Overview
This document describes the quality criteria used in the production of
Apple TrueType fonts. It is intended to supplement the Apple TrueType
Font Specification, which focuses on the technical and engineering
aspects of TrueType. In addition to aesthetic quality criteria, there is
technical information included that is not available elsewhere. Much of
this document may be used to judge the quality of fonts in general, but
it tends to focus on Apple's TrueType font technology.
[NOTE] Where necessary, the information
specific to AAT is separated out and bulleted with an (AAT) symbol. Unless
otherwise specified, general information is applicable to fonts designed
for use on both systems. Important technical points are bulleted with a
[NOTE] symbol.
Many of the criteria serve only as guides: these guidelines should be
ignored if they inhibit the design of the font or the creativity of the
designer. Following these guidelines will help the designer to produce
properly functioning fonts that accurately represent the original design,
and to avoid common mistakes. The person using the information presented
in this document must understand the aesthetics of type design. A typographer
must go through a sequence of procedures in order to produce a quality
font. There are certain attributes that have to be thoroughly evaluated
before a font is ready to be shipped, including Outlines,
Instructions, Metrics,
Bitmaps, Design
Consistency and System Requirements.
For AAT fonts, Line Layout and Variations are also addressed.
All of these aspects have to be fully addressed for the font to be acceptable
for shipping. Each is described in detail in the following sections of
this document. This is not an exhaustive list, but it does try to cover
the major areas.
Back to the table of
contents.
Arleigh Movitz
The Apple Fonts Group
