jwminer at accessvt.com wrote: > Nigel wrote: >> Where can I get a [free] copy of helvetica that will work with >> Scribus? >> I'm running Kubuntu edgy. >> Is verdana just as good? > > Helvetica is a trademarked font owned by Linotype. You can't legally > download Helvetica for free anywhere. You have to buy it from > Linotype or a dealer legally selling it. Helvetica is built into all > PostScript printers. It used to be available only as a PostScript > Type 1 font, but I see that Linotype now has a TrueType version and > there are OpenType versions for many individual members of the > Helvetica family. > > Due to US law that doesn't allow a font's design to be copyrighted, > there are numerous clones and knockoffs of Helvetica. Some are good > quality, many are not. A legal clone is produced by printing the > font's characters at a large size, scanning them, and tracing with a > program such as Fontographer. Hints and kerning would have to be > added; they cannot legally be copied from the font that was scanned > because they are considered part of the computer *program*, not the > font design, and thus are subject to copyright. If a cloner would > bother at all with hinting and kerning, it would probably be done > automatically and thus the quality would not be as good as what > you'd get with careful manual hinting and kerning. > > Many of the Helvetica-inspired fonts like Arial differ in details, > subtle and not subtle, from Helvetica, and thus are not clones. Most > readers would never notice. Remember that most readers can barely > distinguish a serif font from a sans serif--if that. > > Type mavens generally avoid Helvetica--and Arial and Times Roman or > Times New Roman--because they are so overused. However, some > well-known logos use Helvetica, and if a company's style sheet > demands it, you have no choice. > > Arial uses the same metrics as Helvetica, so substituting Arial for > Helvetica should not result in page reflows. That depends to some > extent on the output device, however. With clones and knockoffs, all > bets are off. > > Verdana is quite different from Helvetica. It was designed by > Matthew Carter specifically for screen display and is open and > spacious in appearance. It is available only in TrueType. For > printed text, you usually want something less spacious and open, > though most readers probably wouldn't notice. Verdana is owned by > Microsoft and is included with Windows and other Microsoft software. > At one time Microsoft offered Verdana for free download but no > longer does. It seems it can still be freely offered under the terms > of the original license. It is, however, a proprietary font. > --Judy Miner > USA > > Registered Linux User #397786 > > _______________________________________________ > Scribus mailing list > Scribus at nashi.altmuehlnet.de > http://nashi.altmuehlnet.de/mailman/listinfo/scribus > >
Thank you for the insight. Since I am new to this whole area of print publishing, rather than web publishing, which [free] fonts work well on paper? - I mean normal/standard ones. Blessings, Nigel -- OliveRoot Ministries http://www.oliveroot.net/ PrayingForIsrael.net http://www.prayingforisrael.net/
