About TrueType

The TrueType font format was developed by Apple Computer and has been adopted by Microsoft. The built-in “core” fonts that ship with the Macintosh and Windows operating systems are TrueType.

Originally code-named “Bass” (because these are scalable fonts and you can scale a fish), the TrueType format was designed to be efficient in storage and processing. It was also designed to be extendible, making it easy to add improvements and features to the basic technology.

TrueType fonts are one piece - both the printer outline (usually called the printer font) and screen font (actually, screen bitmap data) are created from the same information. TrueType fonts are also built to allow for the use of hinting, which allows a type designer to fine-tune the on-screen quality of the font.

TrueType font technology consists of two components: the TrueType fonts themselves and the TrueType rasteriser. The latter is a piece of software built into the Macintosh and Windows operating systems. Both components - the font and the rasteriser - are necessary for printing and displaying TrueType fonts on a computer system. It is the interaction between the TrueType fonts, the TrueType rasteriser and the software program in which the TrueType fonts are used that determines the appearance of the letterforms in the font.

Newly added TrueType capabilities include features such as font smoothing (or grayscale rasterisation) to further improve the on-screen image in some instances.

TrueType fonts are an excellent choice, especially for folks in corporate environments running Windows systems. Why? Windows computers are usually installed with a large selection of TrueType fonts. It’s also easy to add TrueType fonts, and you don’t need additional software to work with them.

A few years ago, the quality of TrueType fonts was perceived as inferior, mostly because of the rampant availability of cheap, substandard TrueType fonts. Thankfully, the negative perception of TrueType has faded, as more type engineers and designers take advantage of TrueType’s inherent hinting properties, allowing for the production of superior quality fonts.

Monotype offers over 7,000 fonts, and about 1,000 of them are TrueType fonts for Windows. Why aren’t more TrueType fonts available? We’re working on it. PostScript fonts have simply been around longer. However, we already have one of the largest selections of TrueType fonts on the market. Every new typeface we release is available in both TrueType and PostScript formats. Looking for a particular TrueType font but can only find it in PostScript? We can convert it for you.