TheSwamp

CAD Forums => CAD General => CAD Standards => Topic started by: Jeff H on May 28, 2012, 09:15:04 PM

Title: TTF vs SHX
Post by: Jeff H on May 28, 2012, 09:15:04 PM

We are going to start applying standards where I work and to make sure I got the the bases covered are these the basic considerations that need to be taken for fonts to be used.

• If we want the text to be able to be searched in pdf format
• performance
• prints to look the same with clients

And are these assumptions correct? References below are where some of the assumptions came from
 

• Using TTF it would look different only if plotted with a screened layer?
• Use a .shx font for text or attributes inside a block?
• All text inside of mtext will end up being TTF?
• Leave all TTF with a Width factor of 1
• Leave all TTF with Oblique Angle of 0

References
 
14 Fonts for all PDF readers
http://xmlgraphics.apache.org/fop/trunk/fonts.html (http://xmlgraphics.apache.org/fop/trunk/fonts.html)
Using TrueTyped fonts in AutoCAD
http://www.cadinfo.net/autocad/truetype-in-autocad-font-problems-revisited (http://www.cadinfo.net/autocad/truetype-in-autocad-font-problems-revisited)
 
Also for Company logo's etc. that mght use 'fancy' fonts then its best to convert text to polylines?

Title: Re: TTF vs SHX
Post by: cadtag on May 29, 2012, 08:38:55 AM

Quote from: Jeff H on May 28, 2012, 09:15:04 PM

 

• Using TTF it would look different only if plotted with a screened layer?
• Use a .shx font for text or attributes inside a block?
• All text inside of mtext will end up being TTF?
• Leave all TTF with a Width factor of 1
• Leave all TTF with Oblique Angle of 0

 
Also for Company logo's etc. that mght use 'fancy' fonts then its best to convert text to polylines?

1)  essentially correct - a big advantage over shx is is that text used in a line is readable regardless of the width of the line.

2) Using TTF inside a block can be problematic if the block could/would be insterted at asymetric scales, or at a non-zero elevation. The non-zero elevation is evidently a relatively common problem, based on the number of complaints of 'fuzzy text'.

3) disagree on that - the TTF fonts supplied by Adesk (e.g. Romans.TTF) are used in the MTEXT Editor, but plotting/onscreen display uses the shx versions.  AFAIK, there are no real problems with using nothing but TTF in MText, and doing so does ensure that what you see in the editor is going to be much more closely aligned with the final hardcopy.

4) & 5) yes

6) absolutely true for best quality/ ease of distribution.  If you _want_ to make it harder to distribute dwgs that look like yours, use a custom logo font, and restrict it to in-house only.