Real World Mac OS X Fonts: Industrial-Strength Techniques

by Sharon Zardetto Aker

As someone who works with fonts every day, you need to know exactly how fonts work in Mac OS X. Long-time Mac author Sharon Zardetto Aker has the answers you need, explaining where your fonts reside,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0321474015
• ISBN13: 9780321474018
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Peachpit Press
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 1.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.5" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Solved the mess!

I do graphics and own Macs from October, 1985. I passed thru all the font technologies that were done into the computer... from enlarging 72pt bitmaps and correcting them, the early times of Adobe's ATM and so on. But --maybe I'm getting old-- with the introduction of Mac OS X, typography went almost out of control for me. Althought I do not use per se Office I need to install it to open others files... and it destroy any organizated fonts folders that you had managed, Then, in a desperate move, I bought Zardetto's book! And everything came back to order: clear instructions lead me in a clever and consistent way. I confess I did it twice. First time I said myself: "I'm an old macintoshian..." But then I realized that following the step-by-step instructions was more inteligent. Then, with everything in order, I was back "in control". So, my advice --for newbies and oldies-- follow the instructions and then personalize your fonts. OK, first buy and read the book!

Fix font problems - Flawlessly

Face it - you'd think just putting your fonts in the FONT folder would be sufficient. But, strange things do happen. And, for me it is never at a good time. Like when you upgrade Adobe CS ... which made half my fonts DISAPPEAR. Thanks for the info and instructions about AdobeFntXX.lst alone - made this book a must have in my library. And, that was just one small enlightened moment Aker's offered

The definitive guide

I am always astonished by Sharon Zardetto Aker's ability to explain the most complex topics in the most user-freindly way. For a technophobe like me she seems to anticipate every anxiety-provoking topic and dissipate the anxiety through a combination of thorough knowledge of her material and an informal writing style that makes you feel like she's right by your side, supporting you every step of the way. Astonishing. Even if you are not a technophobe, you will surely appreciate the breadth of information here.

A must-have book for anyone that works with fonts

This is a wonderful book, and a great resource. It has easy-to-use flow charts to help trouble shoot all sorts of font problems. As a graphic designer, I never quite got a handle on how OSX uses and recognizes fonts...this book filled in all of the gaps.... and is really fun to read, too.

Explains all about fonts in Mac OS X

Full disclosure: I'm the publisher of Take Control, and this book was based on two ebooks we published by Sharon. That said, I've also been using the Mac professionally for 20 years, and I used to be something of an expert about fonts - the first Macintosh program I ever bought personally was Suitcase in 1989; Suitcase's manual was fabulous and explained all about fonts back in the System 6 days. Things didn't change all that much through System 7 and Mac OS 8 and Mac OS 9, and I was still able to wrangle fonts pretty easily. But then came Mac OS X, which introduced a plethora of new font types, font behaviors, and font folders. Since Mac OS X, I've struggled every time I run into a problem with fonts, whether it's not having the right font for a document or having a conflict between similar (but not quite identical) fonts in different font folders. Despite having read the text of this book several times in editing passes, font problems still flummox me, but at least now I know where to look for the answer.