Type 1 or PostScript fonts no longer supported by Adobe
Estimated Reading Time: 2 MinutesIn January of 2022 Adobe, Inc., announced that it will disable support for authoring Type 1 fonts in January 2023 (see PostScript Type 1 fonts end of support). What impact will this have for Adobe PDF Converter?
According to Adobe, a user's ability to create new content using Type 1 fonts will no longer be provided in Adobe authoring tools, such as InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop. But Type 1 fonts will still be supported behind the scenes for legacy documents with Adobe PDF Converter.
Dropping support for authoring content with Type 1 fonts in authoring apps does not imply dropping support for Type 1 fonts in Adobe PDF Converter. This is because Adobe PDF Converter uses a PostScript interpreter and Type 1 fonts are PostScript fonts. Therefore, Adobe PDF Converter will continue to support Type 1 embedded and unembedded (referenced) fonts.
A history of digital fonts
Adobe Systems developed Type 1 font as a proprietary PostScript font in 1984, and then released the specification to other developers. Type 1 was popular in graphics and desktop publishing.
TrueType fonts were developed by Apple in 1991 and then licensed to Microsoft for use in Windows environments, so TrueType is today a standard for business and home use. TrueType fonts offer font users and developers a great deal of control when rendering fonts, as characters can be easily scaled up or down and managed to the level of the individual pixel in most cases.
OpenType is an extension of TrueType, and was introduced by Microsoft in 1994. Adobe Systems partnered with Microsoft, adding their Type 1 technology to OpenType.
The Base 14 fonts are a subset of the Type 1 fonts, and are commonly used with PDF documents. They have been provided with Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader since 1993, and are included in the OpenType and TrueType font sets. These 14 fonts include five typefaces:
- Times Roman: Standard, bold, italic, bold/italic
- Helvetica: Standard, bold, italic, bold/italic
- Courier: Standard, bold, italic, bold/italic
- Symbol: which provides mathematical and special purpose characters
- Zapf: A set of small printer ornaments, like check marks and pointers
Using fonts in the future
Most technology these days that produces PDF documents rely on TrueType and OpenType fonts. Type 1 fonts are no longer commonly used.
The products that Datalogics provides and supports, however, including the Adobe PDF Converter, are not end-user tools. Changes to these products that affect the use of Type 1 fonts are not likely to appear from Adobe, Inc. soon.