investments in fonts made by Production First Software customers. They get more utility for their money.
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"CPP" is an abbreviation for "Characters Per Pica," a copyfitting measurement parameter of a typeface design. Although most desktop publishing software does not use this index, it helps some experienced typographers plan the design of publications and documents. It is also useful as a comparison between unfamiliar typeface designs, even comparing with designs which are only available in hot type or older phototypesetting technology (where the parameter was widely used). "MS" is an abbreviation for "Multilingual Scaling" which indicates how letterform or ideogram glyphs are sized and positioned across different scripts. A description of these parameters can be found by clicking the homepage button "Catalog", then clicking on "explanitory notes", then clicking on "How to Use This Typeface Catalog".
A
Great pains are taken to design Production First Software typefaces so as to minimize the number of kern pairs for optimum type color. The degree of accuracy in reaching this goal sometimes depends on the manner in which the typeface is used (pointsize, rendering resolution, degree of track kerning or other spacing adjustments, etc.). In some designs, a large number of kern pairs is necessary to achieve the most accurate type color in critical use applications. This produces vastly larger data files and slower rendering performance, especially for multilingual (multiscript) typeface designs. Therefore, having more exact kerning as an option is quite useful. Another reason for offering more than one kern data option is that different pair kerning allows type color to be altered for discretionary reasons while still using the same basic typeface design.
A
Although there is less manual hinting control available in designing PostScript fonts than TrueType fonts, the PostScript interpreter has more hinting intelligence built-in. The TrueType interpreter is optimized for speed, since it is implemented on the operating system level. In typefaces designed primarily for on-screen display, extra hints can be included to improve on-screen appearance. But these extra hints greatly increase the size of the font resource files and slow down the rendering. This is especially significant for multilingual fonts, which are already quite large. Since hinting instructions cannot be shared between TrueType fonts because hinting is individually implemented for each font on the font level (whereas much hinting in PostScript is generated at the interpreter level), Production First Software has chosen to use enhanced TrueType hinting only on certain typeface designs. As the video resolutions keep increasing, TrueType hinting issues will become less significant, and on-screen imaging will improve with existing font resources without bloating their size.
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You do not need to purchase special IPA fonts from Production First Software. All our UTF-16 (2-byte Unicode(tm)) and UCS-4 (4-byte) font packages which are U-series or I-series (U1, U5, U14, I14 etc.), or which include both the Latin (Roman) and Greek scripts, include all the IPA alphabet letterforms, symbols, modifiers, and diacritical marks placed in Unicode and which were approved in 1989 by the IPA. Some typefaces also have a « Special » block available which contains some additional Americanist and IPA elements which are composite characters, were not officially approved as part of the 1989 IPA character set, or are legacy elements which were withdrawn. They are included in that Block for completeness and historical purposes. It is also possible to use a U0 package along with a Special Block. [This provides only the Greek-derived letterforms required for the IPA alphabet, and not the entire Greek alphabet.]
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Questions of significance which have been received will be added to this section. If the question (and the answer) is not added to the FAQ list, the sender will receive an answer by return Email. Email questions to: profirst@compuserve.com