Italicised Tahoma font in Pages

Well, you can italicise fonts in programs like Appleworks or Word in OS X, but it seems one of the goals of Pages is to create output that meets good standards. No reputable print shop would ever be happy with a file using fake italics, for instance, if they ask you to send a pdf with the fonts embedded.

Are you sure you have Tahoma Italic? Pages doesn't support fake formatting in italics, bold, etc. (a good thing, on the whole, but annoying in situations like this). If you got Tahoma with Office (the usual source) you got regular and bold but not italic. To use italic, you will need to obtain and install the true italic font.

Hi Jonathan

I think that you might struggle to get an italic version of Tahoma. Microsoft are the publisher of that font and they don't produce one: http://www.microsoft.com/typography/fonts/font.aspx?FID=19&FNAME=Tahoma&FVER=3.1 4.

Verdana is very close in appearance and has an italic variant. I suggest using that instead.

Apparently, Windows can italicise any font. It does so by shearing the regular or bold version. The result is OK for the screen but it looks a supposedly a bit ropey in print compared with a proper italic font. I think Tahoma was originally designed for display on screens more than anything else.

A type enthusiast would say that Window slopes fonts, but doesn't italicize them. If you look at fonts that have actual italic versions, they are not just the sloped regular form.

Apple has generally been a strong proponent of good typography, starting with the introduction of the laser printer. It can seem annoying to have this apparent "limitation" in iWork, but it really does ensure that the final product looks best.

... Windows can italicise any font.

I would prefer phrasing it: "Windows has no built in filter against bad italics."

Admittedly MacOS X's filter is a usability disaster, as a beginner has no way of telling what is going on, but the end result is prettier than on Windows.

I'm not sure either.