Chapter 3 - Adobe Partners
Contents
1. and normal width will be used for comparison with Adobe s catalog font samples as detailed below Chapter 3 Multiple Master Font Naming Conventions 33 Because most text is comprised primarily of lowercase letters making overall color and width judgments based on lowercase text whenever possible will yield the best results Also because point size alone is not a standard measure for the apparent size of a typeface scaling the lowercase x height of the new multiple master instances to match that of the catalog samples will equalize their apparent sizes for better weight and width comparison All capital typefaces or display typefaces with extremely large or small x heights may require that the designer use this recommendation with discretion to achieve reasonable results Use the steps below to assign appropriate design coordinate values to the extremes of the weight and width axes of a multiple master typeface 1 Typeset Samples To establish a foundation for accurate comparison typeset the following instances of the multiple master typeface using the text as it appears in Adobe s samples on smooth white paper from a high resolution printer 1200 dpi is recommended For weight Typeset a sample of the lightest and the heaviest weight instances in the normal width For width Typeset a sample of the most condensed and the most extended width instances in the regular or book weight Typeset these samples at a point size2. such that the x height matches Adobe s samples x 1 75mm tall or for a capital only typeface so that the capital height matches H 2 5mm tall with 13 points between baselines 2 Assign Weight Coordinates For both the lightest and heaviest samples in the normal width visually determine which of the numbered instances in the weight section of Adobe s catalog best matches each sample in overall weight or grey value not absolute stem weight squinting slightly as the samples are held next to those in the catalog can help and note the corresponding number for each sample These numbers are then assigned to the lightest and heaviest extremes of the weight axis respectively By using the normal width of the lightest and heaviest extremes the weights of the light condensed and light extended master designs are essentially averaged together and the weights of the bold condensed and bold extended master designs are averaged together in order to assign only a single design coordinate value to each extreme of the weight axis 3 Assign Width Coordinates For both the condensed and extended samples in the regular or book weight visually determine which of the numbered instances in the width section of Adobe s catalog best matches each sample in overall width not character for character width try to discount letter fit and serif length which can distort the overall impression of the font s width as the samples are hel
3. the system over other axis types Assigning Coordinate Values to the Extremes of Each Design Axis By visually comparing samples of a new multiple master typeface to Adobe s catalog samples final relative design coordinates can be assigned to the extremes of the weight and width design axes The major visual variables affecting a typeface s apparent weight and width are point size x height leading serif length and weight letter fit stroke contrast typeface weight when judging width and typeface width when judging weight These variables may combine in complex ways For example a font with a lighter stem weight and a larger x height but which is very condensed and tightly spaced may create a darker apparent color than one with a heavier stem weight and a smaller x height which is extended and loosely spaced The samples in Adobe s catalog are typeset such that the x height leading overall weight in the Width section and overall width in the Weight section are held constant in order to eliminate as many variables as possible from the visual equation Typesetting samples from a new multiple master typeface in a similar way will make comparison between these and the catalog samples easier The designer will need to have chosen the primary fonts for the new multiple master typeface prior to assigning final design coordinate values to the extremes of the weight and width design axes Instances in the regular weight
4. Chapter 3 Multiple Master Font Naming Conventions Objectives of the Alphanumeric Naming System Two major objectives led to the development of the alphanumeric naming system used for Adobe s multiple master fonts first to clearly identify each instance generated from a multiple master typeface and second to meaningfully relate instances from one multiple master typeface to instances from others The first objective of the system given that a vast number of variations may be generated from each typeface is to make every instance uniquely identifiable to the user and compatible with existing software applications The alphanumeric system indicates precisely where in a typeface s design space any given instance is located giving the user a frame of reference when generating custom instances or looking through a font menu It also allows applications to identify specific instances and regenerate those that are missing if necessary Traditional font names such as regular semibold and bold are not specific enough for these purposes Until now users have had to rely solely upon common traditional style labels such as medium book and regular when comparing fonts from different typeface families Unfortunately there is no standard meaning for or use of these labels The apparent color of fonts with the same label their density of gray when printed as text on a page can vary widely from one family to another a medium font from on
5. d next to those in the catalog and note the corresponding number for each sample These numbers are then assigned to the most condensed and most extended extremes of the width axis respectively 34 Part 1 Technical Guidelines for Designing Multiple Master Typefaces By using the regular weight of the condensed and extended extremes the widths of the light condensed and bold condensed master designs are essentially averaged together and the widths of the light extended and bold extended master designs are averaged together in order to assign only a single design coordinate value to each extreme of the width axis These final values represent the dynamic range of each design axis in the new multiple master typeface They will appear for example at the ends of the design axis sliders in Adobe s Font Creator utility which enables users to generate font variations from the multiple master typeface Figure 3 5 Figure 3 5 The Font Creator dialog box contains a slider bar for each design axis in the typeface allowing the user to select and generate any font instance within the dynamic ranges Editable numeric field Create or Remove any font Design axis Create B utton for slider Weight lt lt lt lt Sets a ROA 8p Remove generating fonts EEE Primary A 450 600 Design coordinate range e Print or dynamic range otia es 11 Ae cere Help Quit Typeface M
6. design space to choose the primary font instances see Selecting Primary Fonts in Chapter 2 the designer knows where along the normalized or temporary ranges of each axis the primary fonts occur Converting the normalized or temporary primary font values using the following mathematical equation will yield the appropriate final design coordinates for each primary font For example if the Regular primary instance was chosen at a position 30 of the way along the weight axis i e a value of 30 along a temporary range of 0 100 or 3 along the normalized range of 0 1 in Cartesian coordinates and the newly assigned design coordinate range of the weight axis is from 200 light to 800 black the regular primary font should be assigned a final coordinate value of 380 The equation used to arrive at this value is 30 0 x 800 200 100 0 200 380 In more generic terms the equation is TP Tmin x DCmax DCmin Tmax Tmin DCmin P where TP temporary design coordinate value of primary font DCmin minimum i e lightest value of the final design coordinate range DCmax maximum i e heaviest value of the final design coordinate range Tmin minimum value of the temporary range Tmax maximum value of the temporary range P final design coordinate value of the primary font Solve this equation for any temporary primary font values to determine final design coordinates for each of the prima
7. e family is unlikely to have the same color as a medium from another The second objective of the naming system addresses this issue by enabling a font s design coordinate value to relate from one multiple master typeface to others regardless of its manufacturer and independently of any style labels that may be applied When design axis coordinates are assigned consistently a font generated with a value of 500 in weight from one multiple master typeface will have approximately the same apparent color as a font of the same weight value from another typeface Similarly fonts generated with the same width values will have approximately the same apparent width from one typeface to another Figure 3 1 27 Figure 3 1 The instances of Myriad MinionMM and TektonMM shown here have been generated in Adobe s Font Creator utility with the same design coordinate for weight and so appear a similar color or value of gray when set in text At the gates of the forest the sur At the gates of the forest the sur prised man of the world is forced prised man of the world is forced to leave his city estimates of great to leave his city estimates of great and small wise and foolish The and small wise and foolish The knapsack of custom falls off his knapsack of custom falls off his back with the first step he makes back with the first step he makes Myriad Minion multiple master At the gates of the forest the sur prised man of the world is
8. ew York Palatino Pepita MT Poetica Tekton MM Tekton MM Obl v vvv User generated font Primary font vv rvrvrvy vvv 30 Part 1 Technical Guidelines for Designing Multiple Master Typefaces The font identification consists of one alphanumeric string a required design coordinate value and an optional label for each design axis in the typeface If the typeface has one design axis there is a single alphanumeric string If there are two design axes there are two alphanumeric strings and so on Figure 3 4 Figure 3 4 Examples of one axis two axis and three axis font names Extra space has been added between name parts for clarity FamilyMM Weight Width Optical size One axis typeface CaflischScriptwM 380 RG Two axis typeface MyriadMM 400 RG 600 NO Three axis typeface MinionMM 367 RG 586 NO 11 OP The design coordinates indicate the position of the font along each design axis and the letters label the font s style i e regular bold condensed if it is a primary font or the design axis that is being varied i e weight width optical size if it is a user generated font Refer to Figure 3 3 Because there is a Macintosh font name length restriction of 30 characters style labels must be appreviated to fit the necessary information into this restricted length Adobe Type Reunion will expand typical primary font label abbreviations when installed on a user s Macintosh Design Axis Abbre
9. forced to leave his city estimates of great and small wise and foolish The knapsack of custom falls off his back with the first step he makes Tekton multiple master NOTE This labeling system assumes that weight and width comparisons are made between fonts of similar apparent size that is typeset so that they have similar x height and leading measurements rather than equal point sizes See Assigning Design Coordinate Ranges to Weight and Width Axes later in this chapter 28 Part 1 Technical Guidelines for Designing Multiple Master Typefaces Corresponding relationships of weight and width are useful as well as convenient especially in text typesetting For example if the color or width of one multiple master font works well for a particular job a font similar in weight or width from another family might be desired for a new job and the alphanumeric system quickly indicates which instance from the other family would be the best replacement Figure 3 2 Figure 3 2 On the left MinionMM Normal and MinionMM Bold Normal are used together On the right by choosing instances of the same weight and width values from Myriad similar color relationships can be maintained The Gates of the Forest The Gates of the Forest At the gates of the forest the sur At the gates of the forest the sur prised man of the world is forced prised man of the world is forced to leave his city estimate of great to leave his city estimate of
10. ghts and widths of typefaces can be subjective and involve many visual variables Therefore they cannot be defined in numerical terms by algorithm alone and design coordinate numbers must be assigned to them in a primarily visual process By combining typeface specific data with extensive visual comparisons of existing typefaces in its library Adobe has established the relative numerical scale used to determine the design coordinate ranges for the weight and width axes of the first multiple master typefaces Myriad MinionMM Viva TektonMM ITCAvantGardeMM and CaflischScript A catalog of font samples with associated design coordinate values covering a wide range in both weight and width is available from Adobe System s OEM support department at 415 962 4805 In conjunction with the procedures in the following sections Adobe s catalog can be used as a standard scale when visually assigning design coordinate values to the weight and width axes in a new multiple master typeface Using a visual process to assign appropriate values to the extremes of each design axis results in numerical ranges that are not absolutes Instead they function as approximate indications of how light or bold condensed or extended the extremes of each design axis in the typeface are and require careful selection to fill this role It is more critical that text typefaces use this relative numerical scale than display typefaces and that weight and width axes adhere to
11. great and small wise and foolish The and small wise and foolish The knapsack of custom falls off his knapsack of custom falls off his back with the first step he makes back with the first step he makes Adobe s goal is to enable people to use multiple master typefaces easily If the alphanumeric naming system is adhered to by typeface designers and manufacturers the user will recognize multiple master font names as representing approximate points along a relative meaningful scale of variations rather than a list of arbitrary numbers in current font menus NOTE Adobe anticipates that in future applications users will have the option to define their own instance names in addition to the alphanumeric instance names The Alphanumeric Font Naming System Adobe s multiple master font instances are named according to the convention of FamilyMM_font identification where Family is the name of the typeface MM_ indicates that it is a multiple master typeface and font identification is a string of alphanumeric characters a combination of letters and numbers that identify a specific font instance An instance can be either a primary font manufacturer defined or a custom font user generated Figure 3 3 IMPORTANT The MM indicator is optional but recommended The underscore is required to visually separate the family name from the font identification and to indicate to applications and rasterizing softare that if this is a multip
12. inioMM vj 367 RG 585 NO 11 OP vj Instance font menu Sample Size Sample 36 v Sample text size menu Sample text box NOTE Refer to the type design application s user manual to determine how to apply design coordinate values to multiple master design axes In previous Adobe documentation the overall coordinate range for a design axis has been listed as 1 999 Multiple master technology now allows the coordinate ranges to extend from 1 9999 to allow for four digit design axis values This is especially useful for extremely extended designs Viva s Extra Extended designs for example have a width value of 1500 This new scale merely adds to the range that was established earlier it does not change the value of the design coordinates assigned to the first Adobe multiple master typefaces i e a value of 500 is still 500 in the new scale However Macintosh font name length restrictions may preclude having more than two axes containing four digit design coordinate values in any typeface See Macintosh Typeface Name Restrictions in Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Multiple Master Font Naming Conventions 35 Assigning Design Coordinate Values to Primary Fonts Assign final design coordinate values to the primary instances based on the design coordinate ranges determined in the section Assigning Design Coordinate Ranges to Weight and Width Axes earlier in this chapter From running proofs throughout the
13. le master typeface the design coordinates defining the instance follow Chapter 3 Multiple Master Font Naming Conventions 29 Figure 3 3 a Shown here are MinionMM primary fonts along with user generated custom fonts as they appear in the Font menu of an application without Adobe Type Reunion software The primary fonts are distinguished by two letter uppercase abbreviations for weight width or size while user generated fonts have lowercase abbreviations for each axis type b When using Adobe Type Reunion software the abbreviations for the primary fonts are expanded as space allows for easier identification User generated font Primary font Helvetica Helvetica Narrow 367 RG 465 CN 11 OP Herculanum 367 RG 585 NO 11 OP ITCAvantGardeMM Jf 367 RG 585 NO 72 OP ITCAvantGardeMM Oblique 485 SB 465 CN 11 OP Minion 485 B 585 NO 11 OP Minion Expert 510 wt 480 wd 11 op MinionMM 578 BD 465 CN 11 OP MinionMM Ep 578 BD 585 NO 11 OP MinionMM It 7 A Lithos Minion Minion Expert Minion MM A 345 wt 471 wd 11 op Minion MM Expert gt 36 Reg 465 Cond 11 OpSize Minion MM Italic 14 367 Reg 585 Norm 11 OpSize Minion MM Italic Expert 367 Reg 585 Norm 72 OpSize Minion MM Italic Small Caps 485 SemBld 465 Cond 11 OpSize Minion MM Ornaments 485 SemBld 585 Norm 11 OpSize Minion MM Small Caps 510 wt 480 wd 11 op Minion MM Swash 578 Bold 465 Cond 11 OpSize Monaco 578 Bold 585 Norm 11 OpSize Myriad MM Myriad MM Italic N
14. ormal BD Bold SE SemiExtended BL Black EX Extended XB ExtraBlack XE ExtraExtended Optical Size OP OpticalSize Serif SA Sans SR Serif Retrofit designs that include primary font weights and or widths that closely match those in an existing family may require abbreviated versions of common labels such as Thin TH Book BK Medium MD Demi DM Heavy HV Nord ND Extra Bold EB Super SU Ultra UL Compressed CM Compact CT Narrow NR and Wide WI These and the abbrevia tions listed in the chart above are currently recognized by Adobe Type Reunion and may be expanded out as font menu space allows As new multiple master typefaces are developed the list of standard label abbreviations is likely to grow Contact Adobe s customer support department at 415 961 4111 to apply multiple master typeface instance labels while following the above NOTE Refer to the type design application s user manual to determine how conventions NOTE In this alphanumeric naming system it is more important that the design coordinate portion of the font identification correspond over typeface families than the letter labels however if both parts of the font name are as consistent as possible between typeface families the user will find them easy to recognize and understand 32 Part 1 Technical Guidelines for Designing Multiple Master Typefaces Assigning Design Coordinate Ranges to Weight and Width Axes The apparent wei
15. ry fonts in the typeface 36 Part 1 Technical Guidelines for Designing Multiple Master Typefaces
16. viations As mentioned previously Adobe has defined four design axis types Weight Width OpticalSize and the style called Serif and encourages type designers to use these standard labels whenever appropriate Any other axis types that designers believe are useful for multiple master typefaces may be publicly registered with Adobe s Developer Support department If they are registered other type designers may incorporate them into their typefaces and software applications will be able to identify and use them intelligently in the future Adobe s convention for labeling the design axes in user generated fonts are the following lowercase letter abbreviations Weight wt Width wd OpticalSize op Serif sr Chapter 3 Multiple Master Font Naming Conventions 31 Primary Font Label Abbreviations To distinguish primary fonts from user generated fonts Adobe s primary font labels use the following two letter uppercase abbreviations These labels indicate each primary font s style regular bold condensed etc and act as guideposts in long menus of multiple master instances Refer to Figure 3 3 These labels in both weight and width can accommodate design axes with wide dynamic ranges Adobe strongly recommends that type designers use these abbreviations whenever applicable in their new multiple master typefaces Weight XL ExtraLight Width XC ExtraCondensed LT Light CN Condensed RG Regular SC SemiCondensed SB Semibold NO N
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