Are system fonts good for print?
 

I was recently advised not to use the following fonts for printing from the Mac:
Charcoal
Chicago
Monaco
Geneva

The explanation was that these are some of the Mac system fonts. Does that really mean that they're not good for postscript printing?

--Greg

I haven't heard this before. I can set text in those fonts in InDesign CS2 and export
a pdf that'll rip just fine. Mabey I'm just blessed :roll:

Where in Bellingham are you? I used to live at 809 High street (among other places
up there), and worked at Yeager's and Stanello's for a long time. Just curious, as
an alum of WWU who used to make copies at Kinko's in old downtown (all for 1 set,
yuk).

Cheers

Re: Are system fonts good for print?
 

Well, they are in fact system fonts (OS 9). And yes you can use them, but most designers don't. We get files in all the time where they (the designer) have used .dfonts (OS X system fonts) for their font of choice in Quark and Indesign.
If you do use them, you may want to check with whomever will be outputting your files to make sure that everything works out okay. But, there probably won't be any problems.

My .02,
David

I work in some print shop. Yeager's though, is famous! Seriously, it's a mandatory tourist site for friends and relatives who visit us. It feels like to ambiance of the place hasn't changed in decades. I don't know if that's an accurate impression, but I do love how you can buy fishing rods and beer in the same place.

That warning about OS9 system fonts came from the instructor of a graphic design course I'm taking. I think it may be obsolete. Maybe long ago Mac system fonts didn't have outline information for a printer?

Anyways, she also advised us not to design with Georgia, Verdana, and Trebuchet. Apparently, these fonts were designed specifically for monitor viewing. We certainly get a lot of files at work that use Trebuchet and they print ok.

Yeager's is famous! It hasn't changed at all last time I saw it (about 2 years ago). They
actually had no problem with me going out on my lunch break and having a beer or two at the Village Tavern. 8O That was high living!!

Not using the "system fonts" for work was obsolete once TrueType came along way back in System 7 (before that system fonts were bitmap only).

New York, Verdana, all the "system fonts" and quite a few others were designed for high ledgebility in on-screen applications but that doesn't mean you can't use them in print applications - my only reason not to is that the MS Verdana, Trebuchet, Tahoma faces get horribly over-used as it is, just like poor old Times and Arial...