TrueType To Polylines

[MullinRJ]

This post is to both Gunther Miller (NNA Tech Support) and the rest of the board:

Last week I sent a bug report to NNA on the "TrueType To Polyline" Menu, where it always returns the outline of the plain face regardless of the typeface selected (bold, italic, etc?). I also noticed that the outline was shifted down about 0.02" (for 10 point type, the amount depends on the point size and font), but only for Helvetica & Times typefaces, however, there may be more.

On much further examination, I am now of the belief that Helvetica & Times are displaying incorrectly on screen relative to their bounding boxes, whereas other fonts seem to display correctly (Geneva, Charcoal, Apple Chancery, Sand - just to name a few) and therefore translate to paths without vertical translation. In font terminology, the Ascent and Descent values are wrong.

My question to the board, has anyone else seen this shift with the Helvetica or Times fonts? (On a lighter note, does anyone else care? I know I can be picky.) If no one has seen this behavior, It may be that my Helvetica and Times fonts are the culprits. They are the TrueType fonts that came with the system (OS 9.0.4).

When using the TextVerticalAlign(2) mode (align on the Baseline of the top line of text), all fonts display properly on the screen, but my problem is more apparent when TextVerticalAlign(1) is employed (align text to the top of the bounding box ? the old fashioned MiniCad way). I have not experimented with the other alignment options (3, 4 & 5).Also, the vertical shift encountered when converting TrueType to paths occurs regardless of the TextVerticalAlign option selected.

Any and all comments will be appreciated. I have included the first twoletters to NNA for your reference.

Raymond Mullin

> Gunther,> Thank you for responding so quickly. Do you know of any work > around to import the shapes of fonts that are >more that the plain > style (bold, italic, etc...)? I would even accept an encrypted script > gladly, if one exists.> > Thanks in advance,> Raymond Mullin> -----------------> Forwarded Message: > > Subj: Re: Bug Submit> Date: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 1:21:10 PM> From: gunther@nemetschek.net> To: MullinRJ@aol.com> > From: gunther@nemetschek.net (Gunther Miller)> To: MullinRJ@aol.com> > Raymond, although TrueType to Polyline performance has improved > for VectorWorks 9.x, the two items you mentioned are still valid. I've > placed an entry into our bug database regarding each item. The first > item mentioned has been logged as a 'Wish' and the other has been > entered as a bug.> > Thanks for spending the time to report your findings.> > Gunther> > Gunther Miller> Quality Assurance> Nemetschek, N.A.> >> On Wednesday, February 27, 2002, Bug Submit <bugsubmit@nemetschek.net> >> wrote:>> >> ---------->> From: <MullinRJ@aol.com>>> Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 01:32:12 -0500>> To: <bugsubmit@nemetschek.net>>> Subject: Bug Submit>> >> Name: Raymond Mullin>> Email: MullinRJ@aol.com>> OS: Macos9>> Version: 8.5.2, 7.0.3, 6.0.4>> Bug Description: Menu - TrueType To Polyline>> >> Steps: The "TrueType To Polyline" menu option only returns the plain>> face outline of a font. I used several text blocks of the character B,>> each set to a different typeface (Plain, Bold, Italic, Bold-Italic,>> Outline, etc...) and then converted them to polylines. All paths were>> identical and only matched the Plain typeface. I tried Helvetica and Times>> fonts with the same result.>> Also, for a 10 point typeface, the outline is shifted down in the Y>> axis only, by 0.0180556".>> The result is the same in MC 7 & MC 6. Has this been fixed in version>> 9.x?>> >> I am using a Mac G4/500 with OS 9.0.4. I checked, and I do have>> TrueType versions of the fonts loaded in the System Fonts folder, and I am>> also running ATM 4.5.2.>> >> If you would like, I have a small file prepared to send.>> >> Thank you,>> Raymond Mullin

[MullinRJ]

I just noticed that all fonts that display a large vertical shift on my system have Bitmap Fonts in the font suitcases along with the TrueType outlines. The bitmaps are used for screen display before the outlines, when they exist. After removing the bitmaps from my font suitcases, and rebooting, the vertical shift diminished but did not go away completely. I am still hoping a font expert will ride over the horizon and shed light on this 'feature'.

Raymond