When working with authors and editors across disparate systems managing fonts can be a challenge as each workstation could have different versions of operating systems, authoring software and plugins, and related fonts. To add to the complexity, some font file formats are being discontinued which has critical implications for publishing workflows, especially those creating equations using EPS files.
With this in mind, the key to ensuring consistent and predictable output is to use the same fonts in the authoring environment for MathType equations as in the system used to generate the output.
Support for PostScript Type 1 fonts is ending
Adobe ceases PostScript Type 1 font support as of January 2023
For decades, MathType EPS equations have been created using references to Type 1 fonts, also known as PostScript fonts.
On June 23, 2022, Adobe announced that support for Postscript Type 1 fonts will be dropped as of January 2023.
Support for all Type 1 fonts in Adobe products will stop by January 2023. Users will no longer have the ability to author content using Type 1 fonts after that time. — Read an overview and FAQs from Adobe
After this date, Type 1 fonts will not be available to Adobe InDesign and will appear as “Missing fonts” in your document.
WIRIS MathType allows users to define fonts used in equations
While support for PostScript Type 1 will be discontinued by Adobe, WIRIS MathType allows the user to define which fonts are used to create equations. Depending on the user’s workstation configuration, this could be legacy PostScript Type 1 fonts, and/or newer OpenType or TrueType fonts.
When exporting equations as EPS from MathType, fonts are referenced, not embedded, within the EPS file. In order to render EPS as displayed on the original host system, the correct font type and version must be available.
Shared operating systems must use the same font versions
Some publishing workflows depend on the host operating system's fonts, but this can be unreliable. Fonts on one operating system may appear to have the same name as a font on another version of the same operating system, but like software, there are different versions of fonts. Between versions, font foundries will do updates that produce differences, especially within the supported character sets. For example, Cambria on Windows 7 was version 5.97, Windows 8 was version 6.84, and Windows 10 and 11 have version 6.99.
Check your document output is as expected
To help ensure your EPS equations appear as expected, it is recommended that documents are checked on a “production” computer using MathType with OpenType fonts. On this machine, check that any equation styles using PostScript Type 1 fonts are replaced with an OpenType equivalent, and the equations are displaying as expected.
Some documents might contain legacy EPS equations that still reference character mapping specific to PostScript Type 1 fonts. Documents containing these equations and equation styles will also need to be updated.
In doing this check, the scope of potential font issues is limited to the specific workstation and its installed fonts.
Once the documents are updated and confirmed, the next step is to ensure the same set of fonts used in the MathType styles are installed in your Typefi workflows.
Add your MathType fonts to your Typefi workflow
Add the same fonts used in MathType styles in the above “production” workstation to your Typefi workflow. There are a number of methods, depending on your installation type, and Fonts and Typefi explains each method in detail.
It is important that only one version of a font should be installed. For example, the "Document fonts" folder should not contain Cambria 5.x and 6.x.
For help with your MathType fonts, please contact Typefi support.
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.