Fonts exist but not visible from PostScript, since Mavericks

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Level 1

4 points

Fonts exist but not visible from PostScript, since Mavericks

In Font Book there is a font, one amongst several thousand, called Arial Unicode MS, with one sub-type, Regular. Clicking on this shows the PostScript name to be ArialUnicodeMS.

Likewise, there is a font Helvetica Neue Condensed Bold, with PostScript name HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold.

Pre-Mavericks, I could create a PostScript file containing a line such as

/ArialUnicodeMS 48 selectfont

and that worked. That worked with Preview, that worked with Adobe Distiller 8.

But since upgrading to Mavericks it doesn’t work, both Distiller 8 and XI both reporting “ArialUnicodeMS not found, using Courier.” Mavericks Preview doesn’t report, but also uses Courier. These fonts have ceased to work in PostScript.

But these fonts exist. They are visible in Font Book; they can be used in Microsoft Word. So why have they ceased to be visible to PostScript? Please, how can they become PostScript-visible again?

iMac

Posted on Feb 13, 2014 7:58 AM

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Answer 1

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

115,910 points

Feb 13, 2014 10:44 AM in response to jdaw1

I don't know about the Postscript issue, but is there some special reason you need to use ArialUnicode? It's an ancient font mainly designed to provided a fallback for non-Latin characters when text contains them. For most purposes there is probably a better choice.

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Answer 2

jdaw1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 13, 2014 1:02 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

> is there some special reason you need to use ArialUnicode?

Because it has a character I want — ♛black chess queen — not available in most other fonts. But I would settle for a non-Arial chess piece.

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Answer 3

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

115,910 points

Feb 13, 2014 2:09 PM in response to jdaw1

Apple Symbols and Menlo have it, but the latter is kind of small.

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Answer 4

jdaw1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 13, 2014 3:45 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Apple Symbols might work. Thank you. But I would like to use Helvetica Neue Condensed Bold, so the original question stands: how can these fonts become PostScript-visible again?

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Answer 5

Kurt Lang

Level 9

57,984 points

Feb 14, 2014 7:03 AM in response to jdaw1

With OS X's supplied Helvetica Neue Condensed font, the PS Font name and the Full name are the same:

I'm curious. What would be the reason for needing the PostScript name in particular? Being a .dfont, it's a TrueType font and has no PostScript data. Just a name to fill a PostScript table. If you're thinking choosing it from a list of PostScript font names will make it or the output PostScript, it won't. You can't change the fact it's a TrueType font.

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Answer 6

jdaw1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 14, 2014 7:18 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Linked above is a program written in PostScript (about 11k lines, so don’t try reading it). Greatly simplifying, it used to be possible to do:

/HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold 24 selectfont

36 36 moveto

(This text appears in HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold: hurray!) show

showpage

That worked until and in OS X 10.8.x, but in 10.9.x doesn’t. Instead the text appears in a substitute font, Courier, because the PostScript (both Adobe Distiller and Mac Preview) can no longer find that HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold.

TrueType is one of the many font types that PostScript can use. And the fonts under discussion did work, until Mavericks.

Why no longer? Can it be fixed? Please?

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Answer 7

Kurt Lang

Level 9

57,984 points

Feb 14, 2014 7:19 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Oops! Not quite the same. The PS Font Name has no space between "Condensed" and "Bold".

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Answer 8

Kurt Lang

Level 9

57,984 points

Feb 14, 2014 7:25 AM in response to jdaw1

Linked above is a program written in PostScript

Sorry, not seeing any links in this topic. I do see what you're getting at, though. You're specifically calling the PostScript name of the .dfont.

Couldn't tell you why it doesn't work in Mavericks. I don't work for Apple and am not a programming engineer.

Wouldn't the simple workaround though be to call the Full Name? No matter which you choose in the Distiller, it's still going to use, and embed a TrueType font. So just use the name that does work.

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Answer 9

jdaw1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 14, 2014 7:33 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Sorry, link isn’t there. Perhaps my fault: re-trying.

http://www.jdawiseman.com/2014/20140402_g80.pdf (output)

http://www.jdawiseman.com/placemat.html (PostScript).

PostScript needs PostScript name. Which, for example, cannot contain spaces.

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Answer 10

jdaw1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 14, 2014 8:03 AM in response to jdaw1

The following was revealing.

PostScript code:

%!

/Y 700 def

[

/Helvetica-Neue-Condensed-Bold

/HelveticaNeue-Condensed-Bold

/Helvetica-Neue-CondensedBold

/HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold

]

{

/DesiredFont exch def

DesiredFont findfont dup

18 scalefont setfont

72 Y moveto

DesiredFont 256 string cvs show 36 0 rmoveto

/FontName get 256 string cvs show

/Y Y 36 sub def

} forall

showpage

which produced the following log file:

Helvetica-Neue-Condensed-Bold not found, using Courier.

HelveticaNeue-Condensed-Bold not found, using Courier.

Helvetica-Neue-CondensedBold not found, using Courier.

%%[ Error: invalidfont; OffendingCommand: findfont ]%%

Stack:

/Font

(HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold)

So the fonts it can’t find produce one properly-trapped error, but HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold has a much worse failure. This font worked before Mavericks: the problem is new.

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Answer 11

Kurt Lang

Level 9

57,984 points

Feb 14, 2014 8:23 AM in response to jdaw1

Which, for example, cannot contain spaces.

Ah. Forgot about that.

Anyway, I found the real problem. I opened all 14 Helvetica Neue fonts on FontLab so I could look through every glyph in every face. The chess pieces are not in the font. Nor in any version of this typeface all the way back to Snow Leopard.

So I looked at the completed PDF you linked to, which displays correctly. Which of course means the font using those glyphs has to be embedded. The fonts in the PDF show what's going on. Apple Symbols.tff is being used to generate the chess glyphs, not Helvetica. There aren't even any Helvetica fonts being used in the document. If they were, they'd be in the list of embedded fonts. Here's what's actually being used:

Running your .ps file generates this:

Which is no real surprise since the list of fonts used (where your commented line notes "The thirty-five PostScript fonts that should be available are") does not include Apple Symbol. So the generated file of course doesn't result in the chess glyphs where they should be.

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Answer 12

Kurt Lang

Level 9

57,984 points

Feb 14, 2014 8:26 AM in response to jdaw1

%%[ Error: invalidfont; OffendingCommand: findfont ]%%

Stack:

/Font

(HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold)

That is clearly an error since the called name matches the PS Font Name of the font.

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Answer 13

jdaw1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 14, 2014 9:46 AM in response to Kurt Lang

I wanted Arial Unicode for the chess pieces, and Helvetica Neue for its compact beauty. I agree that the latter has few pictogram-type characters. (Neither being used in that example PostScript.)

That which you label “clearly an error” is the core of the problem: why has this font become invisible to PostScript? Please, why?

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Answer 14

Kurt Lang

Level 9

57,984 points

Feb 14, 2014 9:58 AM in response to jdaw1

I wanted Arial Unicode for the chess pieces

As the info from your own PDF shows, it's not even using Arial Unicode for the chess pieces. It's using Apple Symbols. So I'm not sure why you're trying so hard to hang onto Arial Unicode.

why has this font become invisible to PostScript? Please, why?

Got me. But it's also a font which isn't being used anywhere in your .ps file or PDF, so it's a moot point whether it's working or not.

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Answer 15

jdaw1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 14, 2014 2:40 PM in response to Kurt Lang

There has been a slight confusion which is my fault. To make these placemats I take my standard .ps program, linked above, and change the parameters. The link is to the standard starting point, and was posted partly to establish my PostScript bona fides.

Obviously, for the variant for the forthcoming tasting of a half-dozen of Graham 1980 some parameters have changed.

/Shipper (Graham) def

/Vintage (1980) def

/ShipperVintage [Shipper ( ) Vintage] def

/Circlearrays [

[ (King) ShipperVintage ]

[ (Queen) ShipperVintage ]

[ (Rook) ShipperVintage ]

[ (Bishop) ShipperVintage ]

[ (Knight) ShipperVintage ]

[ (Pawn) ShipperVintage ]

] def

/Titles [ /uni2654 /uni2655 /uni2656 /uni2657 /uni2658 /uni2659 ] def

/Belowtitles [ Circlearrays length {()} repeat ] def

/SubtitlesTastingNotes [ Circlearrays {0 get} forall ] def

/Names [ (MW) [(JDA) {-0.04 Kern} (W)] (DRT) (WPS) (CPR) (AHB) (DJ) (MPM) () ] def

/HeadersLeft [

0 [(The Bung Hole, Wednesday 2) {SuperscriptOn} (nd) {SuperscriptOff} ( April 2014)]

] def

/HeadersCenter [

0 [ShipperVintage (: a trial)]

] def % /HeadersCenter

/DecanterLabelsNumCopies 1 def

/PlaceNames false def

/TitlesFont /AppleSymbols def

/CircletextFont /Optima-Regular def

/NamesFont /Optima-Bold def

/VerticalMiddlingTitles /MatchNone def

/VerticalMiddlingStringTitles Titles def

That works fine. But not with Arial Unicode, as PostScript can no longer see that font. Nor can it see the Helvetica variant that it once could. Why not? Neither of us know.

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