Other Font Formats - They Exist

I knew about TTF and PostScript Type 1 fonts, but learned of another format that's actually supported natively by Windows.

My youngest daughter is becoming a designer. She asked how to install a font she downloaded from an online source, such as DaFont. I told her to put it into the \Windows\Fonts folder. But she got stalled, because the download was a ZIP file.

I opened the ZIP file for her, and found an OTF file. "Wha?" I wondered. A google search quickly informed me that (1) OTF files are open text fonts, and (2) are supported by Windows. Sure 'nough, was true, and my daughter went on to happily design a T-shirt.

Adobe explains it:

The OpenType format is an extension of the TrueType SFNT format that also can support Adobe PostScript font data and new typographic features. OpenType fonts containing PostScript data, such as those in the Adobe Type Library, have an .otf suffix in the font file name, while TrueType-based OpenType fonts have a .ttf file name suffix.

Does CAD support OTF?

I tried out AutoCAD 2008, but its Style command does not recognize .otf files. Its Compile command converts PostScript fonts for use in drawings, but it also does not recognize .otf files.

Non-CAD programs do, such as PaintShop Pro and the Atlantis word processor.

Comments

[Mark A. Walker, PTC]

As of Wildfire 3.0, Pro/ENGINEER supports the use of Open Type fonts. Drawing content can now be displayed using Open Type fonts, of course in addition to both True Type and Pro/ENGINEER’s stroked fonts. Not only can such fonts be used to tailor the display of text-based notations; they can also play a much more meaningful role within Pro/ENGINEER.

Using a 3rd party font-editor application, both Open and True Type fonts can be created and compiled to contain custom glyphs, such as vector-based artwork (i.e. company logos, commonly used labels, etc). Then, using the sketched text capabilities within Pro/ENGINEER, such custom glyphs can quickly be converted to sketches or even extruded features within the CAD model. This saves designers significant time when reusing commonly-used vector-based artwork, as well as when updating models or drawings after their organization’s artwork is modified.

[Darren J. Young]

AutoCAD 2008 does support Open Type fonts that contain Postscript outlines. The Open Type font must be Installed in Windows (not just copied) after which, you should be able to select it in the list of fonts in the Style dialog's listbox.