Bitmapped fonts look better displayed on the monitor, while TrueType fonts look better on a high-resolution printer such as the Color StyleWriter 6500. So, if you have both versions of the font available, your computer uses the bitmapped version when displaying the font on the screen (provided that the size you’re using is available) and the TrueType version when printing the font on the Color StyleWriter 6500. To force the computer to use only TrueType fonts everywhere, you must remove the bitmapped fonts.
For example, if a document uses 12-point Times®, available in that size as a bitmapped font and as a TrueType font, the system uses the bitmapped font on the screen and the TrueType font on the printer. If a document uses 4-point Times, the system scales the TrueType font to that size for both the screen and the printer, because a bitmapped version isn’t available.
Using only TrueType fonts produces a closer match between the appearance of type on the screen and on paper. However, a document you’ve already created with bitmapped fonts will be reformatted with the corresponding TrueType fonts, and line breaks in the document may change. Similarly, if a document is created on a system that has TrueType fonts or Adobe Type Manager software installed, it may have different spacing, kerning, and so on, when opened on a system that doesn’t have TrueType fonts or Adobe Type Manager software.
Keeping two font versions available
If you have a TrueType version of a font, you don’t need a bitmapped version. However, although keeping both versions of a font takes up more disk space, there are several advantages to doing so.
Bitmapped fonts are hand-designed: a graphic artist planned each character in each font to look good on a screen. TrueType fonts are scaled by the computer to match what you request. At smaller point sizes, the bitmaps may appear sharper on the screen.
Additionally, scaling fonts takes time—sometimes up to several seconds in slower Mac OS–based computers—but all Mac OS–based computers can display a bitmapped font instantly.
