Copyright: Visual Help ® 1993-1994 Firas Bushnaq


Questions and Answers

Here are some questions frequently asked about our fonts, and the answers we where able to come up at the time. You may also want to read the answers, even if you experienced no problem with the present font. As a matter of fact, we have come up with some solutions of our own, which may help you get better results with all your fonts. This list of questions and answers will be regularly updated, in order to spare as much as possible aggravation for our customers. After reading them, please contact us, if anything was still bothering you. We will do what we can to help you the best way we can. Thank-you for all your reports.

Q: How do I install TrueType fonts under Windows ?

A : Open the "Fonts" control pannel, and click "Add". Then, look for the font files (extension *.TTF) where you copied or unpacked them. Select them, and click OK. You may install several fonts at the same time, simply by selecting them.
Windows 95 requires a slightly different procedure. Open the "Fonts" folder you will find in the Control Panel located within "My Computer" icon. Then, simply copy the TrueType font into it.

Q : I do not find the *.FOT files to install the *.TTF TrueType fonts.

A : this type of file is generated by Windows 3.xx when a new font is installed. In other words, if you use the correct Control Panel procedure to install a new *.TTF file, Windows 3.xx will automatically create the corresponding *.FOT file. Windows 95 does not use this type of file at all, and directly takes advantage of *.TTF fonts.

Q: How do I install PostScript fonts under Windows ?

A : PostScript fonts come with the extension *.PFB and *.PFM, one of each for each font. In order to use them, you first must install Adobe Type Manager (ATM) for Windows. Then, copy *.PFB files in the WINDOWS\PSFONTS directory, and the *.PFM in the WINDOWS\PSFONTS\PFM directory. Then, use the ATM control panel to install the fonts. PostScript fonts offer lots of advantages over their TrueType Windows counterpart, as kerning and more precise printing. If you are serious about desktop publishing, you may want to acquire ATM Windows.
This install process may have changed with newer versions of ATM. please refer to the manual of that utility for more details.

Q : Some complex characters do not display normaly with ATM fonts

A : This phenomenon has been reported most often when ATM Type 1 fonts of complex character shapes are used with Windows 95. The characters appear on top of each other, and are difficult to read on the screen. They do print perfectly, though. The only way we have found to circumvent this glitch seems to be to first enter the text in a simpler shaped font, for instance Arial, and after entries have been verified, select the text you want, and bring it to the desired font and attributes.

Q: Why are you placing so much documentation in your archives, they become huge and cost a fortune to download ?

A: Sorry for the inconvenience, BUT... As you know, the font you have now at your disposal for FREE evaluation is provided to you by Match Software WITHOUT ANY CHARGE. As a matter of fact, when some other software houses ask you to pay up front for any of their fonts, we give this one away for your enjoyment, hoping it's originality and quality will prompt you to acquire usage licensing, and buy other fonts along the way. Our only hope for any reward for the tremendous time and efforts it took to create a font is entirely contained in the promotion material we include in this archive. How are you going to know the beautiful fonts we created for you at a very low price, if we do not include our "Incredible font deal" file, with all the pictures of these fonts ? Do you really think anyone would register simply because we ask? No, of course not. We do not get a penny from any of our distributors. On-line services do charge you to provide shareware, but we never see the money they take to sell our creations. They even charge us for on-line access to their services. Shareware vendors may make fortunes on our back with all sorts of CDs and other great packages, we do not see the colour of any of these sales. Magazines may boost their sales like mad and millions using our shareware packages, they never reward shareware authors, let alone with a petty free subscription to their magazines. So, if you still really feel our archives are too big, we are terribly sorry, but if you really appreciate shareware, you must understand that authors deserve their share of the wares, and the only way we have to sell anything, after vendors have been collecting upfront all sorts of fees, is to promote registration. If authors never got any registrations, it would mean no doubts no new shareware in a very short time. Shareware  is very much like PBS stations : if you want independant creation, you might as well pledge for it, and accept some advertisement from the sponsors !
On the other hand, we try to provide as much information and support as we can into these archives, as any good software publisher would do in his box. Nobody would ever complain to get too complete a user's manual. And actually, a documentation such as the one your are in the process of reading could be very useful for other fonts as well.
Do not hesitate to report tips and tricks we can add to this helpful document. They will benefit all. Thank-you for your support.

Q : Under Windows, some characters of a given font do not print at all sizes, or show only on screen, or the opposite. This happens most often with complex fonts, such as DinosoType, Bujardet Vignettes of Nahkt Hieroglyphs. Some characters print as squares, when they appear fine on the screen, or the opposite, or both. It happens most often when the output is to be made on  a dot-matrix printer, would it be impact or ink-jet. It does happen, sometimes, though, with laser printers, as well.

A : The problem seems to reside within Windows itself, and the way TrueType is handled. We where unable to get any explanation from Microsoft which could help us understand how to solve the problem. However, as in general this type of fonts are most used on isolated basis (letterheads, titles, etc.), it is possible to use another approach :
- Create a new document under Windows Paint
- With the TEXT tool, enter the appropriate message
- Copy the image, and paste it into your word processor or desktop publishing software. Of course, if you use more sophisticated tools than Windows Paint, like Corel Draw on the PC, the result may be better. Although TrueType fonts may pose this problem, PostScript Type 1, even extremely complex, do display and work perfectly under Windows with Adobe Type Manager (ATM). If you want do do any type of serious desktop publishing, we strongly recommend you use ATM and PostScript fonts.

Q : I do not find the promised accented characters. They are not  available through my regular keyboard. Why is that ?

A : For historical reasons, as computers originated in America, and also  because no one at the beginning thought of using electronic calculators  to write poems, invitations or books, the ASCII standard did not support  accented characters. Then, as more and more aborigines from France like  Michel Bujardet, or other remote picturesque small countries, started to trade their usual goose quill for more modern means, they asked for accents. And also for their own weird keyboards. Use the Character Map applet to select the proper characters, and find out the proper key combinations.
If you still have the Windows installation disks, you may want to install the "US-International" keyboard driver, which offers a wealth of extended characters, when you press a key in conjunction with the Alt key.
Our font packs, though, come with all the necessary data entry tools to facilitate access to foreign characters (keyboard remapping, bilingual entry, etc.).

Q : I need a font in a language not yet available.

A : Creating fonts for new languages is not only challenging, it is also culturally very rewarding, very inspiring. We do not always know the language you plan to use. But if you provide us with the proper information, we will use it to create a new font. It is fairly simple : we only need the best representation of the alphabet, character by characters, and eventually it's pronounciation, if it is not a Roman set of letters (Japanese, for instance, or Russian are in that case). Call us for more details.

Q : I want a font made according to my specifications.

A : If you already have a printout of the desired font, or any graphic representation that we can use to draw the characters, our regular price for designing a new font is very reasonable. If you want a creation from scratch, it will be more difficult. Please call us for a quotation.

Q : How can I obtain a printout of all of your fonts ?

A : Just send us your complete address, and we will gladly send you a documentation showing the diversity of Match Software fonts. You can already find a pretty good representation of our offering, in the README.HLP file.

Q : You must provide thorough phone hot line support for any brand and type of computer. If Adobe and others can, why not you ? You should be able to be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week !

A : We are sorry, with our small operation, not to be able to compete with giants who see more money in 10 minutes than we may be able to earn in one year. However, our prices are lower beyond comparison.  That is also because you are not paying for million dollars advertisement, and plethoric staffs. Besides, we are prepared to fix glitches if any, and  gladly accept advises from our customers. Remember, however, that a font  is somewhat equivalent to a bumper sticker to an automobile. Please do  not ask us to solve the problems generated by your system, no more than you would think about requiring driving lessons from a stickers publisher. We do our best for our fonts to work properly on STANDARD configurations,  including STANDARD printers, STANDARD system versions, STANDARD  applications, when our fonts are installed through STANDARD procedures.
All that said, we do want to help you benefit from our software products. You can contact us by phone at (213) 656-4244, and leave a message on the voice mail if unfortunately we where not able to answer immediately. You can also reach us at any of our e-mail addresses.

Q : In your Martian font, you placed a dot above the glipnol character,  and forgot to put an accent above the weirdoo. It is unforgettable. I am  furious and you are just as stupid as a bunch of lunar dogs ! You should  be whipped, and give me my money back, too, plus maybe a little extra,  because I suffered incredible damage to my much sophisticated sense of  intellectual properness and inherent graceful sophistication.

A : We are sorry not to know Martian as well as such a refined literate as your highness.  Please do not blow your desintegrator at us, poor ridiculous clumsy uneducated filthy computer groomers. More seriously, please consider that ignorance may not be such a crime, after all, and have mercy for the less taught. We all learn all our lives new concepts and new ways. If for any reason we committed a mistake in transcribing your native language, be assured it is not intentional. Please courteously provide us with the proper information, and we will try to make appropriate updates are made, if they are technically possible and logical. All we know of, as humble and insignificant artisans, is the fonts craftsmanship. It is not our fault, then, if the subtleties of a foreign language do not strike us like light over the saint's head. However, we are bending our knees to the more educated. Thank you for helping us improve.  At the present time, our foreign fonts have been thoroughly reviewed, so they satisfy our customers. Some have helped  perfect already very nice fonts. But we will appreciate any additional  help !
Any report or suggestion is taken very seriously, and usualy fixes are carried out through regular updates. All the more reason to register, to be able to benefit from these improvements.

Q : When I use too many fonts, my printer crashes.

A : Try setting the option "Print TrueType fonts as graphics" in the Windows Printer Control panel.

Q : Why do you ask for money for your fonts ? They should be free !

A : There is a strange curse around computer software, these days. Nobody would ever consider getting a movie for nothing, or walking into a book store and require a sample for free. For programs, however, the matter is quite different. So many people consider computer software piracy as a light little mistake, that eventually, some may indeed start considering software authors as thieves, because they pretend to get a small reward for their job. Some luminaries (noticeably around GNU project, or some Internet ayatollahs) even have the nerve to play with the very strange notion that computer software should only come free, and that any commercial distribution, including shareware, has some analogy to a rip-off. Fine and good, then, but why do they at the same time insist to get paid for their conferencing, or to get royalties from their books ? Match Software is a small business based on shareware distribution. Anyone can browse at our productions in the same way a reader could read a book as many times and as completely as wished, before actually paying for it. Please do not pirate us. If you feel a font is really of use, please register. That small usage fee will help us continue creating new original, exclusive and fine fonts for you. We sincerely thank all users who have, through their registration, helped pay the rent, the phone, and the electricity which powers our equipment to create all these fonts. Please continue to support the shareware concept. It is the only way out of the commercial monopolies. Small software companies are as much a liberty warrant as small book publishers are : without them, big companies would have their way, culturally and financially. Nobody would ever want that to happen !

Match Software

8205 Santa Monica Blvd #1-205
West Hollywood, CA 90046-5912
(213) 656-4244
Internet : MatchSoft@aol.com
Compuserve : 73267,1701
America Online : MatchSoft

Acknoledgement : "Match Software" is intellectual property of Match Software. All other intellectual properties, such as Trademark and Brand Names mentionned in this document, belong to their respective holders.